Soccer picks for Game Week 27 of EPL

All the leading EPL teams are back after a busy European weekend. Most of them had a favourable result to show in European club competitions. Most notable would be Manchester United’s draw against a much fancied Real Madrid side at the Bernabeau. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur also got through their matches in the Europa League with wins. This week the teams will again put all their focus on the EPL crown. Manchester United have proved their metal in the latest match against Real where they matched skill for skill. It seems that Danny Wellbeck is ripe to come of age in the Red jersey. Earlier on this season there were talks about giving him out on loan, but Sir Alex had other ideas. Wellbeck seems to be in prime form and when it is coupled with the dangerous Van Persie, the low lying QPR should be wary. If QPR’s own form was not a worry, their clash with ManU would definitely be a major headache.

Big match over the weekend is the clash between Chelsea and Manchester City. Manchester City is already a dozen points adrift the leaders. If they stumble this weekend then the second consecutive title could be a distant dream. For Chelsea clinching on to the third spot is very important. They have the team, but inconsistency is what hinders their progress. Juan Mata and Ramires are looking hot in the midfield, and Frank Lampard is again back to scoring ways. Chelsea has come up as one of the soccer picks to finish in top three positions this season. 

Everton have a tricky match against Norwich City. Norwich has slumped in form in the recent encounters, while Everton are also not getting best services from their prolific midfielder Marouane Fellaini. Tottenham are expected to get over the West Ham hurdle. Arsenal and Aston Villa will also have a fiercely competed match. Aston Villa has got some good results into their kitty, but Arsenal would be the winner according to any soccer tips. Liverpool and Swansea will be missing EPL action this weekend as they played one extra match last week.

Soccer picks for the match of this week would be the important encounter between Chelsea and Manchester United. Can Chelsea do ManU a favour by winning and erasing chances of Manchester City title win? Only time will tell. 

Tips for Soccer: UEFA Champions League Last 16 Matches

UEFA Champions League 2012-13 has come down to 16 teams and the matches in this phase will start this week. The competition started with 76 best clubs in Europe and now it has been minimized significantly. In the round of 16 there are many reputed names such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Valencia and Paris Saint Germain. Some newcomers will also be seen in this stage such as Malaga, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic, Galatasaray and Schalke 04. As ever this will be where best football stars will try show what they have got. Giving soccer tips on whom to put your money on is a risky affair.

Let us start with Paris Saint-Germain, the French big spenders have invested heavily this season right from appointing Carlo Ancelotti. They have a prolific striker in Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is ably supported by Ezequiel Lavezzi. David Beckham’s recent acquisition means there is quality in dead ball situations. Galatasaray on the other hand have been boosted by their latest signing of the Ivorian forward Didier Drogba who performed admirably last season for Chelsea in the UCL. Galatasaray also have prolific Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder in their ranks.

If you are to give safe tips for soccer about the winner of UCL 2012-13 then three teams that would come up are Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona. All these teams have quality and depth in their squad. But it is a pity that only one of the teams between ManU and Real can go further as they are pitted against one another. Manchester United has been on top of BPL table for almost all season. Their forward line has formidable names such as Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney. Real Madrid on the other hand (as always) is a galaxy of stars. They have Christiano Ronaldo (who has been scoring goals at will), Kerim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain, Kaka, Sami Khedira, Luka Modric and Mesut Ozil in their ranks. When both these teams clash it would be a spectacle for sure.

Barcelona on the other hand has to get over the AC Milan hurdle to progress to the next round. Again a great clash waits. Messi and his team have to get over the stubborn AC Milan defence.    

Football Match Fixing Investigations Surprise Everyone

Many people woke up with surprise when they read or heard the news about investigations taking place about match fixing. These investigations have been conducted by Europol, which is European Union’s law enforcement agency. This agency is investigating into various betting systems across Europe and they will inspect most matches that took place in the last three to four years. There are as many as 425 match officials, players, club officials and other serious criminals from across 15 European nations who are under the suspected list. As you can imagine this is one of the biggest investigations taken up in the present times. Mostly the Europol is investigating into match fixing clues for Champions League, European Championships and World Cup. But some newspapers in the UK even flashed the news that FA has decided to investigate English Premier and other major competitions.

The fixing is said to have been done by a growing criminal network based in Asia. The scale of corruption in Germany solely is £13.8 million out of which £1.73 million were paid to parties involved. One of the Champions League fixtures that took place in England is one of the 380 fixtures that are being investigated into. Till date as many as 50 people have been arrested in regards to this investigation. Though a game played in UK is under scrutiny but the Europol authorities claimed that UK was not under the scanner. UEFA has stated that there will be zero tolerance followed for those found guilty. They have also requested all the national football associations to cooperate with the investigations.

As per latest reports a Champions League match played between Drebecen and Liverpool in 2009 is being investigated for unfair transactions. Liverpool had won this match with a solitary goal by Dirk Kuyt.

Such an investigation has shaken the entire soccer betting systems. But betting in UK is legal till the point it is fair and does not intrude with the proceedings going on on-field. Tips for soccer for this week would be to bet fairly. Let everyone enjoy a fair game. Fixing up results is not good anyone.