Football Predictions For The Week

Predicting how football matches will go is arguably among the hardest endeavours, although it is tempting to believe that with just three results possible, one should be able to make an intelligent guess, more often than not.

Take a look at bookmakers’ odds, for instance. With money riding on the result of a sporting encounter, professional bookies use mathematical algorithms to work out odds on teams to ensure that their risks are hedged. These odds change as a match progresses; a goal by either side would tilt the odds in favour of said team.

The general assumption is that because “bookies put their money where their mouth is”, gambling information and statistics represent a fair approximation of the relative strengths of teams in the fray.

If you are looking for predictions on the results of this week’s football matches featuring your favourite teams, take a look at the following table. (Note: These predictions do not include matches in the English Premier League; to read our predictions on these matches, click on the Predictions link above this article.)

Important: To find the information you seek, even more quickly, enter the names of your teams, in the search bar above the table.

Date	Event	Home	Away	Predicted winner
8/5/2012	Russian Premier League	CSKA Moscow	Kuban	CSKA Moscow
9/5/2012	UEFA Europa League	Atletico Madrid	Athletic Bilbao	Atletico Madrid
9/5/2012	English Championship	Birmingham	Blackpool	Birmingham
10/5/2012	German Bundesliga	Hertha Berlin	Fortuna Dusseldorf	Hertha Berlin
10/5/2012	Dutch Eredivise	NEC Nijmegen	Vitesse	NEC Nijmegen
10/5/2012	Dutch Eredivise	Willem II	Sparta Rotterdam	Willem II
10/5/2012	Dutch Eredivise	Helmond Sport	FC Eindhoven	Helmond Sport
10/5/2012	Dutch Eredivise	RKC WaalWijk	Twente	Twente
11/5/2012	English League 1	Stevenage	Sheff Utd	Draw
12/5/2012	English League 1	MK Dons	Huddersfield	MK Dons
12/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Real Sociedad	Valencia	Draw
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Real Madrid	Mallorca	Real Madrid
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Espanyol	Sevilla	Draw
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Getafe	Zaragoza	Zaragoza
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Rayo Vallecano	Granada	Rayo Vallecano
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Malaga	Sporting Gijon	Malaga
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Racing Santander	Osasuna	Osasuna
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Levante	Athletic Bilbao	Levante
13/5/2012	Spanish La Liga	Villarreal	Atletico Madrid	Draw

But these statistics also get skewed a little when on the weight of their own information they attract bets for a particular team. In direct proportion to the number of bets placed, the odds on a particular team get skewed in said team’s favour to the extent that it no longer resembles the odds compiled using the original algorithm.

Thus crowd favourites such as, for instance, Barcelona FC, are likely to attract odds that are more favourable to them than their current form would suggest, and these odds in their turn are likely to persuade impartial bettors to wager their money on the team.

Bookmakers are not unduly perturbed by such skewing; in fact, they stand to earn more if bets placed show a disproportionate bias in favour of a player or team that is unlikely to win, on a particular day.

At the end of the day, nothing prevents every bookie site from assuring you that the algorithm they use is better than any competitor’s. Typically, such sites run down competitors’ sites with words of wisdom on the following lines:

“When it comes to making football picks most pro football handicappers & sports betting experts get stuffed at the goal line, because they use XYZ gambling info & ABC betting stats already factored into DEF pro football lines when determining their XYZ football picks & predictions each week…”

Disclaimer: At Sportingattitude.com, we do not make any claim as to the accuracy of our predictions. We advocate responsible betting; if you chose to gamble on the basis of these predictions, you would be doing so at your sole risk and responsibility.

Tags: Barcelona, Betting, Prediction, Result

Category: Football, Predictions