It's cup final day across Europe with showpiece games coming from England, Germany, France and Spain and with all of the action kicking off in the evening, you should have time to enjoy your Saturday afternoon before the action gets under way at 1830 CET. I really believe that we will see some great games and BTTS will feature prominently in my selections today. There's a couple of Serie A games to look at as well which should allow me to find some nice doubles and trebles for all the action. Here are my previews, predictions and best bets. FA CUP FInal
1830 - Villa v Arsenal - Prediction - 1.2 (or 2.3) - Best Bet - BTTS @5/6, Arsenal to win and BTTS @9/4, Benteke to score anytime @11/4, BTTS and over 2.5 goals @13/10 I expect a real battle at Wembley today as Arsenal look to defend their FA Cup title against Tim Sherwood's Aston Villa. Having secured their safey in the PL a few weeks ago, Villa's performance level certainly dropped in their 6.1 hammering at Southampton and then again at home to Burnley on the final day of the season as they were beaten 1.0 but I expect an entirely different performance today from a team that were probably saving their energies for today. The form of midfield trio Delph, Cleverley and Grealish gives them plenty of optimism though and in Christian Benteke they have a striker that is sure to worry the Arsenal defence with his form is as good as anyone's in the country right now with 12 goals in his last 12 games. Benteke is 11/4 to score at anytime and as I do expect Villa to score here, Benteke is likely to be the man at tasty odds. If you like a first goalscorer bet, Benteke @17/2 represents the value. Arsenal are of course the over-whelming favourites and if this final follows the form then there should only be one winner and while I do expect the Gunners to be celebrating a 2nd successive cup triumph tonight, Villa are not going to lay down for this one and I expect an aggressive and attacking approach from the underdogs. BTTS is my best bet here with Villa sure to make this an entertaining final with their attacking approach and recent performances suggest they have enough quality to score at least one. If they attempt to frustrate Arsenal they might have a better chance of success in this game, but I don't believe that kind of approach is in Sherwood's make-up. Villa will give this a right good go and I believe they will push Arsenal far on the day with Benteke sure to give Mertesacker problems at the back and if their midfield trio can impose themselves, this might be a closer game than people expect. Ultimately, the class of Arsenal's attack should settle the day but if Wenger continues with 2nd choice goal-keeper Szczesny then who's to say Vllla can't unsettle their esteemed opponents. It wouldn't surprise me to see something silly from the madcap Pole and his presence may well give Villa some extra hope. I'm hoping for and expecting an entertaining final with BTTS @5/6 my best bet. Arsenal should win but I'm not banking on it in 90 minutes although the BTTS and win @9/4 is also worth a punt. I'd like to see Theo Walcott given the nod up front ahead of Olivier Giroud following his hat-trick last weekend but Wenger is a loyal man and I expect little Theo to be kicking his heels in the bench once more. If he starts, I might back him at 11/2 to score first. I fancy a 2.1 win for the Gunners but more goals wouldn't surprise me so the BTTS and over 2.5 goals is also a good possibility @13/10. Come on Arsenal! (sorry Tim) German DFB Pokal 20:00 - Dortmund v Wolfsburg - Prediction - 1.1 Best Bet - BTTS @8/15, Draw @5/2 This could be the most closely fought of all the finals today as Dortmund look to give their outgoing manager, the eccentric and entertaining Jurgen Klopp the perfect send off at the Oympiastadion in Berlin. Wolfsburg had much the better season, finishing 2nd behind champions Bayern but come into this one as the bookies under-dogs priced at 13/5 to win in 90 minutes compared to Dortmund who are priced at 1/1. I do think this is much more like a 50//50 contest and I would lean towards Wolfsburg, given their overall quality this season. Historically, when these 2 sides meet, we see plenty of goal and I'm going for BTTS at 8/15 as the safer bet here. 8 of the last 9 meetings between the 2 sides saw BTTS with all of those going over 2.5 but it could be a little bit tighter today with the cup at stake. I fancy this one to go all the way to extra-time and perhaps penalties after a 1.1 draw so i'll be on BTTS and possibly the draw in one of my smaller bets. I can't really pick a winner so I'll be happy if we get BTTS in what should be a very tightly contested but potentially entertaining final. French Cup Final 21:00 - Auxerre v PSG - Prediction 0.2- Best Bet - PSG to win but no bets. I'm giving this one a miss with PSG overwhelming favourites to win and my attention will be elsewhere on the night. No bets for Bo but it should be a routine win for the French champions. Copa del Rey Final 2130 Bilbao v Barcelona - Prediction - 2.4 - Best Bet - BTTS @1/1, BTTS and over 2.5 @13/10, Neymar to score anytime @10/11 Real Madrid rejected the opportunity to host this season's Spanish cup final so this season's showpiece event is contested in Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Only in Spain... Imagine an FA Cup Final held at The Emirates stadium today or Villa Park. It's just nonsensical and why they can't come up with a suitable, neutral venue is anyone's guess but is the kind of stupidity that is pretty much the norm in Spanish football. The city is absolutely packed with Bilbao fans with up to 75000 estimated to have traveled from the beautiful Basque city of the north and they will need their vocal support if they are to avoid defeat against perhaps the best team in Europe. It's hard to look past Barcelona but I do fancy the visitors to give it a real go and grab a goal at least as Barcelona are still not entirely infallible at the back. Bilbao have scored in 3 of their last 5 visits to the Nou Camp but I expect their performance to be better than any of those previous encounters. Instead of a few hundred away fans high up in the stands, miles from the pitch and barely audible, there will be closer to 50,000 Athletic fans in the stadium tonight!. Twelve thousand have traveled without tickets; 500 buses, three trains and 11 flights have been chartered specially and Barcelona is now awash with red and white stripes. Not only will their support be huge, but Bilbao, as the older club, get the honour of the home dressing room so it won't be quite the same as a home game for the favourites. The big problem for the visitors is of course the Barca front 3 with Messi, Suarez and Neymar scoring a remarkable 117 goals this season, one behind the 118 that Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín scored in 2011-12 and I fancy Neymar at 10/11 to score anytime with Messi just 1/2 to hit the net. He probably will mind you. Of course the quality lies with the Catalans not just in that remarkable attack and I do expect a victory tonight to set up the treble face-off with Juventus next weekend but goals should be on the cards and I expect BTTS and BTTS and over 2.5 goals @1/1 and 13/10 respectively. Don't be surprised if this is a really exciting game with Bilbao roared on by a boisterous support and I expect something special from the visitors, even if the quality of Barcelona is just too much for them to handle over 90 minutes. Italy - Serie A 18:00 Verona vs Juventus - Prediction 2.2 - Best Bets - BTTS @8/15, Verona not to lose @6/5 In little over a weeks time, Juventus will travel to Berlin to take on Barcelona in the Champions League final as they look to secure the most remarkable of trebles having already won both Serie A and the Coppa Italia. It is therefor logical to assume that Juve won't be fielding a first choice team here and I can't imagine for a second they will be anywhere near their best for this dead rubber at Verona. Verona though will want to finish their season on a high and I think we might see a decent little encounter here with the hosts rarely involved in dull games and having scored in 15 of their 18 home games this season, I expect them to trouble Juventus here. BTTS is priced at 8/15 and has appeared in 10 of their last 15 home games and with Juve sure to make multiple changes to their regular 11, this should be a game where Verona can get something. I like the BTTS possibility even if 8/15 is a touch short and I also fancy Verona not to lose here at 6/5 odds with Juventus distracted ahead of next week's showdown with Barcelona. Check team-news before betting but if Juve are hugely changed then we should see some goals and a decent contest from the beautiful city of Verona. 20:45 Atalanta vs AC Milan - Prediction - Best Bets - No bet It's not a big game for either side and with plenty of problems off the field, Milan's players are unlikely to be taking this one too seriously. No bets for Bo. Best Bets Villa v Arsenal - BTTS @5/6 Arsenal to win and BTTS @9/4, Benteke to score anytime @11/4 Villa v Arsenal - BTTS and over 2.5 goals @13/10 Bilbao v Barcelona - BTTS @1/1 Bilbao v Barcelona - BTTS and over 2.5 @13/10, Neymar to score anytime @10/11 Dortmund v Wolfsburg - BTTS @8/15 Dortmund v Wolfsburg - Draw @5/2 Verona vs Juventus - BTTS @8/15 Verona not to lose @6/5 Comments are closed.
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