Elite Sports Betting Tips: March 4 – Stake blog

Elite Sports Betting Tips: March 18 - Stake blog

English Premier League – Newcastle vs Brighton – Draw No bet Newcastle @ 1.88

How good has Eddie Howe been for Newcastle?

Seemingly relegated before being bought out in late 2021, Eddie Howe and a few key signings have completely turned this club around.

Undefeated in seven has meant the club has gone from bottom to relative safety already this season.

The goal now is to build on this solid foundation, before some more investment in the transfer market next season.

They’ve become hard to beat, and I can’t see them losing here to a Brighton side who have indeed lost three on the spin, and haven’t scored in nearly five hours!

The draw no bet market gives us some insurance if the game does end in draw, but we’re hoping it doesn’t get to that point. 1 unit

NBA – Philadelphia 76ers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – Winner (incl. Overtime) Cleveland Cavaliers @ 3.60

Philadelphia have been buoyed by the acquisition of star guard James Harden, winning their past four matches on the trot.

They face the surprise team of the year, the Cavaliers, at home in this contest.

Sitting just two wins behind the Sixers in the East, the Cavs have been underestimated all season long – a trend that continues here.

Despite Cleveland missing wing scorer Caris LeVert (whom they acquired at the trade deadline) the core players that got them into this quite unbelievable position all remain healthy.Given how close the teams are in terms of record, 3.60 is a very generous price for the Cavs to hand Philly their first loss with James Harden in town. 0.5 units

English Championship – Huddersfield Town vs Peterborough United – 1×2 & Total – Huddersfield & Under 3.5 @ 2.11

Sir Patrick Stewart must be on cloud nine at the moment.

The second season of his Star Trek reboot series has begun, he appears to be returning as Professor X in the new Doctor Strange movie but most importantly, his Terriers seem to be on their way back to the top flight.

One of the great underdog stories in recent EFL history, Huddersfield’s promotion to the top flight in 2017 saw them finish 16th in their debut season, before the second season syndrome hit them hard and sent them crashing back to the Championship.

Now sitting third in the table after two disappointing seasons in a row, the dream is well and truly alive again at the Kirklees Stadium.

Head coach Carlos Corberan has led his charges on a 17-match unbeaten run, leaving them as one of the only clear challengers for Bournemouth’s spot in second.

Danny Ward has been doing the job up front, while Chelsea loanee Levi Colwill has shored up their backline which was previously so leaky.

They next take on a Peterborough side coming off a mid-week loss to reigning Premier League champions Manchester City in the FA Cup.

Whilst Huddersfield have not lost since November 28, Peterborough have not won since February 6, and they last won away on October 21 against Hull City. Rock bottom of the Championship, this is the last type of fixture The Posh will want at this time.

Despite a mid-week FA Cup clash next week against Nottingham Forest, we’ll back the Terriers to get the job done and as has been the case with all of their matches since January 23, under 3.5 goals.  1 unit

English Premier League – Aston Villa vs Southampton
Under 2.5 goals @ 1.98

Aston Villa managed a morale boosting win last week against a surprisingly poor Brighton, and will have to muster more of that bravado when they face Southampton who are unbeaten in their last seven matches.

Despite the form of Coutinho, Villa are struggling to regularly find the back of the net, with four of their last five matches only one team has scored.

Southampton have also had under 2.5 goals in four of their last 5 league games, despite their form.

Should be a close contest, with under being the value here. 1 unit

English Premier League – Leicester Vs Leeds 1×2 – Draw @ 4.10   

The Marcelo Bielsa era is over at Elland Road, with the Leeds Utd board deciding that last weekends 4-0 walloping at home to Spurs was the final straw.

New boss Jesse Marsch has a job on his hands in attempting to turn round a shocking run of form which has seen them concede 20 goals in 5 EPL games in February, with only a single point gained during that period.

His first task is to surely work on improving them defensively, and with Captain Liam Cooper and star player Kalvin Philips both due back from injury this month (although likely not in time for this fixture) that should help shore things up.

This weekend they travel to Leicester, who themselves have not had the best of it recently either. A 2-0 victory over Burnley in midweek was their first victory of 2022.

The pressure was starting to mount on Brendon Rogers, and he’ll be hoping that win will kickstart a run of form that gets them back into the top half of the table.

The market has actually shortened for Leicester to win since Bielsa’s sacking, but with Marsch’s initial mandate surely to make this Leeds team more difficult to beat, odds of 4.10 (at the time of writing) on them to get a draw at the King Power look slightly generous against a Foxes side who have hardly been in stellar form since the turn of the year. 1 unit

English Championship – Derby County v Barnsley – 1×2 Derby @ 2.15

First things first, this is a must win game for Derby if they plan to somehow manage to escape.

Their fans will know it and get right behind them, like they have all season.

I tipped Derby to beat now bottom of the league, Peterborough, on 19th Feb.

It did take a Rams last minute winner in order to land, but anything other than a Derby win that day would’ve been a travesty; they were dominant.

Part of the reasoning of that tip was Derby’s form at home, because the aforementioned cauldron at Pride Park, their record now sits at 8-6-3, losing once in their last seven matches at home.

They play the then (19th Feb) bottom of the league, Barnsley. Their away form is just as much reasoning to back Derby: 1-4-12.

They’ve managed to win their last two, one of which was their sole away win of the season – this is the only reason this price is here, I believe.

And if cold hard facts are your thing, Derby are just two points behind Barnsley after starting -21. 1.5 units

English Premier League – Watford vs Arsenal – 1×2 Watford @ 6.0

Despite having lost each of their last seven home games and now currently sitting at 19th on the ladder, there’s still hope for the Hornets after their gritty draw against Man Utd.

Now fighting for survival, only three points above relegation, we have faith the mighty Hornets can take on a fierce Arsenal side, trying to break into the top four.

Praying for a miracle, Hornets 1×2 @ 6.0

Don’t forget, with every Watford win in the EPL, Stake will also be giving away bonus Dogecoin drops! 1 unit

Test Cricket – Paskistan vs Australia 1st Test – Australia To Win @ 2.72   

In just a few hours Pakistan will host Australia on home soil for the first time in 23 years and it’s shaping up to be a fierce contest.

There’s been some talk early doors about a fairly mundane wicket in the offing but that shouldn’t halt a rampant Australia.

And yes they may only be coming off a series domination over a hapless England but the depth in this team looks as strong as any time in the past decade.

Sides haven’t been named yet but Australia will have the option of playing a second spinner following Cam Green’s excellent Ashes Series and the Baggy Green head into this at near full strength.

It’s definitely right to expect some resistance from the home team but with only mild showers expected through day three of the match, there’s enough cricket to be played here for a result as we get towards the last two days. 2 units

UFC 272 – Covington Vs. Masvidal – Asian Total under 4.5 @ 2.20

The main event for UFC 272 sees these two ex-teammates turned rivals will fight it out over 5 rounds.

I think the 2.20 for the fight to go the distance is value here. I think the only way Masvidal wins this is via knockout, and I think Covington’s fast pace on both the ground and in the stand up will make it hard for Masvidal to last the five rounds.

I personally see this ending via Masvidal KO or Covington too. 1 unit

La Liga – Osasuna vs Villareal – 1×2 & Total – Villareal & Under 3.5 @ 2.55

Villareal have had a nice season playing some beautiful football and proving their attacking prowess.

They have managed to have one of the best Goal Differences in the league and have proved themselves against top teams all year round.

Osasuna on the other hand have struggled a bit to really kick off, but they are known to battle their way through the season.

Osasuna’s home ground is also known to be a tough ground to play in and their fans will be sure to be their 12th man to support them.

Hence why I believe they won’t concede many goals.

However, Villareal have been proven to be strong enough in any condition, and their star youngster Pino is in stellar form, hungry for goal and eager to prove why he is one to watch.
Here Villareal are set to do the job and go home with another 3 points. 2 units

English Premier League – Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace – 1×2 Wolverhampton Wanderers @ 2.33

Wolves push for the top six has veered off course in recent weeks, suffering defeats to Arsenal and West Ham, two sides also hunting down those precious European places.

They remain one of the best defensive units in the Premier League and Pedro Neto’s return from a long injury lay off adds to their attacking options.

Wolves have had a tough 2022 with away games against Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal, but they now embark on an appealing set of fixtures as they look to stop the rot and start pushing back up the table.

Crystal Palace won a hard fought FA Cup tie against Stoke in midweek, but recent league results have been a mixed bag and they’ve only won twice on the road all season.

Wolves know they need to get back to winning ways and this home assignment is a good opportunity to do that at some appetising odds. 1 unit

AFLW – St Kilda Saints vs. Geelong Cats – St Kilda Saints @ 2.4

We move down-under this weekend and turn to some scintillating Women’s football action in the AFLW.

Despite being on the bottom end of the ladder, the team has come a long way since the start of the season and may feel the ladder poorly reflects their efforts.

They’ve covered single score handicaps against three of their last four bottom of the table match ups and will carry a further momentum boost with their first win against the Gold Coast Suns last weekend.

Conversely, Geelong had a 23 point win last weekend against another bottom of the table team in the Tigers and we think the markets have over-reacted to this performance.

We’re getting great value at 2.4 and expect the Saints to put on a show at their first ‘home’ outing on the newly resurfaced RSEA Oval. 1 unit

A-League –  Melbourne Victory v Macarthur FC – Asian Total Over 3.25 @ 2.42 

The poor A-League can’t take a trick at the moment.

Only weeks ago the league was hammered with Covid postponements as the virus wreaked havoc on fixtures, now extreme flooding in parts of Australia has put more games in doubt to go ahead as planned.

We saw two postponements last round with more expected this weekend, including Saturday night’s Sydney Derby.

One game that should go ahead is the battle between two top-6 teams in Melbourne Victory and Macarthur FC.

Victory had their match against Brisbane postponed last weekend with the Roar’s home state of Queensland copping the worst of the flood disaster currently gripping Australia’s North-East coast.

The last time the Victory laced up the boots was back on February 19 with a 1-0 win over Central Coast at home, relying on a 94th-minute winner to get the three points.

Macarthur FC had a busy February with some mixed results.

They came from 2-0 down against Western United to earn a 2-2 draw against the ladder leaders, looked like world beaters in a 4-1 romp over Adelaide United but fell to the bottom-placed Brisbane Roar 3-1.

One thing we can expect from a Macarthur game is goals, and plenty of them.

The seven games featuring the Bulls in February consisted of a total of 28 goals, with 13 for and 15 against.

The Victory aren’t in what you’d call outstanding goal-scoring form but with how leaky the Macarthur defense has been of late, they should recapture their groove in front of goal in this one.

With scratchy form and postponements making it hard to confidently pick a winner in this one, we’ll back a healthy amount of goals at AAMI Park on Friday night. 1 unit

Dota2 GAMERS GALAXY: Invitational Series Dubai 2022 – Boom Esports vs Tundra Esports – Winner Tundra Esports @ 2.37 

It can’t be denied that Boom is on a hot streak right now.

They took 1st place on their last 4 regional tournaments and even took the top spot in the group stage, going undefeated against the OG, Team Secret, and Nigma Galaxy SEA.

Not to take anything from them but these matches are best of 1s, where anything could happen.

It’s a different story when it comes to best of 3s.

Tundra Esports also took the top spot in their group alongside Nigma Galaxy, even defeating the reigning TI10 champs Team Spirit along the way.

Boom Esports might be the better team right now but I don’t think Tundra Esports deserves to be 2.37.

You could say I’m purely going for value here. 1 unit

Author: Eugene Edwards