Ticket to win: Bayern and Bayer get our vote, but split on the Manchesters

So Aston Villa don't face off against Tottenham Hotspur until midday on Sunday. However, there's quite a lot of football to be getting on with before that time. One of the best ways of getting yourself interested in games outside Villa matches, or even outside the Premier League, is to wager a bit of money on them.

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Here's what the writers of 7500 to Holte have chosen to waste their (imaginary) money on this week. Remember, we started out with €20 each, and once it's gone, it's gone:

Aaron
Available: €27.83

€2 on Southampton to win at Manchester United, 11/2 (€13 return)

United just hasn't done anything to impress so far this season while Southampton has looked legitimately quite good. A Saints win wouldn't be the least bit surprising, and given the odds it's just too tempting to pass up.

€2 on Seattle Sounders to win at FC Dallas, 6/4 (€5 return)

The Sounders are too good to be playing as poorly as they have over the past month, and FC Dallas is kind of a disaster. The level of parity in MLS makes placing any bet-let alone a bet on the away team-a serious risk, but I need some reason to believe and preserve my sanity.

€1 Accumulator (€12.21 return):

Parma home win against Hellas Verona (21/10)
Luis Suarez to score against Newcastle (5/4)
Both teams to score, Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Colorado Rapids

This probably isn't going to hit, but each single part of it seems more than plausible and the return seems decent enough.

*note: Aaron made a whoopsie here. Parma are away at Verona and Verona have yet to drop points at home.

Andrew
Available: €14

€2 on Man Utd and Southampton to draw, 10/3

Like Aaron I want to pick Soton but I can't do it. This is a cowardly bet.

€2 Notts Fucking County over Swindon in League 1, 5/1

I want to show my support for Jack Grealish who I love for some reason

€1 accumulator (€4.10return):

Chelsea to beat Cardiff, 2/9
Swansea to beatSunderland, 8/13
Arsenal to beat Norwich, 2/7
Newcastle and Liverpool both to score, 8/13

Gareth
Available: €11.23

€2 on West Ham to beat Manchester City, 9/2 (€11 return)
This depends on two things happening: West Ham's result against Spurs being a real thing rather than an aberration, and Manchester City continuing to be a fairly average team away from the Etihad. I think the former is a lot more likely than the latter, but I heard rumblings that Martin Demichelis might make his City debut in this game and I cannot think of a less dependable centre back in top-flight football than that dude.

€2 on Napoli to beat Roma, 5/2 (€7 return)
Like pretty much everyone, I'm convinced that Roma's hot streak is due to run out sooner or later, and Napoli is tremendously well-equipped to do so. I'm also curious about what odds I could get on Kirsten deleting this bit for fear I might somehow jinx the result.

*note: Kirsten does plan to fly to Canada and punch Gareth in the nose when Napoli now inevitably lose.

Fulham are an incredibly poor team with a history of being terrible away from home. There will not be a better opportunity for Crystal Palace to win a Premier League game all year. It seems like Ian Holloway is skipping a repeat of the honeymoon period he took at Blackpool in 2010 and getting an early start on the "ignominious relegation amidst a haze of managerial incompetence" phase

Jack
Available: €30.84

UK: €1 8-fold (€44.30 return)

Celtic to win at Hibs, 4/11
Week in and week out Celtic are a classic team to put on your banker acca.
Everton to beat Hull City, 4/9
Hull are off to a dream start in their return campaign in the Premier League. A potential problem for them is that Lukaku is on fire as of late, so I'm taking Everton.
Swansea to beat Sunderland, 4/7
Sunderland are awful.
QPR to win at Millwall, 10/11
QPR really look the part, in second place in the Championship averaging 2.6 points per match. Millwall are 18th, with only 11 points through 11 matches.
Reading to beat  Doncaster, 4/7
Reading have been doing reasonably well at home this season, winning three and drawing two. Doncaster only have one win on the road (D2,L1).
Watford to beat Derby,10/11
This is one of my riskier picks as Derby have three wins on the road, and I wouldn't be shocked if this one busts my coupon. However, it is decent odds on a pretty solid Watford side playing at home, so I couldn't resist.
Manchester United to beat Southampton, 8/15
United are just starting to figure things out and are back in the top half.
Manchester City to win at West Ham United, 4/6
City haven't won on the road yet, and the Hammers are coming off a nice victory over city rivals Spurs. So the odds are a bit low for City in my opinion, but the bookies probably know something I don't.

Germany: €3 four-fold (return €13.92)

Schalke to win at Braunschweig, 8/11
Braunschweig are still bottom because they are bad.
Bayer Leverkusen to win at Hoffenheim, 1/1
Games involving Hoffenheim have averaged 5 goals per game this season, so this will probably finish 1-0 with Leverkusen as winners.
Borussia Dortmund to beat Hannover, 2/9
Dortmund might have their hands full here, but I expect them to win.
FC Bayern to beat Mainz, 1/10
It's Bayern.

Rest of Europe: €2 7-fold (return €21.98)

Feyenoord to win at Go Ahead Eagles, 13/20
Feyenoord are only in fourth so far in the Eredivisie, but should win here and there are pretty good odds.
*editor's note: is this a real team?
PSG to beat Bastia,1/5
PSG have too much firepower.
Barcelona to win at Osasuna, 2/9
It's Barca.
Atletico Madrid to win at Espanyol, 4/6
Atletico should maintain their perfect record this season and take max points.
Basel to beat St. Gallen, 4/6
Basel are usually one of the frontrunners in the Swiss Super League, and St. Gallen got beat by Swansea in the Europa League.
Real Madrid to beat Malaga,1/5
Malaga haven't been as good as in recent years as they have had to sell off some of their top players, notably Isco.
Galatasaray to beat Karabukspor, 4/11
This is embarrassing to use as reasoning but I've never heard of Karabukspor so Galatasaray should win.

Kirsten
Available: €27.56

The Kirsten-Covers-Matches €1 4-fold (€7.61 return)

Liverpool to win at Newcastle, 5/6
Arsenal to beat Norwich, 2/7
Stoke City vs. West Bromwich Albion, under 2.5 goals scored, 8/13 
Swansea vs. Sunderland, under 2.5 goals scored, 1/1

I have to cover all these matches on Saturday. May as well have a vested interest (other than typing up quality match reports, of course.

The "Why not throw a bunch of European bets together" €1 8-fold (€19.62 return)

Chelsea to beat Cardiff, 2/9
This will likely be the one that wrecks my coupon.
Everton to beat Hull, 9/20
Romelu. Lukaku.
Valladolid vs. Sevilla, over 2.5 goals, 1/1
Sevilla like to score, Valladolid like to concede.
Barcelona to win at Osasuna, 2/9
Duh (Please be duh).
Leverkusen to win at Hoffenheim, 21/20
Schalke to win at Braunschweig, 8/11
Bayern to beat Mainz, 1/10
Borussia Dortmund to beat Hannover, 2/9
I dunno, these four German matches seemed likely wins. Now watch the Bundesliga table go all into a kerfuffle after I'm through with it.

The "Yeah I swear I'm an expert on Italian football" €1 3-fold (€17.80 return)
Udinese to win away at AC Milan, 17/4
Either the bookies don't know Mario Balotelli is out injured or the bookies know that Milan will be given a dodgy penalty in the 89th minute that prevents Udinese from winning. Sigh.
Juventus to win away at Fiorentina, 11/10
I've been asked to place this bet. I don't think my jinxing teams by betting on them works if it's a conscious thing but hey, whatever.
Genoa vs. Chievo Verona, under 2.5 goals, 8/13
Yawn.

Robert
Available: €15

€2 Accumulator (€5.22 return)
Arsenal to beat Norwich: 2/7
Chelsea to beat Cardiff: 2/9
Newcastle v. Liverpool: Over 2.5 goals, 7/10

Dear god, I just want to win some money this week. Come on heavy favorites!

€1 on Stoke to beat West Brom (€2.50 return)

I want to bet against WBA until I win, but I don't want to risk losing another accumulator because of them.