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Welcome to the 7500 to Holte betting pool! Here, each of the 7500 to Holte writers have been given a magical cashpot filled with €20. We'll keep a running tally of how much everyone's made or lost, and at the end of the season, we'll see who's still standing -- and whose legs have been smashed by the loan sharks.
"Why Euros?" you might rightly ask, as this is a site filled with North American authors about an English club. Well, it's because I have control and I can legally bet and I use Euros, damn it. And my math skills are not up to conversion.
Anyway, everyone who chose to do so picked a little money out of that magic pot and used it to place their weekend bets.* Here's what we're hoping might happen:
*please note: when we say magical cashpot, we mean it. While the odds have been tallied using betting sites, the money used is fake. No laws were broken in the making of this article
Aaron Campeau
Bayern - Wolfsburg: Draw -- €1 (7/1)
Bayern has predictably been quite good this season. Wolfsburg has also been good, in a relative sense, but they don't have a draw yet. Why the hell not, right?
Norwich - Stoke City: Norwich Win -- €2 (10/3)
Stoke is still Stoke, and Norwich looked like they were inches away from being an absolute terror last weekend.
Seattle Sounders vs. New York Red Bulls: First Goalscorer-Lamar Neagle -- €1 (13/2)
Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey probably aren't going to play, and this is either going to be Lamar or Obafemi Martins. Might as well go with the longer odds on a low-risk bet.
Jack Grimse
€1 accumulator bet; possible winnings €17.84
Note: A banker acca is a coupon where you are taking a lot of pretty big favorites and I've done that here, the only team that is above evens is Watford to beat Wigan
Leverkusen vs. Hannover (1/3)
Despite this being the 3rd place vs 4th place matchup in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen have 3 wins from 3 at home while Hannover have 2 losses from 2 played on the road.
Dortmund vs. Freiburg (2/11)
Dortmund are joint top and Freiburg are second bottom only taking 3 points from 6 matches.
Bayern Munich vs. Wolfsburg (1/7)
It's Bayern.
Leicester vs Barnsley (1/2)
Leicester are 3rd and Barnsley are second bottom, only collecting 4 points from 8 matches played while allowing the most goals in the championship.
Watford vs. Wigan (23/20)
This is the potential coupon buster, but it basically doubles the value of my bet. Watford haven't lost yet at home (W2D2) and Wigan have won once on the road losing twice.
Bradford vs. Shrewsbury (4/5)
Bradford have 10 points from 4 home matches and sit in 6th in League 1. Shrewsbury haven't won on the road yet (D3L1).
Valencia vs. Rayo Vallencano (2/7)
Valencia aren't really off to a hot start in 7th place in La Liga after 6 matches. However, Rayo are in 17th with the worst goal difference of the league, a terrible -15.
Paris St Germain vs. Toulouse (1/4)
PSG are in second behind pesky Monaco, due to their home form being only average, winning 1 and drawing 2. Toulouse have only 1 win from 4 on the road, drawing 1 as well. I expect Toulouse to lose (bad pun).
Sunday -- 1 accumulator bet; possible winnings €5.69
Sunderland vs. Liverpool: Liverpool win (7/10)
Sunderland sit in dead last in the Prem only collecting a point from 5 matches. Oh, and they just fired their manager.
Braunschweig vs. Stuttgart: Stuttgart win (10/11)
Stuttgart haven't won on the road yet, but Braunschweig only have a draw from 6 matches and are bottom of the Bundesliga.
Reims vs. Monaco: Monaco win (8/13)
Monaco have collected 2 wins and a draw on the road so far and sit atop Ligue 1. Reims have earned 5 points from 3 home matches so far, but I thought it was decent odds for Monaco.
Robert Lintott
€2 accumulator bet; possible winnings €14.58
Manchester United vs. West Brom: Manchester United win (3/10)
Sunderland vs. Liverpool: Liverpool win (8/11)
Since I'm new to "gambling" on football, I thought I'd start with two "easy" bets. It strikes me as if it is never a bad idea to bet against an albion, and Liverpool are going to bathe in the tears of the Sunderland faithful.
Tottenham vs. Chelsea: draw (23/10)
But I didn't want to be entirely wimpy, so I figured I'd go out on a limb here. I think Chelsea are the better team, but since the match is at White Hart Lane, I think Tottenham will get some advantage. And surely Tottenham don't win, they must be exhausted from scoring four midweek goals. Also, when two managers this handsome meet, everybody wins.
Kirsten Schlewitz
€1 accumulator bet; possible winnings €70.56
Augsburg vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach: Gladbach win (9/5)
Pretty much I just like the Foals away kits. Go Rave Green!
Aston Villa vs. Manchester City: Draw (16/5)
What? It could happen.
Fiorentina vs. Parma: Parma win (5/1)
Parma have won just once, midweek 4-3 to Atalanta. Fiorentina lost on Thursday to Inter Milan. Of course it will be a viola victory, but hey, high money to me for betting on the scrappy guys.
Gareth Simpson
Swansea vs. Arsenal: Swansea win -- €2 (11/5)
Since they've been promoted, I've felt like Swansea have had Arsenal's number. They can cope with Arsenal's style, and they'll be at home at the Liberty Stadium. I'm not convinced this Arsenal renaissance is for real, this will be a good test of whether that's true.
Hull City Tigers vs. West Ham United: West Ham win -- €2 (23/10)
Someone wrote - in the Guardian, I think - about how Tom Huddlestone was going to be Hull's saviour this year. Yeah, the Tom Huddlestone who spent last year behind Scott Parker on Spurs' depth chart. Okay.
Tottenham vs. Chelsea: Spurs win -- €2 (17/10)
If the wheels come off the Jose Mourinho Comeback Tour this fast, I'm going to ditch the hell out of my preseason pick of a Chelsea title and laugh until I cannot breathe.
Betting this weekend? Let us know what's on your ticket!
More from 7500 To Holte:
- Kickin' It: Sweatin' the City
- Kickin' It: Are Aston Villa a long ball team, Lambert encouraged by Albrighton
- FIFA 14 Review
- Aston Villa 0-4 Tottenham Hotspur: Match analysis -- Pants.
- Kickin' It: Suárez "Champing at the Bit" to get back, Klopp may face further discipline, and Belgian midfielder bicycle kicks his own rebound