Weekly Articles "Road to Riches" by Rich 'Tighty' Prew
The Road to Riches Weekend of 15th-16th June
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Beverley, Catterick, Chepstow, Haydock and Lingfield and over the jumps at Bangor-on-Dee.
- Football, Euro 24 begins in Germany.
- Cricket, The T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA continues.
- Golf, next week, the Travelers Championship on the USPGA Tour and the KLM Open on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Queens Club and Halle Opens.
2024 European Championship Football (from tomorrow)
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You can subscribe here .
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Royal Ascot 18th-22nd June
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Free Tip
Birmingham Bears v Yorkshire Vikings, Vitality Blast, Friday 7.05pm
We are still in the early stages of the Groups in this competition. A reminder that the 18 counties are split into two regional groups, North and South, and each play 14 Group games. From there the top four in each Group progress to the Quarter Finals, the top two in each Group getting a home tie. From there the four winners progress to finals day at Edgbaston, always a highlight of the domestic cricket calendar, this year played in mid-September.
The tournament has a lower profile recently with the advent of the Hundred each August and this year the early stages coinciding with the T20 World Cup.
In the North group this sees the hosts Birmingham Bears, perennial contenders play the Yorkshire Vikings. The Vikings are currently second in the North Group with three wins after an opening loss whilst the Bears sit outside the top four with two wins and two losses. It’s early days though, both should be in contention for the knockout stages.
The Yorkshire Vikings include Joe Root this time and a strong batting line-up led by the top four has performed in the three wins. After being restricted to 151-7 in the opening loss to Leicestershire, Yorkshire have scored, 104-2 182-1 and 186-6.
That top four consists of former England players Ashley Lyth and Dawid Malan opening the batting, captain and Pakistan test batsman Shan Masood at 3 and Root at 4.
The two openers have had a strong start to the competition.
In four games Malan, who under a year ago was opening the batting for England in this format, has 153 runs at a strike rate of 139 whilst Lyth, a fast scoring left hander has 152 runs at a strike rate of 153 in 3 games.
In this game they will face a Bears bowling line-up led by two fast bowlers who have been on the fringes of the England team in the last few years Richard Gleeson and George Garton and the team’s top wicket taker the Pakistan International Hassan Ali, with nine wickets.
One day/T20 matches at Edgbaston can be played on dry/slow wickets, can be dry and slow though typically later in the season than this. That said in the first and only game to date at Edgbaston in this tournament 149 all out beat 127 all out. In that match openers top scored in each innings, which makes sense as the openers have an advantage on slower pitches playing against a harder ball on a relatively fresh pitch.
Yorkshire Vikings top batsman odds for this game are as follows:
Malan 11/4
Root 16/5
Lyth 7/2
Ferreira 9/2
Malan 6/1
Bar 7/1
For me the choice here is between the openers. Malan is understandably the favourites. In 335 career T20 games he’s scored 9,153 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 129. Lyth has 192 career games in the format, scored 4,580 runs at an average of 25 and a strike rate of 146.
At the prices, Malan is the conservative option, Lyth the more aggressive one with his higher strike rate meaning he can score quickly if he gets in, albeit his figures indicate a less consistent player.
I am going to pick Lyth for this column.
10 points Ashley Lyth Top Yorkshire Vikings batsman at 7/2 Betfair Sportsbook/Paddy Power, 100/30 SkyBet, 31/10 BetVictor, 3/1 Bet365 and Betfred.
Procession
For the first time in F1 history, the top 10 drivers at the Monaco Grand Prix recently started where they finished. The Grand Prix is in a stunning location, with huge history attached, but as a racing spectacle in the absence of bad weather it fails every year. This year’s race was an extreme example of that.
A dramatic first lap saw Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen tangle at high speed, collecting the other Haas of Nico Hulkenberg as debris scattered the track and caused a red flag. During the race suspension, everyone changed tyres, so there was no need to pit again as two tyre compounds had been used by the drivers. There were then no overtakes in the top 10 for the entire 77 laps of the Grand Prix.
Even drivers such as Verstappen and Hamilton who did pit in the final 30 laps for fresh tyres was able to gain a position as the other drivers were able to drive round four seconds off their top pace in an attempt to nurse their tyres to the end of the race.
There are very few spots to make an overtake in an F1 car at Monaco, since 2017, F1 cars have been two metres wide and around 5.5 metres long, much bigger than in previous generations. In essence the cars have outgrown this classic street circuit.
The weekend still provides many opportunities for F1, primarily with existing sponsors and attracting new ones but such was the lack of racing this year that there have been calls for change. Christian Horner said:
"Monaco is such a great place to come racing but the cars are so big now, we just need to look at whether we can do something that introduces an overtaking area or at least the potential of an overtake.
"I think it's something collectively that F1 should look at because it's such a great place, there's so much history here, but everything evolves and I think the cars are so big now if you compare them to cars of 10 years ago, they are almost twice the size. So it's something, collectively as a sport with the promoter, for us to look at how do we just introduce an overtaking opportunity."
In the last 30 years, the highest number of overtakes at the Monaco Grand Prix was 23 in 1997, but that was a wet race. The most overtakes in a dry race was 17 in 2006, with 16 overtakes at the 2011 and 2013 races. In 2003 and 2021, there were zero on-track overtakes, so it's not a new issue for F1, even when cars were slightly smaller in the past.
Even without the red flag this year, Monaco is always a guaranteed one-stop race due to the relatively low tyre degradation and difficulty of overtaking, even with fresh rubber.
When Pirelli returned to F1 in 2011, the Monaco race that year featured different strategy options with the top three drivers on one, two and three-stop strategies due to the high tyre wear.
Over the last decade though, the simple strategy has been to make just one pit stop, which is another reason for the lack of action. Sir Lewis Hamilton has suggested one solution:
"I would say maybe having special tyres for this race, so you have more pit stops, would create more variability. I think they should come up with some new formula for it rather than just do the same."
Monaco is one of only four tracks which were on the original 1950 F1 World Championship calendar, Silverstone, Monza and Spa being the others, and apart from the cancelled 2020 race, it has featured on the schedule every year since 1955.
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A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 8th-9th June
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Beverley, Catterick, Chepstow, Haydock and Lingfield and over the jumps at Bangor-on-Dee.
- Football, Euro 24 begins next Friday in Germany.
- Cricket, The T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA continues.
- Formula One, the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal
- Rugby Union, the Gallagher Premiership final between Northampton and Bath
- Golf, the US Open next week at Pinehurst.
- Tennis, ATP Libema and Stuttgart Opens.
2024 European Championship Football (from 14th June)
Our Euro 2024 write ups, analysis and bets are included in Stattobets Dave's monthly subscriptions at £50 pcm (you can cancel at any time even after just one month)
You can subscribe here
Dave has compiled a truly amazing free resource for everyone on the Euros, more details are below, and this is available in Googledocs here
Royal Ascot 18th-22nd June
The full package of bets and analysis on every race over the five days of Royal Ascot by Neil Channing will cost £199, and subscription is available now here
Free Tip
Premiership Rugby Final
Bath v Northampton, Saturday 3pm, Twickenham
Northampton and Bath, first and second place finishers respectively in the regular season table this season meet in the Premiership final this weekend. This season has represented somewhat of a changing of the guard with Saracens about to embark on a rebuild and Exeter further along that path, and this should be a great game between two very attacking teams.
This is Northampton’s first Premiership final in ten years, reached via a relatively low scoring win 22-20 over Saracens last weekend. Bath meanwhile beat last season’s finalists Sale in a thriller, 31-23 to reach their first final in over a decade. They are hoping to win the club’s first Premiership title in 28 years, since their era of dominance in the 1990s.
Northampton have been the best English club team all season, headlined by the half-back partnership of Alex Mitchell and Finn Smith and the back-line but with a very efficient high energy pack too, really the first year they have an all-round game where the attack is complemented by a forward pack that can give as good as it gets. Within that pack this is the end of an era with Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam off to French rugby at the end of the season.
Bath were in the doldrums for many years and two years ago finished bottom of the league, albeit a league without relegation, but their new South African coach Johann Van Graan has engendered a recovery with huge investment from local owners taking them to competitiveness.
They too have a pair of top half-backs in Ben Spencer and Finn Russell (the object of a big chunk of that investment), back quickly from a recent torn groin with Ollie Lawrence outside and their pack dominated their semi-final.
This promises to be a close and potentially high scoring contest as both teams put the emphasis on attack.
At this distance, you would probably favour Northampton, especially if they get ahead early. Bath will miss the hemmed-in nature of their own small-ish ground that provides a sizeable home advantage, there is no way that even a capacity crowd in the wider spaces of Twickenham could possibly repeat the atmosphere at the Rec. Northampton also probably have more strings to their attacking bow to take an opportunity or two more after a tight contest up-front.
Northampton are 4/7 favourites for the game, Bath 6/4 underdogs. Northampton are -4 on the handicap. I’ve been waiting all week to see Northampton -3, but no joy. I still expect Northampton to win by a score or so.
11 points Northampton -4 points at 10/11 generally
All Academic
English football is producing better quality players and more of them. 12 years of a huge investment in Academy development has delivered winning England junior men’s teams and a senior team in Fifa’s top four.
Subject to the constraints of the Profit and Sustainability regulations (PSR) it has never been more important for clubs to produce home-grown players although that does not necessarily mean in order to play for the first team, as moving on these players represents pure profit for owners seeking to balance the PSR books. They are an important commodity different from players brought in from elsewhere who have transfer fees and sell-on obligations in their cost base.
Examples of these players and how PSR has altered their paths in the game are seen throughout Premier League football. Conor Gallagher was Chelsea captain through much of last season and yet is a prime candidate to be moved in the summer window. This would have been inconceivable pre-PSR, a former Academy player of that age and ability would have been a mainstay of the squad for years to come.
Mason Mount, Brennan Johnson and Anthony Gordon were all sold by their clubs, in part, to mitigate against spending elsewhere. Scott McTominay, Emile Smith Rowe might go the same way at their clubs, as well as Gavi at Barcelona. Cole Palmer and James Trafford were both profitable sales for Manchester City. So too Jaden Philogene and Cameron Archer once of Aston Villa, who left last summer with buy-back clauses.
The PSR compliancy dictates modern football strategy, from the richest clubs to the poorest. It has been the force in creating the multi-club system but for homegrown players they have never been more valuable, but the volatility of their situations has increased markedly. That volatility and mobility away from their Academy clubs has to be seen as a negative for the home club fans, who typically root for home-grown players to break through and succeed. They are “one of our own”.
Developing players for sale rather than first team is not a new phenomenon. Chelsea pioneered it in the 2000s and the most successful development club of the era, Manchester City, followed. Across European football it is part of every club’s business plan. Clubs have long sold their best homegrown talent but now the dynamic is different. With every big move in the transfer market, the flipside is that the cost might eventually be the best academy talent.
Clubs are obliged to invest as much as ever in academies. The latest European Court of Justice ruling suggests that UEFA’s notion of homegrown players to include any produced by clubs in the same national association will have to be changed. Instead the homegrown quota, currently six in Premier League squads, will have to be filled by players who graduated from that club’s academy.
At the same time the old route to signing players at the age of 16 from academies in European Union countries, like Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique, who would then count as homegrown, has been closed by Brexit. In its place is the ‘elite significant contribution player’ effectively a work permit wild card to sign young players around the world. Those aged under 21 do not have to be named as one of the 26 in a Premier League squad.
The status of the homegrown player reflects the status of the modern English game. There is huge pressure to win, and to balance the PSR compliancy. Succeed and the rewards will come. If the club falls short and you will be sold. Or, in the cases of some, sold either way.
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Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 1st-2nd June
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Doncaster, Epsom including the Derby, Lingfield and Musselburgh and over the jumps at Hexham, Stratford and Worcester.
- Football, the Champions League final at Wembley, Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid.
- Cricket, The start of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.
- Golf, the Memorial Tournament on the USPGA and the Scandinavian Mixed Event on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, the French Open continues.
Royal Ascot 18th-22nd June
The full package of bets and analysis on every race over the five days of Royal Ascot by Neil Channing will cost £199, and subscription is available now here
Free Tip
Cricket T20 World Cup starts Sunday
Just 16 months after the last T20 World Cup, won by England in Australia, comes the 2024 version the latest in the global merry-go-round of T20 ICC and franchise tournaments that have been ongoing since the end of the 2023 English domestic season.
This tournament is hosted by the West Indies and the USA from 1st-29th June. 16 matches are being hosted in New York, Texas and Florida. 8 take place on drop-in pitches in a new ground in New Jersey and there is no track record of international games in Florida, whilst in Texas 7 out of the 12 games in last year’s inaugural MLS T20 tournament had totals of less than 155. For Groups A and D in this expanded 20 team tournament there is an added element of variance in predicting ante-post and early single game outcomes, there simply isn’t much pitch and venue data to go on.
The group stage will consist of four groups of five teams, played as a single round-robin format in which the top two teams in each group will progress to the Super 8 stage, two groups of four leading to semi-finals. There’s an important wrinkle though. Teams are already seeded into Super 8 groups, so if India qualify there are into Group 1, and so are Australia. If an underdog qualifies ahead of India, say, they take their ranking in the Super 8.
We can see on the seedings these are the potential Super 8s:
India, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Pakistan, England, West Indies, South Africa
Furthermore if India, say, make it to the semis we know they will play in Guyana. We know Australia would play in Trinidad. Got all that?!
In 8 World T20 tournaments no home team has ever won it and this is the first major tournament since the explosion of scoring in the format, notably in this year’s IPL.
There are reasons why these trends won’t be replicated here, such as no impact players that changed the risk dynamic for batsmen so much and, you would think, an absence of very short boundaries plus the Caribbean pitches are typically on the slow side where spin plays an important role.
That said other trends, such as the strength and conditioning of the batsmen and the bat technology will very much be in play as well as the tactical developments that now see big totals routinely chased down with huge hitting in the second half of innings.
Putting all that together where a T20I par total might once have been 150 and in the IPL is now 200+ perhaps something like 180 will be a par score on these pitches. Note that even in the IPL towards the back end of the tournament scoring rates slowed, pitches were lower and match-winning bowling spells became more the norm. Expect this in the knockout stages of this tournament.
The draw for the groups produced the following amongst the leading teams:
A India and Pakistan
B Australia and England (in tourist-friendly Barbados and Antigua)
C New Zealand and West Indies. Note that New Zealand play spin-heavy Afghanistan, Rashid Khan et al, in slow/low Guyana which is a tricky draw.
D South Africa and Sri Lanka/Bangladesh, the fight between the latter two potentially the closest qualification battle of the four groups.
Current tournament odds are:
India 11/4
Australia 7/2
England 9/2
South Africa 7/1
New Zealand 8/1
Pakistan 8/1
West Indies 10/1
Bar 33/1
It would be a huge surprise if the winner was outside the front seven in the market and a case could be made for any of them. After all any one of these sides is historically only 65% to beat the other in a single game in these tournaments, with variance as to toss, pitch and conditions in any game. It would also be a surprise if in a couple of the groups qualification didn’t come down to Net run rate.
My basic thoughts are that New Zealand and Pakistan are probably a bit humdrum in terms of scoring rates for a tournament like this in 2024, though New Zealand are the ultimate tournament team.
India, Australia and England are obvious favourites. India have only won one World T20 since 2007, clearly disappointing given their resources. Have a brilliant bowling unit but many of the batsman have performed quite poorly in the IPL. Not much value in the 11/4 here.
2020 winners Australia are experienced and settled with probably the best pace attack in the tournament but potentially a little light on spin on the tougher tracks with Agar and Zampa the only options, and Maxwell a potential weak link as a possible second spinner. Travis Head has just smacked the world’s best bowlers all over India in the IPL but the rest of the batting looks a little out of form.
England’s batting line-up looks tremendous but beyond Rashid their spin options of Ali/Livingstone/Jacks aren’t match-winners. The bowling attack as a whole probably falls behind some of the others.
South Africa never win these tournaments and on paper should always get close, a semi-final in the 50 over World Cup last Autumn was at least promising progress. This time round they have one of the most powerful top sixes in the competition, three front line spin options and pace bowlers to spare. South Africa’s bowlers (taking a composite of career figures) have the best combined strike rate in the tournament. Decent each way value at 7/1
The West Indies are two-time winners and again look an interesting option at 8/1 though the 10/1 has gone. The side is absolutely packed with T20 franchise specialists, with power batting all the way down, good spin options and raw pace. The loss of Jason Holder through injury is a blow, an important element of balance in the side at 7-8 and opening the bowling. Nevertheless a top seven containing Pooran, Russell, Powell, Hetmeyer and Shepherd is going to be a threat. In terms of career figures, the West Indies top six is a very close second to England for the best strike rate in the tournament.
I am going to split an each-way position on South Africa and the West Indies for value, hoping one upsets the front three in the market deep in the tournament.
5 points each way South Africa at 7/1 (1/2 1,2) with Bet365 and Coral/Ladbrokes
5 points each way West Indies at 8/1 (1/2 1,2) with Bet365, William Hill and BetVictor
Chargers
It has been more than 15 months since Manchester City were charged with 115 financial breaches taking place over a decade, and an independent commission is expected to hear the case in the next few months. Indeed in recent weeks it has been suggested/leaked that a date for the hearing is now set, the potential news coincident with Manchester City’s fourth successive Premier League title and sixth under Guardiola.
The 115 charges are 54 failures to provide accurate financial information between 2009 and 2018, 14 failures to provide accurate details for player and manager payments, 5 failures to comply with UEFA's rules including Financial Fair Play, 7 breaches of the Premier League's PSR rules and 35 failures to co-operate with the Premier League's investigations.
In the 15 months since City were charged Everton and Nottingham Forest have between them faced three charges, three independent commission hearings, one appeal board hearing, and been docked a combined total of 12 points. New cases against other clubs, Leicester City for sure, Chelsea possibly, are on their way too.
It only took the conclusion of the first of those hearings for Everton manager Sean Dyche to invoke the elephant in the room when he said: “Just like everyone else, we are all wondering what makes one rule for one and one rule for the other. I don’t know the ins and outs for every reason, but I think we are all asking that.”
It is now three years since Lord Justice Males said during a Court of Appeal hearing into a legal dispute linked to the case: “This is an investigation which commenced in December 2018. It is surprising, and a matter of legitimate public concern, that so little progress has been made after two and a half years during which, it may be noted, the club has twice been crowned as Premier League champions.”
It could still be much longer until what is undoubtedly a significantly more complex case is finally resolved with the prospect of an appeal from a club who have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and who overturned a two-year Champions League ban imposed for similar alleged offences. The latest judgment against Everton raised the likelihood of multiple hearings being required to consider different aspects of the case.
The Everton and Forest outcomes produced four written verdicts into profit and sustainability (PSR) rule breaches. The commission which heard the Forest case specifically highlighted the unlimited sanctions available to it, “ranging from a warning through to expulsion from the Premier League”.
It added: “Where a PSR breach is ‘minor’, then it will be for other commissions to determine if any points deduction is necessary, appropriate or proportionate.But if the breach is properly described as ‘major’ then it may be the case that even a very severe sanction such as expulsion is more appropriate.”
If one breach is deemed worthy of a points deduction, what price 115? We might be much closer to finding out.
There is an almost unquantifiable factor though, an issue of potential government involvement. Political and trade relationships with Qatar are in play as well as the PSR rules, highlighting for the Premier League the risk of sovereign owners of its clubs as well as risks from potentially unfit owners it recognises in a separate test.
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Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 25th-26th May
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Chester, Goodwood, Haydock, Salisbury, Windsor and York and over the jumps at Cartmel.
- Football, the FA Cup Final, Manchester City v Manchester United.
- Formula One, the Monaco Grand Prix.
- Cricket, The IPL final and a T20I between England and Pakistan at Edgbaston.
- Rugby Union, the Champions cup final between Leinster and Toulouse at Tottenham
- Golf, the Canadian Open on the USPGA and the European Open on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, the French Open begins
Royal Ascot 18th-22nd June
The full package of bets and analysis on every race over the five days of Royal Ascot by Neil Channing will cost £199, and subscription is available now here.
Free Tip
European Champions Cup Final
Leinster v Toulouse Saturday 2.45pm, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
This could and should be a classic final given the level of talent on display within two sides who are 4-5 time winners of this competition. Five of the last six finals before this year’s game have featured one of these two sides. They’re the dominant forces, the powerhouses, of European rugby.
Leinster beat Toulouse in semi-finals in each of the last two years, both in Dublin, scoring 40 and 41 points but haven’t won the European Champions Cup since 2018 (they lost both of the last two finals to La Rochelle) which is disappointing for a side at its peak throughout, the vanguard of the IRFU’s provincial system with a terrific pipeline coming from the academy system and a squad that makes up the majority of the Irish national team.
This year Leinster made light work of topping Pool D, winning all four matches en route to finishing 2nd in the overall standings. As Pool winners, the Irish team got a home draw in the Round of 16, where they defeated Leicester Tigers 36-22 before beating La Rochelle comfortably in the Quarter-final.
In the semi-final against the Northampton Saints, Leinster made hard work of things. Coasting at 20-3 with just over 20 minutes to go they coasted allowing the Saints back into the match. In the end, they hung on for a 20-17 win.
In the URC this year they are currently only 3rd winning 12 of 17 games but have been consistently resting players for big European ties, such as in last weekend’s 23-21 loss to Ulster in Belfast and two recent games in South Africa.
An already strong squad is strengthened for this match by the return from injury of Hugo Keenan and James Ryan.
With South Africa’s World Cup winning coach Jacques Nienaber on board since November their defence is solid but for all their squad depth it is the individual brilliance of scrum half Jamieson Gibson-Park and winger James Lowe that have seen then through tight spots this year. They’ll need more to match the firepower of Toulouse.
Toulouse last won this tournament in 2021, a real “Galacticos” squad headlined by Antoine Dupont but with a team containing many current French internationals such as Mauvaka, the storming hooker, Meafou, Flament, Cros. Ntamack and Ramos. Blair Kinghorn and Jack Willis have also played major roles this season. Willis is particular will have a major role at the breakdown which will be a key battle in deciding the game. Paul Costes, a 21-year-old centre with an exciting future, is worth looking out for.
Toulouse have looked ominously potent in the tournament this season with an average winning margin of 25 points in their seven matches. They won Pool B with four wins from four. They also scored the most points of any team in the Pool section and, as a result, entered the knock-out stages as the No.1 seeded team.
In the Round of 16, they defeated Racing 92 31-7. The margin of victory was even greater in the quarter-final, with Blair Kinghorn’s 23-point haul helping them to a convincing 64-26 win over the Exeter Chiefs. In the semi-final, Toulouse were made to work for their 38-26 win over Harlequins having led 31-12 at half-time.
They are top of the French Top 14 having won 16 of 24 matches.
It promises to be a great final and a slight contrast in styles. Toulouse look to keep the ball alive and Leinster have more structure to their game. The game might hinge on the respective defences. Toulouse’s defence will have to be much better in the final than it was against Harlequins because they won't get as much loose ball/turnovers against Leinster.
It should be very close. Outright odds for the game are Leinster 8/11 Toulouse 6/5 and +1 underdogs on the handicap.
I am happy to take Toulouse outright odds-against.
10 points Toulouse at 21/20 Bet365 and Betfred
Replayed
FA Cup replays have been scrapped from the first round onwards from the 2024-25 season as a result of the expansion of European competitions next season and the resulting pressure on the football calendar.
The move was widely criticised, with more than 100 clubs sharing statements voicing their position against the move. For example a joint statement by 16 football league said
"This decision has become totemic for how the game is being run. Decisions are being made behind closed doors. There is a lack of transparency, a lack of consistency, and a lack of fairness."
"The FA Cup is the oldest football competition in the world and the decision to remove FA Cup replays from the first round proper further undermines its prestige and does nothing to help protect our cherished football pyramid.
“The Premier League’s influence in this decision is yet another example of football’s growing divide that has seen the gaps between and within divisions grow at all levels.
“Participating clubs in the FA Cup were not consulted. Our clubs as well as the fans have been let down."
Meanwhile it was pointed out that the four Premier League clubs who reach the Champions League next season will play a minimum of 50 matches, while League One and League Two clubs will play a minimum of 51. It was also highlighted there have been fewer than 10 occasions in the past 10 years when a club playing in European football has faced an FA Cup replay.
Football campaign group Fair Game has issued five demands to reform the FA Cup following the decision to scrap replays.
The body, which represents 34 men's professional clubs, has called for an amendment to the upcoming Football Governance Bill that would mean replays could not be scrapped without a majority vote from all eligible clubs.
Further demands include Champions League qualification being awarded to FA Cup winners to "regain respect for the competition". It also wants the planned football regulator to rule on any financial changes to "ensure it protects the whole football pyramid". Fair Game wants replays to be played on Monday nights for clubs playing in Europe, reform of voting structures to "one member one vote" and for fans to be consulted to changes to football competitions.
StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription - Soccer - Tennis - Darts
Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.
Results as at 1st January 2024 = points bet 41601 profit +2048 ROI +4.92%
Full details here
Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January 2024. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £69,601 All bets have an ROI +2.97%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £73,601, a 1740% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 18th-19th May
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Goodwood, Gret Yarmouth, Newmarket and Thirsk over the jumps at Hexham and Uttoxeter.
- Football, the final weekend of Premier League fixtures this season.
- Formula One, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
- Cricket, The IPL continues.
- Golf, the Charles Schwab Challenge on the USPGA and the Soudal Open on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Geneva and Lyon Opens
Free Tip
IPL Rajasthan Royals v Kolkota Knight Riders Sunday 3pm
This is the final game of the group stages, with the play offs beginning next Tuesday and the final next Sunday in Chennai. It’s already been a record-breaking tournament, with 14 centuries this year, and 26 in the last two years out of the 101 centuries in the competition’s 18 year history. With a few group games to go at the time of writing there have been a record 1133 sixes hit in 128 innings. Last year was also record, 1124 sixes in 147 innings.
The reasons for the have been well-rehearsed, good pitches, small boundaries, stronger players, bigger bats and the new impact substitute rule have all contributed. It remains to be seen whether this type of scoring carries over to the T20 World Cup next month in the Caribbean and the USA.
As the tournament reaches it end this week there have been signs that pitches are becoming more tired and scoring has been coming down Pitches are slowing down and it’s not as easy for the hitters.
KKR are finishing top of the group stage table, settled with a game to spare with 9 wins from their 13 wins to date. Rajasthan are in a mini-slump having lost four games in a row and slid to third in the table with 8 wins and five defeats after their exceptional start to the competition.
With reference to this game it’s worth a look at next week’s Play-off format, as it impacts on motivations here. First and Second in the group table play on Tuesday in the Qualifier game with the winner going straight to the final. A huge advantage to the winner, as the loser goes onto the second Qualifier on Friday against the winner of the 3rd v 4th game on Wednesday.
Rajasthan know they need to win this game to stand a chance of the top two. KKR will hope to win this game to keep Rajasthan, over the tournament as a whole their most dangerous opponent alongside Sunrisers, out of the Qualifier. KKR are 8/11 for the match Rajasthan 11/10.
Both teams go into this game and the rest of the competition without their English players who have bene major contributors. Salt and Buttler have been called back to England to prepare for the World Cup in a series against Pakistan.
For KKR Sunil Narine has had one of the best IPL seasons ever with to date 461 runs at a strike rate of 183 and 14 wickets at and economy rate of just 6.6. He is only the second player, after Shane Watson in 2008 to post this strike rate and economy with over 400 runs and 12 wickets.
It’s no surprise to see him top of the KKR batsman market at 3/1 ahead of the Iyers, Russell and Raghuvanshi the other KKR top scorers in the tournament in the absence of Salt. Salt will be a big loss to KRR, he’d hit 435 runs at a strike rate of 180.
There is another option though. Nitish Rana scored 413 runs in last year’s IPL when KKR captain and top scored in a quarter of the KKR innings.
This year, as vice-captain, he scored nine in the first match suffering a hand injury that kept him out of the next ten games. On his comeback he scored a 23 ball 33 batting in the middle order and with Salt missing is going to be back in the side for the play-offs.
A dangerous customer he can be backed at 11/2 to be KKR top scorer here, a value price with Betfred.
10 points Nitish Rana Top KKR scorer 11/2 Betfred, 5/1 William Hill
Capped
American investors have increasingly crossed the Atlantic to acquire equity stakes in the Premier League’s top clubs. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester United, West Ham, Fulham, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, and Burnley all now have some element of American ownership.
The NFL currently brings in more than $20bn in annual revenue more than annual revenue than the world’s top five football leagues combined, despite the latter having a much larger global fanbase and many American Premier League investors have talked about the under-utilisation of the league’s financial potential.
They have though tended to underestimate the Premier League’s unique challenges, including ever-escalating salaries due to sovereign-owned competitors and annual expenses that routinely surpass 70% of a club’s total income, in addition to promotion/relegation, an alien concept in American sports.
Many American owners have spent years campaigning for changes across the Premier League which runs on a shareholder model, with potential rule changes requiring the support of at least 14 out of 20 clubs, to be passed and as yet there aren’t 14 American ownership influences.
The Super League would have boosted valuations by implementing a closed-league structure similar to the NFL and NBA and a salary cap structure was always going to be on the table.
A majority of Premier League owners are finalising a proposal that would place a hard spending limit on annual wages and transfer fees across the league with a vote expected next month with the cap expected to be calculated based on a 5x multiple of the annual TV revenue earned by the Premier League’s poorest club. Approximately with last season’s bottom club earning £120m from the TV deal that means a £600m salary cap incoming. Last season only Chelsea would have exceeded that threshold.
The salary cap is one of the main reasons American sports produce such parity with smaller market teams capable of winning leagues in a fairer playing field for recruiting talent.
A salary cap system does have some negatives. In its simplest form it places a limit on player earnings and the Premier League competes for talent against Europe’s other top leagues, unlike in the United States where the NFL, NBA, etc., are only competing against themselves.
The Premier League will probably deduct points from clubs that breach the annual salary cap threshold, similar to the system used today for clubs that violate Profit and Sustainability Rules. The league might be better off with a luxury tax system (as seen in the NBA and MLB), allowing bigger clubs to spend more money if they choose and then redistributing that money to smaller Teams. Otherwise, a salary cap system could actually worsen parity, as it would effectively lock in financial advantages for the league’s biggest clubs.
The Professional Footballers’ Association has also said they would challenge any hard cap on player wages, claiming it violates European competition law.
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