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Monday, May 29, 2017

NBA Finals - Golden State Warriors clear favourites for redemption.

This is the moment the Golden State Warriors have been waiting for all season.

After blowing that 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in last year’s NBA Finals, the Warriors are back, and they’re better than ever; Golden State has opened as a 7-point home favorite for Thursday’s opener (9 PM ET, ABC), and the Warriors are –240 favorites on the NBA championship futures market.


Last year’s Warriors won 73 regular season games, but they didn’t win the only game that counts: the last one. So they strengthened by adding Kevin Durant in free agency, giving them yet another league MVP to join Stephen Curry in the starting lineup. 

Durant is +220 and Curry is +230 to be named Finals MVP at the end of this series.

Even though the Cavs are +200 underdogs to defend their title, Le Bron James is easily the best player on his team – James is also +220 to win MVP, which would be his fourth award. 

Kyrie Irving is his closest MVP competition at +1000. James has played at an exceptionally high level in these playoffs, too, putting up 32-8-7 per game while hitting 42.1% of his 3-pointers.

But will James be enough firepower to stop the Warriors? ... We don't think so.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Football divers beware - English football cameras are watching.

Players who dive in English football will face bans from next season under new Football Association regulations.
Under the new rules, passed by the governing body at its annual general meeting on Thursday, a panel will review footage each Monday looking for cases of simulation.
Any player unanimously found guilty of diving would be given a suspension.

Friday, May 12, 2017

Pools Punts - looking for an upset or two.

WE have two more pools tickets (Pick5 1x2)  for the weekend  - the theory this time seems to be to keep the options open and look for an upset.

You can read Auls's writeup on the main site in our Pools Betting page - and if you want to bet on them you find them at ColossusBets under the GoonersGuideAuls label.

I like this idea of riding the upset - and I'm in both of the pools as well - I suspect the tickets will pay off at 4x-8x investment if they land - and that's a pretty good return.

Good luck with your punts this weekend.


Monday, May 08, 2017

Arsenal beat Man United but where is the quality?

Arsenal kept their slim hopes of a top four finish alive with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates on Sunday - in a match between two troubled clubs.

Arsenal are in dire risk of ending their consecutive 20-year participation in the Champions League, while Manchester United who had never finished outside the top three with Alex Ferguson in charge, look likely to miss out on a top 3 spot for the fourth consecutive season under three different managers.

Arsenal's slow decline under Arsene Wenger has been well documented, especially this season, but they do look a little brighter with this 3-4-3 system and both Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain thought they'd opened the scoring in the first half but United keeper David De Gea showed his top quality with fine saves.

Granit Xhaka with a deflected shot and Danny Welbeck with a fine header scored in a three-minute spell midway through the second half to end United's 25-game unbeaten Premier League run, but this was a game between two sides that are only a shadow of their former selves.

For Arsenal it was a welcomed win against a headline opponent to keep a top four chase alive, while for Manchester United, it was a spotty performance from a pretty average line-up that was only 2-3 players short of full strength.

ManYoo manager Jose Mourinho had clearly decided that finishing in the top four of the Premier League was beyond his side prior to kickoff resting Paul Pogba and Daley Blind, and seemingly preferring to focus on the upcoming Europa League semi-final (and hopefully final) as the easiest path back to the Champions League.

Both clubs are clearly some way below their best, and have limited depth in the squad so have significant rebuilding to do - it will be interesting to see how each manager approaches the task during the off-season.