Tag Archives: Bale

WATCH: Graham Hunter is backing Barca and Bale in 3/1 La Liga double

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Even though there’s been no English channels in Spain, I’m still backing the BBC to do the business for Real, and Gary Neville to pick up his first La Liga win

 

Barcelona vs Atletic Bilbao

This is looking quite an easy one on paper to predict. Barcelona will win. The 5-1 aggregate win at the start of August for Bilbao will give them hope, but the two sides have both changed incredibly since then. Just two wins since the start of December for Bilbao, compared to Barca who have only drawn twice since then, the rest victories. Bilbao are missing Aduriz and Raul Garcia so the pressure will be on Inaki Williams to score anytime at . But overall, a Barca win at

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Real Madrid vs Sporting Gijon

Gareth Bale

Gijon did win in the Bernebau a couple of seasons ago, but there is no chance there will be a repeat of that. Sporting have to be careful as they could slip to the bottom of the table,maybe go all out defensive. But it still won’t be enough. Madrid are chasing down the top spot. Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema should ease them through a weak Gijon defense. The handicap of Madrid -3 could be worth a punt at, as is Gareth Bale first to score at

  • Madrid have won their last four afternoon kick offs
  • Gijon’s win in 2011 was their only one in the last seven years against Madrid

Valencia vs Rayo Vallecano

Gary Neville still needs his first win. And he’s going to get it here. Vallecano will put up a fight, but expect the home side to come out on top. I’m expecting there to be plenty of goals, maybe back over 3.5 goals . In terms of goalscorers, Negredo against his home town club at is value. Valencia to win at

  • This fixture in the Copa Del Rey last year ended 4-4
  • Vallecano have only won twice against Valencia since 2013

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Graham Hunter: Isco inferno can set Bale on fire with this 3/1 Friday night cracker

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Almería v Real Madrid, Friday 19.45

We’d all like to know the truth. What the hell is the magic elixir that allows a group of players poor enough to get the previous coach sacked to suddenly produce a power-play in the first game under new management and perform like world-beaters?

It has happened throughout the history of football but the most recent example was the Real Sociedad shirkers getting Jagoba Arrasate the heave-ho and then going out and beating the Spanish champions within a couple of days under the temporary control of Asier Santana.

So, Almería have eschewed the normal logic of letting Fran Rodríguez take a doing in this match against the European champions and THEN sacking him so that the new guy has a less fearsome start. Miguel Rivera is Johnny Two-Jobs this weekend, running the first team’s attempt to knock Madrid off their stride tonight and then back in the saddle with Almería B on Saturday afternoon against Granada B.

“It’s like winning the lottery,” reckons Rivera, whose cup minnows, Ecija, drew with Real Madrid 1-1 back in 2006.

In his favour should be the fact that this lot very nearly took three points off Barcelona a couple of weeks ago and that while Almería have won just once in 10 attempts [all time] against Madrid, since 2008 there have been two draws and a home win between the clubs at this stadium.

Which is not to ignore the fact that unless Madrid have their mind on the impending flight to Morocco for the World Club Championship then they’ll win. By hook or crook.

The quality of their football has dipped from boiling to simmering over the last couple of games but the flood of goals has, largely continued.

El Blackoutico! Money-Back if there's a goal inside 15 minutes of Real Madrid v Barcelona

Ronaldo was niggly in midweek against Ludogorets, partly at Gareth Bale’s occasional choice to favour attempting to score ahead of feeding the team leader.

  • On that subject, IF you want to ignore Ronaldo’s goal chances in this extraordinarily prolific season of his [over 30 goals in all competitions by early December] then Bale scored home and away against Almería last season, as did Isco who added a clutch of goal assists too.
  • Karim Benzema interests – eight in 12 in La Liga, five in five in the Champions League. It might just be that if Bale and Ronaldo aren’t feeding each other goals with the same vigor, perhaps the Frenchman will be the beneficiary of their assists.

Madrid by two, Isco and Benzema good candidates, but first goal important and for those in-play keep a close eye on whether players who have an impending date with a world title perhaps hold a little back. (Under Match Specials: Madrid to win by exactly two goals is 3/1)

Ref Álvarez Izquierdo: 11 matches with Madrid, eight wins, one draw two defeats – away to Celta and Sevilla.

  • Dip into the latest Real Madrid match odds here >

Last weekend, Graham predicted the following on the Paddy Power Blog: Atletico -1.0 to beat Elche (won), a three-goal win for Real Madrid against Celta (won), Sevilla to beat Rayo (won), and Barca by three against Espanyol… which won. Decent.

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‘Amazing’ Bale vital for Spurs

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Spurs managed to secure a famous Champions League victory over reigning champions Inter Milan at White Hart Lane last night and boss Harry Redknapp was quick to praise the performance of one of his players in particular – Gareth Bale (Spurs 5/6 to win Champions League Group A).

Two weeks ago the north London club suffered a 4-3 defeat at the San Siro, after Inter had raced into a 4-0 first-half lead.

A second-half hat-trick from Bale did nothing for Spurs other than claw back a bit of pride but the talented left-footer was crucial for Spurs on Tuesday night as they avenged their defeat in Italy (Spurs 25/1 to win the Champions League).

Bale did not find the net himself at White Hart Lane, but the youngster turned provider for both Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko, as Spurs enjoyed a European night to savour.

Redknapp hailed Bale as “amazing” and claimed the 21-year-old has “everything”.

“Maicon is rated as the best right-back in the world and what he’s done to him in the two games is amazing,” explained the Spurs boss.

“He can cross, his left foot is great on the run, he can shoot, dribble, head it, he’s got everything.”

Spurs may be enjoying life in Europe’s top competition, but if the north London side want to compete in the Champions League next season they will need to finish in the Premier League’s top four.

Spurs are currently fifth in the league, two points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, and remain in contention to finish in the top four for a second successive season.

Chelsea are currently 1/200 with totesport.com to finish in the top four and after the reigning champions’ fine start to the season  – they’re already 10 points clear of Spurs – few would suggest the Stamford Bridge side could fail to land a Champions League spot.

The form of Manchester United has been questioned by many but Sir Alex Ferguson’s men remain the only unbeaten side in the Premier League.

United’s star man Wayne Rooney has failed to hit the heights he achieved last season and is currently injured, but the Old Trafford side have still managed to grind out results and you get the feeling that when they do find top form, and when Rooney is firing on all cylinders, they will mount a serious title threat.

United are 1/14 to finish in the top four and, although not completely out of the question, it seems safe to suggest Old Trafford will be hosting Champions League football next season.

Arsenal and Manchester City complete the top four at present (Arsenal 1/7, City 2/5 to secure a top-four finish) and given the Gunners’ Champions League pedigree and current form, a top-four finish appears to be on the cards for the Emirates side.

The most likely scenario is that Spurs will again battle with City for the right to appear in Europe’s premier tournament next season.

The London club won the battle last time out but City, once again, spent some serious money in the summer transfer window.

Eastlands boss Roberto Mancini is under pressure to deliver a top-four finish, at the very least, and Spurs will face a serious battle to secure the final Champions League spot.

However, with the talented midfield Redknapp has at his disposal, at 5/2 Spurs appear good value to land a Premier League top-four finish.

Rafael van der Vaart arrived in a last-minute deal from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day and the Dutchman has managed to adapt quickly to life in England.

Luka Modric and Aaron Lennon have also produced impressive displays but it could well b Bale who provides the ingenuity and guile to secure a second successive season in the Champions League for Spurs.

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Bale eyes England upset

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Wales star Gareth Bale is determined to put a spanner in the works for England when the two sides meet in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign on March 26 (England 1/6 to win Group G).

The Welsh saw any faint hopes of qualifying for the finals in Ukraine and Poland evaporate when they went down 4-1 to Switzerland on Tuesday night – their third consecutive Group G loss following 1-0 reverses against Montenegro and Bulgaria.

The defeat left Wales with no points from three matches and they sit at the bottom of the standings, 10 points behind table-topping Montenegro and seven points behind England in second place.

The Welsh are currently without a permanent manager following the resignation of John Toshack after the Montenegro defeat, with Brian Flynn handling team affairs on a caretaker basis until a permanent replacement is appointed.

There have been a number of high-profile candidates for the job, with Liverpool legend Ian Rush and former Arsenal and Celtic star John Hartson throwing their hats into the ring.

Flynn has also made it clear that he wants the job on a full-time basis but back-to-back defeats under his stewardship will have done his cause no good at all.

England are expected to qualify easily from the group and will fear little from their clash with Wales, but Bale, who admits the banter with his England international Spurs’ team-mates has already been flying about, has made it clear that he and his Welsh colleagues will not just lay down and die against Fabio Capello’s men.

“We’re not going to go out there to concede a loss – we’re going to go out there and give it our all,” he said. “It’s a massive rivalry in country terms and we’ll be giving it 110 per cent. We want to cause a little upset.

“We’ve spoken about it previously, and it’s going to be a big game. They obviously fancy themselves to beat anybody on their day and we’re just going to have to play with no pressure and try to express ourselves.”

Following the England clash, Wales have to wait until September 2 for their next qualifier, with Montenegro set to visit the Millennium Stadium, before the daunting prospect of playing England (8/1 Euro 2012 Outright) at Wembley just four days later.

Matches with Switzerland and Bulgaria follow but, barring a miracle, Wales will be playing for nothing but pride with a new boss in place at the back end of the group stage of the tournament.

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Williams tips Bale to star

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Ashley Williams believes that Gareth Bale can fire Wales (6/1 in the match betting) to success in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland (1/2 favourites to win, 3/1 the draw) in Basel on Tuesday night.

Wales have yet to pick up a point in their qualifying campaign to date, losing away at Montenegro and at home to Bulgaria, both 1-0, and currently prop the table – along with tonight’s opponents.

The Swiss have also lost both of their opening group games, 3-1 at home to England and 1-0 away at Montenegro, and defeat for either side will seriously harm their chances of even finishing second.

Wales captain Williams, who is hoping to shake off an ankle injury, concedes that Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side may well dominate large parts of the game, but he believes that Bale (7/2 to score at anytime) will provide plenty of attacking threat.

“Everyone knows how good a player he is,” said Williams.

“He’s probably going to find it tough when he plays for Wales, especially if we don’t have Craig Bellamy and Aaron Ramsey playing.

“He’s our biggest attacking threat and teams are going to pay special attention to him.

“But I think he’s a good enough player to deal with that.

“They will have a lot of the ball and hopefully we can get it to him on the break and let him do his stuff.

“I think he really gave it a go against Bulgaria, he did make things happen, and if he plays in an advanced role, that’s the way he plays.”

The 1-0 defeat in Montenegro last month saw John Toshack end his six-year reign as the Wales (33/1 to qualify for Euro 2012) boss, with Brian Flynn taking over the senior side on a temporary basis following an impressive spell in charge of the Under-21s.

Flynn is looking to use the two games he is leading the side to make a case for a permanent role, although he did his cause no favours with a 1-0 defeat to Bulgaria on Friday.

However, Flynn has not been helped by a whole host of injuries to his squad which will leave him without 12 players for tonight’s game and Blackpool midfielder David Vaughan insists all the players will be doing their best for the manager.

“No one wants to let him [Flynn] down and hopefully he will get the job, regardless of the results, if we play well,” said Vaughan.

“Hopefully we can do the job for him.

“We have only had a few days’ training with him but if he is around long term I think you will see the benefits in the performances.”

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Redknapp dismisses Bale exit

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Tottenham Hotspur (10/3 to finish in the top four) boss Harry Redknapp has denied speculation that left-back Gareth Bale could be leaving the club for Real Madrid.

Newly-appointed Real manager Jose Mourinho has been linked with a move for the Wales international in the January transfer window.

The former Chelsea boss has been looking to bolster his defensive options at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole also being linked with a move to the Spanish giants.

However, Redknapp has insisted that he will not be letting Bale leave north London.

He said: “I read in the papers the other day that Gareth’s performances for Spurs have already caught the attention of other teams around the world – including Real Madrid  and their manager, a certain Jose Mourinho.

“Jose certainly knows a player when he sees one. But one thing is for sure. I am not letting Gareth go anywhere.

“Tottenham is a team on the up and we are building something at White Hart Lane,” he added.

Bale has had a strong start to the Premier League season, scoring three goals including one in the Champions League against Dutch side FC Twente.

The 21-year-old has developed into a great player for Spurs since he joined the North London club in 2007 from Southampton.

Initially Bale struggled to cope with life in the Premier League and had an astonishing run of not being part of a winning Spurs side.

However, the Welshman has improved greatly and Redknapp believes he is one of the best players in the top flight.

He said: “I do not make comparisons lightly but he and Ashley Cole are quite similar and that can only be a massive compliment to Gareth.

“My left-back at Tottenham has come through an amazing 12 months and matured into one of the best players in his position in the world.

“Just over a year ago, he had this awful jinx hanging over him where he had not played in a winning Spurs team,” he added.

Spurs will be hoping that Bale can continue his good form this season when they take on Aston Villa at White Hart Lane on Saturday (Tottenham Hotspur 20/21, draw 12/5, Aston Villa).

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