FIRST a bit of advice. International friendlies are not for the faint-hearted – there are little or no guarantees when it comes to betting on them.
They rank equal for me alongside Johnstone Paint Trophy punting – and look what happened with those games last night.
So take it easy and have a bet for interest not to get rich quick.
Scotland v Estonia, however, should be a friendly in name only as new Gordon Strachan tries to make a fast start after a disastrous start to the Wold Cup campaign under Craig Levein.
Strachan's job is have his side ready to hit the ground running for the Euro 2016 qualifiers but there is no doubt he needs a win to restore the Tartan Army's faith in their country.
I don't often put money on but should beat Estonia at home and are 4-7 at the likes of bet365, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes.
The Baltic nation are 13-2 at bet365 and BetVictor with the draw 3-1 at boylesports and bet365.
Estonia did well to reach the Euro 2012 play-offs but since losing 5-1 on aggregate to Republic of Ireland they have been in freefall, losing three of their first four Rio qualifiers and beating Andorra just 1-0.
Sunderland star Steven Fletcher is likely to lead the line and he's 11-2 at Coral to net the opener and 11-8 at BetVictor and sportingbet to score at anytime.
Strachan has quality back-up in the shape of prolific Blackburn hitman Jordan Rhodes who is also 11-2 at Coral to hit the opener and 6-4 at unibet to score.
Estonia have lost eight out of 10 away from home and Scotland can win this comfortably if Strachan gets the right reaction and I fancy them to score two or more at 4-5 with Skybet.
An early goal will get fans on side and the first goal to be before half-time pays 2-5 at Ladbrokes.
Estonia don't score many so the most likely scoreline is 2-0 Scotland (13-2, BetVictor) or 3-0 (13-1, BetVictor). To win to nil the Scots are 11-8 at Ladbrokes and Skybet.
There is a slightly more glamourous friendly at Wembled where England meet Brazil – but it is any easier to predict.
It's the 24th meeting of the sides – 21st friendly – with 13 of the non-competitive meetings finishing 1-0 or 1-1 according to Oddschecker. A draw is the most likely outcome and 1-1 pays 6-1 with William Hill.
This fixture has seen over 2.5 goals only four times and BetVictor are a best priced 20-23 for under 2.5 goals.
Roy Hodgson is short of strikers having lost Jermain Defoe and Daniel Sturridge so best bet for an England opener is Wayne Rooney who has netted three in his last two games. He is 6-1 at bet365 while on-form Theo Walcott is 9-1 with the likes of Ladbrokes and William Hill.
Brazil, 7-5 at Stan James, will pose their biggest threat through Neymar who is 5-1 (various). Hulk is likely to start up front with Ronaldinho on the bench and others to look at are Chelsea pair Oscar and Ramires if they start.
England are 9-4 at Coral to beat the Brazilians for the first time since March 1990 when Bobby Robson was in charge but a draw at 23-10 at Betvictor and William Hill is the likely outcome.
Scotland's World Cup rivals Wales are 19-10 at Coral to beat Austria at home with Gareth Bale 13-8 at sportingbet to score after netting crackers in his last two outings for Spurs.
Bale might be a better bet than the Welsh who have lost seven out of eight (the only win came against Scotland) including their last three friendlies.
Austria, featuring the wonderfully names Julian Baumgartlinger, are 17-10 favourites at Ladbrokes and William Hill but this is one of the games I'd be tempted to throw into a draws perm.
The Republic of Ireland v Poland meeting Dublin has a similar feel to it although there is no doubt the Poles have quality in the shape of Dortmund stars Robert Lewdanowski, Jakub Blaszcykowski and Lukas Piszczek.
If they all start and are in the mood this could be an away win at 2-1 with Blue Square, Coral and Betfred. Blaszcykowski was one of my successful anytime scorers at the weekend as he he hit his fifth goal in five games for Dortmund and the on-form wideman is 4-1 at Ladbrokes to net tonight. If you prefer Lewdanowski he is 21-10 at sportingbet.
The Irish have netted just two goals in their last six friendlies against European rivals and with Derby striker Connor Sammon set to lead the line for the first tie it could be another tough night.
Northern Ireland are 6-5 with bet365 and BetVictor for their trip to Malta and should edge it. A good bet could be prolific Aberdeen striker Niall McGinn who is 4-1 with bet365 to score at anytime.
Recommendations
Scotland -1
(13-8, BetVictor)
Poland
(2-1, various)
England v Brazil draw
(12-5, Paddy Power, BetVictor)
McGinn to score
(4-1, bet365
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
Spain, Argentina and Czech Republic – all to win
12/1
enhanced treble Ladbrokes.
RUSSIA and PORTUGAL
2 lumped on SINGLES and a DOUBLE
Milesey
Im going
england (+1) vs brazil (4/7) and doubling it up with a scotland win at (4/7)
should be safe i think .
cant see brazil doing much . i have seen them play over last few years and there nothing special. if anything its tempting to back england at 2/1 to win
scotland will be buzzing tonight with the new manager and its a full crowd tonight so i think the will sort estonia out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uawRU45dpyw
Turn up the sound, Watch and ENJOY !
Milesey
Callum, last night 14,000 tickets were sold for Scotland game so won’t be a full house unless there’s a late rush.
I notice your backing the polish to win tonight…and i’m not going to disagree, we do lack firepower at the moment and this pairing of Lewandowski and Ihaveaweirdnameski is going to rip us apart
MR F, I think the price quoted for McGinn is for FG as opposed to AG.
Ryan, according to oddschecker McGinn is 11-1 to score first and 4-1 to net at anytime. I’m not putting my bets on to later so I’ll see what price I get.
What’s with this bollox everyday ?
Milesey
I just read that…lol what sort of people are out there in this world of ours????
Milesey, I’m not having any Jim’ll Fixit jokes here.
and being big in GUANGDONG, wouldn’t have any of that either, is there such a place ?
Milesey
Mr F, you put that as if i made the joke hahaha, statement from my lawyer will follow later, but i would like to say ” i didn’t make no JIM JOKES ”
Milesey
Milesey, I wasn’t saying it was you, just saying why it was deleted even though I know it was in jest.
It was the same rubbish as the weekend, about womens wrestling, are they just using a fake email addy to post on here ? and is there anyway to trace the ip address to a specific place ? for i bet they are not in China.
Milesey
Milesey, someone trying to have a laugh, no way is it from China.
conor sammon starting for ireland too so I’ll be putting a small acca when down the bookies later on Poland France Brazil Holland/Italy draw and Denmark. Turkey Czech republic looks like a draw tae.
OK, I just got 9/2 FG and AG for Mcginn is 6/5 with Ladbrokes
Ryan, I’ve done him in Ladbrokes without a price. I’ll see what I get if it comes up.
A few bets for me tonight wi PP-
Handicap Draws-
Nigeria -1 13/5
Burkina Faso +1 5/2
Acotland -1 11/5
France +1 3/1
Anytime Goalscorers-
Neymar – 6/4
Bale – 8/5
Lewandowski – 15/8
Mifsud – 13/5
E Cavani – 11/5
Both to score –
England, Spain, Wales, Malta, Israel, Macedonia.
Good luck all on a minefield of a night!!!!
Just a treble tonight, after a run of horrible results, not even as much as a sniff recently!
Brazil
Greece
Argentina
Pays £126 for a tenner at William hills
Mr,fixit, am on draw/poland think the poles will hav a decent support aswell, i was working in ireland for a couple of months they actually call part of dublin. “Little poland” All the best everyone
Smiler, hope we’re right about the Poles. It seems however that there are little Polands everywhere these days including Glasgow but I won’t be backing them if they come to Hampden and face the might of Strachan.
Hey Mr F,
Av took
Both teams to score…..
YES
England – Brazil
Holland – Italy
France – Germany
NO
Scotland – Estonia
Belgium – Slovakia
SKYBET £10 Stake £144 Return….
scotland-1
england over 2.5
argentine £20 treble
neymar
lewandowski
g.bale £2 1st goal scorer treble.
10 pound double.
Scotland 3 nil
england to lose 2-1.
Wee gordon to get of to a flyer!
scotland win belgium win sweden v argentina btts almost 3/1 good enough for me
Chris guy are you not doin mulgrew tonight! You never know
Smiler, four caps, no goals, but maybe tonight’s the night on his old haunting ground.
Get in there charlie
I was in the bookies earlier and was going to ask what sort of a scoring record Mulgrew had for Scotland, felt like a cheeky bet was in order but i didn’t do it as i seen your comment about him not scoring…lol
John, at the end of the day he’s a defender who doesn’t even take the bulk of free-kicks for Scotland with Charlie Adam there so you don’t expect him to score. But remember what I said about gut feelings. At the end of the day it was a well-worked set-piece with Adam squaring for Mulgrew who finished well.