European Football Betting: It's still all to play for in 2010

European Leagues / Matthew Walton / 30 December 2009 / Leave a Comment

The fitness of Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben will be crucial for the second half of the season; there will also be plenty of interest in the former during the transfer window.

"In Europe’s three other leading countries - Spain, Italy and Germany - the lists still possess a familiar appearance as their original favourites remain market leaders. But that, in itself, doesn’t quite tell the full story."

Inter Milan look likely to win yet another Serie A title in Italy but in France, Germany, England and France it's all very much up for grabs. "Magical" Matthew Walton tells us how the betting currently looks compared to the start of the season.

At what is a traditional time for reflection, the holiday period affords us the perfect opportunity to review the state of footballing affairs across the major European leagues. A chance not only to look back over the opening months of the season but also an occasion to look ahead to the second half of the current campaign.

And whilst opening day forecasts for some clubs already seem pretty near spot on, for others early season quotes are beginning to look seriously wide of the mark - and we're not even halfway through the domestic calendar.

One only has to look at the Premier League in England where Chelsea [2.1] have usurped Manchester United [3.8] as the market leaders, Arsenal have almost halved in price from [9.6] to [5.3] and Liverpool have traded at such extremes as [3.70] to [140.0]. And it's been a similar story elsewhere in Europe as Spain, Italy, France and Germany have all seen fluctuations, to greater or lesser degrees, in their outright betting markets.

Like the English example, France's Ligue 1 is the only other major market to see a 'flip-flop' in its betting lists. A third of the total money matched so far on Lyon has been done so at odds-on prices but the former undisputed French champions, who were expected to wrestle back their title from Bordeaux this season, now find themselves 13 points off top spot trading at [14.5].

Bordeaux, [3.75] back in August, stand 9 points clear of the chasing pack as the likes of Lyon and Marseille, also drifters from [3.8] to [5.7] have failed to mount any real title threat. Laurent Blanc's side are now as short as [1.38] to retain their crown and under the former French captain's shrewd leadership they look very strong candidates to cement their position as France's new domestic powerhouse.

In Europe's three other leading countries - Spain, Italy and Germany - the lists still possess a familiar appearance as their original favourites remain market leaders. But that, in itself, doesn't quite tell the full story.

Of the three, Italy has the shortest priced favourite as Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan side trade at [1.3]. Starting the season as four-time defending champions the Nerrazurri have opened up an 8 point gap over city rivals AC [6.8] who remain their nearest challengers with Juventus [3.95] out to [17.00] and Roma [44.0] fast fading off the radar screen. With the typically understated Mourinho touting himself for a return to the Premier League anytime soon it is easy to see his side - boasting the best attack and defence in Serie A - getting the job done unless AC win their current game in hand and step up in the second half of the season, bolstered by the return of David Beckham.

The Bundesliga always revolves around the ebb and flow of Bayern Munich's fortunes. Much will depend upon their retention of Franck Ribery in January with Luca Toni seemingly already on a plane back to Italy and more precisely Roma. Pre-season [1.66] favourites, Louis Van Gaal's side currently lie 2 points off top spot and go into the Winter break on the back of 4 straight wins. Their present mark of [1.91] looks a good bet in what looks a very open division this season.

Finally, Spain offers real interest despite being the customary race to the line between the giants of Barcelona and Madrid. La Liga began with Barca the [1.86] jollies and the new-look Real Madrid at [2.36]. Those positions have firmed up over the last three months to see the pair now stand at [1.73] and [2.56] respectively.

Taking the view that Madrid can only get better with time, added to the return to full fitness of both Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo and the fact that Barca only lead by virtue of their 1-0 home win over Madrid on November 29th, there is a solid case to be made for the Galacticos being the big value call for the title.

In all, right across Europe, several intriguing title races are unfolding. There's plenty to play for in 2010 and plenty of value lies right here on Betfair.