The Gateway to European Football Betting

European Leagues / Nik Wardle / 14 August 2007 / Leave a comment

Nik Wardle looks at how the latest Premiership TV deal has opened the door for endless football viewing...and betting

With Setanta Sports being given the rights to show 46 Premiership games, many people have, of course, signed up. What the broadcaster also offers is action from several of the top leagues in Europe: Dutch, French, German, Portuguese and Scottish. What this allows is the potential for an individual to build a databank of knowledge about these leagues and, hence, be in a position to bet on them.

I'd estimate around 99% of people in England think either Chelsea or Man Utd will win the league. So, the only way to make serious money by backing either of these two would be to bet major money. Ditto in Spain for Barcelona and Real Madrid and in Scotland for Celtic and Rangers.

One league that may well be worth a flutter is the German league. What may surprise a number of you is that Bayern Munich didn't win the Bundesliga last season nor did they even qualify for the Champions League. Despite this, their odds for winning the title are just 1.55. Last season's winners Stuttgart are an amazing 22. The teams which finished second and third, Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen, are 12 and 8 respectively.

The short odds on Bayern climbing from fourth place to being champions are because they've splashed out over the summer on big names. Franck Ribery, Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose have all joined. What with the latter signing from Werder Bremen, it weakens their position somewhat. Bayern had a good start to the season, winning 3-0 at home to Rostock. Stuttgart and Schalke shared an entertaining 2-2 draw - which was the Friday night live game on Setanta - and Werder Bremen drew 2-2 at VFL Bochum.

I think Bayern will win the league but with such long odds on the other contenders, they may be worth a small wager, especially Werder Bremen, as they have Tim Borowski, Torsten Frings and the exciting Brazilian Diego. The German league doesn't have the big-name players that the Premiership has but if you like a technique-based passing style, it could be for you.

By studying a foreign league, what you can also do is to take that knowledge into the Champions League and UEFA Cup. Studying form is one thing and so is knowing, for example, that Thomas Hitzelsperger of Stuttgart (formally of Aston Villa) takes most of their free kicks - so this may make him worth betting on as a longish shot for a goal scorer. And likewise for Christian Pander of Schalke 04 (a Julian Dicks-type figure) who takes free kicks and is likely to have even longer goal scoring odds, being a defender.

With Setanta's European coverage and Sky showing Spanish games, football fans have a breadth of choice now. As a pure snap shot, the aforementioned first live German game of the season was a heck of a lot more exciting than the first Premiership live game - Sunderland v Tottenham. If you have the time and the money, Setanta is worth a look, especially as you can have a month-by-month contract. And what better way is there to spend a weekend than to watch lots of live football - which is even more exciting if you've a bet on it, of course!