Just occasionally, you’ll experience betting losses that make you question the futility of existence itself.
Take Luton’s failure to beat Leyton Orient last week, which ultimately brought down Attempt 11 of this £10 to £1000 Challenge. Orient had lost six games in a row at this point, conceding 20 goals in the process. Luton, meanwhile, are fourth in League 2 and on course for a play-off place as a minimum.
The Hatters took the lead after 33 minutes and, to be honest, we thought that was that. But Orient tore up their formbook and scored with two of their four shots on target. Luton equalised and pressed hard for the winner: firing 20 shots at the O’s goal and winning nine corners.
But it was not to be, and the latest attempt at the challenge came to an end.
More frustratingly, all of last week’s other selections landed, so once again we find ourselves with a multitude of winning bets under our belt but nothing to show for it.
The football season may be slowly winding down, but we reckon there’s still enough time to land the big one. So we go in again with our latest attempt at the challenge:
Bet 1: Nancy vs Marseille: Marseille +1.00 Asian Handicap – £10 at 1/10
Friday April 21, 19:45
It’s getting to that time in the season when you might expect a reaction from those teams with something to play for: silverware, promotion, relegation….whatever it might be. Nobody seems to have told Nancy however….
Outside of Ligue 1’s relegation zone on goal difference alone, they have lost nine of their last eleven games – failing to score in seven of those. Why are they looking to attack more when in such a predicament?
Marseille won’t mind. They have put their horror January/February run behind them and are now unbeaten in six league matches, keeping four clean sheets in the process. There is little chance – you would think – of Nancy outscoring them here.
Bet 2: Rotherham vs Ipswich: Ipswich +1.00 Asian Handicap – £11 at 1/10
Saturday April 22, 15:00
Poor old Rotherham. It has been a season to forget for the Millers, who are yet to overturn a -1 handicap this term. Yep, you read that correctly: they have won just four times this season, and all of those were by a solitary goal. They last won on January 14, and their formline since then reads W0 D2 L15.
Ipswich are ending the campaign with a bang, and manager Mick McCarthy continues to do a fine job without any fanfare whatsoever. Just two defeats in their last fourteen – a run in which they have taken points from Brighton, Leeds, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Norwich – suggests the Silver Fox deserves more respect.
The Tractor Boys have won three of their last four and scored in 14 of their last 15; they will surely cruise home with this handicap selection.
Bet 3: Bordeaux vs Bastia: Bordeaux Double Chance – £12.10 at 1/11
Saturday April 22, 19:00
The unsavoury scenes that caused the postponement of their game against Lyon – the Bastia fans attacked the opposition players – means that the visitors here have now not played a competitive game for more than two weeks, and that lay-off has seriously hampered their hopes of avoiding the drop from Ligue 1.
Bordeaux are ending the season nicely with a formline of W8 D4 L3, with that trio of defeats coming against French football’s power trio of PSG, Monaco and Nice. They have also netted a rather healthy 22 goals in their last ten outings.
Bet 4: Lyon vs Monaco: Over 1.5 Goals – £13.20 at 1/7
Sunday April 23, 20:00
If we combine their fixtures, Over 1.5 Goals has landed in 58/64 Ligue 1 matches that Monaco and Lyon have played this season. We like those odds!
Monaco are in Champions League duty this week but that hasn’t affected their subsequent Ligue 1 performances so far this season; only one of their 32 outings has witnessed one or fewer goals.
And Lyon are no slouches in this department either: their 32 games have yielded a whopping 104 goals at either end of the pitch!