Sportsbet.io's English Premier League Football Pool Discussion Thread

[Welsh]

See, I always have more success after the winter since a lot of the teams have picked up on form by then, and it becomes a little more predictable for me. At the moment, the form of various different teams is so inconsistent I'm actually struggling to make the predictions. I'm hovering around that 40 mark, so I'm not doing awful, but I seriously need to pick up points in the next few weeks if I want to find myself in the top 10 by the end of the season, which is looking rather doubtful at the moment. It's a shame because I've actually nailed a couple of the scores, it's just teams like Liverpool, and Chelsea that are absolutely crippling my points.

I've nearly predicted as many exact scores as results . That's kind of embarrassing.

[1714282793]

1714282793

[1714282793]

1714282793

[1714282793]

1714282793

[1714282793]

1714282793

[swogerino]

See, I always have more success after the winter since a lot of the teams have picked up on form by then, and it becomes a little more predictable for me. At the moment, the form of various different teams is so inconsistent I'm actually struggling to make the predictions. I'm hovering around that 40 mark, so I'm not doing awful, but I seriously need to pick up points in the next few weeks if I want to find myself in the top 10 by the end of the season, which is looking rather doubtful at the moment. It's a shame because I've actually nailed a couple of the scores, it's just teams like Liverpool, and Chelsea that are absolutely crippling my points.

I've nearly predicted as many exact scores as results . That's kind of embarrassing.

This time the latest entry that gets a piece of the pie is much lower than 10th but I agree up to the 10th price are some good prizes in Bitcoin we can get,we are 60 persons and one more and there is a huge amount that Sportsbet is sponsoring here so this year prizes are some of the best,now that I think they are the best in these years that I am taking part in this pool.I am also at 42th place but I am not worried at all,it takes just a couple of really good weeks which I am sure everyone of us will get and we will be in prize zone spots in no time.

[tokeweed]

See, I always have more success after the winter since a lot of the teams have picked up on form by then, and it becomes a little more predictable for me. At the moment, the form of various different teams is so inconsistent I'm actually struggling to make the predictions. I'm hovering around that 40 mark, so I'm not doing awful, but I seriously need to pick up points in the next few weeks if I want to find myself in the top 10 by the end of the season, which is looking rather doubtful at the moment. It's a shame because I've actually nailed a couple of the scores, it's just teams like Liverpool, and Chelsea that are absolutely crippling my points.

I've nearly predicted as many exact scores as results . That's kind of embarrassing.

Well yeah, def more info by then.  I'm just saying there tends to be a small window when the matches start getting a little bit unpredictable.  And for me that's around December, specifically the Boxing Day fixtures.  I feel like most of the players don't really feel like playing during that time of the year.  They're prolly saying 'in Germany, they're having a month long break and we're here freezing on the pitch?'.  Dunno...

It's also around that time when managers are getting the sack too.

[swogerino]

See, I always have more success after the winter since a lot of the teams have picked up on form by then, and it becomes a little more predictable for me. At the moment, the form of various different teams is so inconsistent I'm actually struggling to make the predictions. I'm hovering around that 40 mark, so I'm not doing awful, but I seriously need to pick up points in the next few weeks if I want to find myself in the top 10 by the end of the season, which is looking rather doubtful at the moment. It's a shame because I've actually nailed a couple of the scores, it's just teams like Liverpool, and Chelsea that are absolutely crippling my points.

I've nearly predicted as many exact scores as results . That's kind of embarrassing.

Well yeah, def more info by then.  I'm just saying there tends to be a small window when the matches start getting a little bit unpredictable.  And for me that's around December, specifically the Boxing Day fixtures.  I feel like most of the players don't really feel like playing during that time of the year.  They're prolly saying 'in Germany, they're having a month long break and we're here freezing on the pitch?'.  Dunno...

It's also around that time when managers are getting the sack too.

This is going to be even more visible this year because the World Cup will be held on November and some of the Premier League players will be playing with their national team during such period.They will be tired and I mean really tired if their teams go further in the World Cup so when Boxing Day comes they will think that in Germany they are having a long month of break x2 to x5 I would measure with a bet multiplier  .

[Welsh]

I bloody forgot about the World cup being in November this year. Not a massive fan of that honestly, much prefer it in the summers. That's probably going to influence things a lot, especially with injuries as I do believe the games are somewhat close together usually, right?

I'm not disagreeing with anyone by the way, I know the winter months are a little tough to predict, I've just historically been better at it when it comes to betting, and the only thing I can put that down to is having a little more reliable information on the teams. World cup changes that for me though, teams will have to gel again going into that winter period.

I might have to take my predictions off that I've pre programmed in, due to that fact otherwise I'll just forget.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

I bloody forgot about the World cup being in November this year. Not a massive fan of that honestly, much prefer it in the summers. That's probably going to influence things a lot, especially with injuries as I do believe the games are somewhat close together usually, right?

I'm not disagreeing with anyone by the way, I know the winter months are a little tough to predict, I've just historically been better at it when it comes to betting, and the only thing I can put that down to is having a little more reliable information on the teams. World cup changes that for me though, teams will have to gel again going into that winter period.

Lots of brown envelopes passed under the table from Qatar to FIFA officials to make it happen I think. I’m not keen either, human rights, equality, homophobia problems in Qatar, I don’t agree with it at all. Reports of slave type labour building the stadiums & infrastructure required for such an event too.

I much prefer summer World Cups, in more Westernised places top.

[Welsh]

Lots of brown envelopes passed under the table from Qatar to FIFA officials to make it happen I think. I’m not keen either, human rights, equality, homophobia problems in Qatar, I don’t agree with it at all. Reports of slave type labour building the stadiums & infrastructure required for such an event too.

Yeah, which I'll be honest I haven't looked into it in great detail, which is kind of shaming to even admit that, but I don't think the data is readily available? I'm not even sure how one would go about that. However, I'm all for boycotting it, Fifa in general has been absolutely awful in the past, and obviously those deaths did happen building the stadiums, I just don't know the exact circumstances which led to it.

I do like the world cup, I've had fond memories of it in the past ignoring the politics around it. However, having it in the middle of a season, is just going to derail something I care about a whole lot more than the world cup. Maybe, I'm slightly bias as Wales have never really been in for a chance of getting anywhere meaningful, but I think a lot of people prefer club football over the World Cup.

[Trofo]

I do like the world cup, I've had fond memories of it in the past ignoring the politics around it. However, having it in the middle of a season, is just going to derail something I care about a whole lot more than the world cup. Maybe, I'm slightly bias as Wales have never really been in for a chance of getting anywhere meaningful, but I think a lot of people prefer club football over the World Cup.

Club football trumps regular national football by a mile. I can't stand these international breaks and league of nations. World Cup is a different beast, that competition has history and gravitas. I am watching 90% of World Cup games from the time I started caring about football and I look forward for this one as well.

Lots of people complain about winter timing but I actually like it. Winters are quite boring in Croatia with dark falling around 5PM and constant rains/wind where I live. What better way to spend it then at home/pub watching World Cup football?

[darxiaomi]

Quite interesting how in diferents latitudes of the world perceive this change in the World Cup.

For me here in the south hemisphere and more preciselly in Argentina its strange because we allways have the World cup in the finish of autumn or start of winter and now we have this one in full spring and in a lovely month like November/December.

I can expect so much meatgrills here with friends seeing the national team with ton of wine meat beer and much more.

[KTChampions]

Club football trumps regular national football by a mile. I can't stand these international breaks and league of nations. World Cup is a different beast, that competition has history and gravitas. I am watching 90% of World Cup games from the time I started caring about football and I look forward for this one as well.

Lots of people complain about winter timing but I actually like it. Winters are quite boring in Croatia with dark falling around 5PM and constant rains/wind where I live. What better way to spend it then at home/pub watching World Cup football?

No doubt it will be nice to watch football of the highest (sometimes, lol) level on long winter evenings, but in return for this you were deprived of these games in the summer. And if you remember the terrible summer games in the League of Nations, then I would prefer to watch the World Cup instead. It seems that I heard that FIFA promised that they would no longer conduct such experiments and that in the future the World Cup would be held at the traditional time?

[Trofo]

Club football trumps regular national football by a mile. I can't stand these international breaks and league of nations. World Cup is a different beast, that competition has history and gravitas. I am watching 90% of World Cup games from the time I started caring about football and I look forward for this one as well.

Lots of people complain about winter timing but I actually like it. Winters are quite boring in Croatia with dark falling around 5PM and constant rains/wind where I live. What better way to spend it then at home/pub watching World Cup football?

No doubt it will be nice to watch football of the highest (sometimes, lol) level on long winter evenings, but in return for this you were deprived of these games in the summer. And if you remember the terrible summer games in the League of Nations, then I would prefer to watch the World Cup instead. It seems that I heard that FIFA promised that they would no longer conduct such experiments and that in the future the World Cup would be held at the traditional time?

I can survive summer without those games. Leagues will last a bit longer and when they stop that is the time I prefer spending on the beach rather than in front of the TV anyway. This one will be better for my schedule for sure, and we could even get best qoulity of football in World Cup ever, since players will be in their peak levels instead of falling of their feat after grueling season. We shall see soon, I hope for the best and plan on enjoying this World Cup to the fullest

[Welsh]

Yeah, but trying to judge form of players, and teams after coming back from the World Cup is going to be difficult, since they'll gel with their national teams. Could mean it'll be an interesting few weeks leading up to the Christmas period. I haven't actually checked, but what happens with the teams that don't have many players going to the World Cup? I assume they'll just be training for period of time? So, you could potentially have some match fitness problems with the lower down teams, which might make a very interesting relegation battle come the end of the season.

[casperBGD]

-snip
This one will be better for my schedule for sure, and we could even get best qoulity of football in World Cup ever, since players will be in their peak levels instead of falling of their feat after grueling season. We shall see soon, I hope for the best and plan on enjoying this World Cup to the fullest

same thinking about football quality here, player will be at peak performance, and that could lead to surprises IMO

not sure about team work, dough, did not looked at schedules, but I doubt that pause before WC will be too long, and teams will need time to get together, since players are coming from all sides, from the tough competitions (most clubs do not have much to play for in early May, settled for Europe spot, or in the middle of the table, and now all grind points, with big expectations)

but yeah, better to watch TV in winter, than in summer

[cryptofrka]

Fair point regarding the tiredness of the players. This might be the freshest they will be in a long time - which might result in an overall better quality of football.
Still - the weather in Qatar will be tough even in November. I landed there early October last year at 4 AM and it was 40 degrees and was barely breathable.

It would be smart to bet on some African teams early on - or even on Qatar.

It is also fair to assume that the quality of the Premier league (and all the other competitions as well - including the CL) will drop as we approach the end of the season.

[Trofo]

It would be smart to bet on some African teams early on - or even on Qatar.

We are sort of off topic here since there is WC topic as well but I don't mind and hopefully nobody else has problem with it. It is all football in the end.

I guess you did not see what Croatia under 23 did to Qatar few days ago? It was a team of only HNL players which came together 1 day before the match and most of them never played together before. To make it crystal clear there is no Croatia U23 team, they assembled a bunch of solid young players from our domestic league, gave them a name based on age, had one training with them and destroyed Qatar 3:0. Not so familiar with Qatar side but i believe they played their best 11.

Maybe conditions are in their favor but any serious team will destroy them without giving 100% in that match. Fair point about African teams though, I'll keep an eye on them.

[Joca97]

Yeah, but trying to judge form of players, and teams after coming back from the World Cup is going to be difficult, since they'll gel with their national teams. Could mean it'll be an interesting few weeks leading up to the Christmas period. I haven't actually checked, but what happens with the teams that don't have many players going to the World Cup? I assume they'll just be training for period of time? So, you could potentially have some match fitness problems with the lower down teams, which might make a very interesting relegation battle come the end of the season.

It will be really difficult for top teams because most of them have o most entire squad going for national team while the lower ranked teams are resting so we will need to be carefull in picking teams once the national break is over so it will be really intresting

[KTChampions]

No doubt it will be nice to watch football of the highest (sometimes, lol) level on long winter evenings, but in return for this you were deprived of these games in the summer. And if you remember the terrible summer games in the League of Nations, then I would prefer to watch the World Cup instead. It seems that I heard that FIFA promised that they would no longer conduct such experiments and that in the future the World Cup would be held at the traditional time?

I can survive summer without those games. Leagues will last a bit longer and when they stop that is the time I prefer spending on the beach rather than in front of the TV anyway. This one will be better for my schedule for sure, and we could even get best qoulity of football in World Cup ever, since players will be in their peak levels instead of falling of their feat after grueling season. We shall see soon, I hope for the best and plan on enjoying this World Cup to the fullest

I agree about the peak form of the players - in the middle of the season it will be clearly higher than at its end. But in fact, if UEFA and FIFA remove junk tournaments and games from the schedule, then the players will be in great shape even in the summer - like in the good old days. And now the players are in overstrain all year round and get injuries that would not have happened in other conditions.

[Welsh]

It will be really difficult for top teams because most of them have o most entire squad going for national team while the lower ranked teams are resting so we will need to be carefull in picking teams once the national break is over so it will be really intresting

That's where I think a lot of us are going to become stuck a little. You have the one end of the spectrum where players haven't played, and then the other where they've been playing a awful amount in a short period of time, and then going into one of the busiest periods of the Premier League schedule.

I think I'd prefer players that are actively playing, and therefore retaining match fitness, but I don't know. I guess we'll find out, but that could throw a curveball in a lot of our predictions. Might make for an interesting mid point in the season.

[Trofo]

It will be really difficult for top teams because most of them have o most entire squad going for national team while the lower ranked teams are resting so we will need to be carefull in picking teams once the national break is over so it will be really intresting

That's where I think a lot of us are going to become stuck a little. You have the one end of the spectrum where players haven't played, and then the other where they've been playing a awful amount in a short period of time, and then going into one of the busiest periods of the Premier League schedule.

I think I'd prefer players that are actively playing, and therefore retaining match fitness, but I don't know. I guess we'll find out, but that could throw a curveball in a lot of our predictions. Might make for an interesting mid point in the season.

And that is if everything goes according to the plan. There will also be injuries to some players for sure.

I am not sure what is better but feel like Haaland now has perfect opportunity to break all the records. He used to have some injury problems when playing often but since he is not going to WC he can use first 2 weeks to rest and then last 2 weeks to return to peak form.

Some other players will be affected by minutes on WC, for instance if Croatia goes far in WC, Modrić will probably have poor second half of the season. He is super fit but playing every minute for Croatia in such short period of time has to leave consequences on 37 year old body.

[Welsh]

Anyway, the Premier League is finally back. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't really follow international football so have no idea what went on the last few weeks. Just checking though, it doesn't seem like we have any major injuries so that's something new.

Liverpool are against Brighton which I'm actually not confident in. I might be going for something that isn't a win for the first time. Knowing my luck, Liverpool will likely blow Brighton away, which isn't out of the realms of possibility since we've had a small break now,and we should be a little more tactically adept with some of our injured players getting sharper every day.