European Football betting previews with Stan James Bookmaker

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German Bundesliga Preview
The race for the Title is hotting up with Stuttgart now entering the race after their convincing 3-0 win against Schalke last week. With six games to play you couldn’t rule out anyone of Bayern Munich (59pts), Schalke (56pts) or Stuttgart (54pts). Stan James bookmakers bet Bayern at ¼, Schalke at 4’s, Stuttgart at 9’s and Bremen at 80’s. Werder Bremen on 50pts still have an outside chance but it would take a lot. The leaders Bayern need to bounce back from the disappointment of being knocked out of the Champions League in midweek. They have a reasonably easy game against a Hannover side who barring a catastrophe are safe from relegation. They have very little to play for and this might just give Bayern(4/7) the edge. Hannover have been pretty average at home as well this season and you can’t see an experienced Munich side missing their chance here. Second placed Schalke(8/11) will also want to bounce back from that humiliating 3-0 defeat by Stuttgart last week, but they have a tricky home game against sixth placed Hamburg who are eyeing a UEFA Cup spot. Stuttgart (4/5)on the other hand have a trip to lowly Hansa Rostock and although on form they should win this, Rostock will be fighting for their Bundesliga lives so this will be no walkover.

There’s an intriguing clash between Werder Bremen in 4th and Hertha Berlin in 5th. Realistically Bremen have to win all their six remaining matches to have a hope of title honours and they’ll be buoyed by a great away win at Hamburg last week. There is still a lot up for grabs. At the bottom it looks like curtains for poor old Freiburg. Languishing a full 12 points from safety, they need a miracle to survive. They are at home to Bayer Leverkusen and they simply have to win it. Bochum, just three points from safety in the relegation zone, have a difficult trip to Kaiserslautern whereas the two sides directly above them play each other. Monchengladbach play Mainz at home and a win for either one will ease the pressure no end. A draw would probably only suit those clubs below them. The other club who could potentially still go down…Nurnberg….have a trip to mid-table Wolfsburg.

But the race for the Bundesliga Title is becoming very interesting indeed and any slip up now could be fatal for any teams chances. It’s going to be all about which teams will be able to withstand the heat? The Kaiserslautern v Bochum match is being shown live on Setanta, and the Hannover v Bayern match is live on Sportmania. Canal+ are also covering the Schalke v Hamburg game live. Stan James bookmakers will be betting in running right up until the 85th minute in all these three games. All the prices on this weekend’s Bundesliga matches can be viewed at Stan James bookmakers.

La Liga Preview
The La Liga Title race is back on! Real Madrid are only six points adrift of Barcelona. Last week’s battle of the giants was a great spectacle and it was unbelievable that only six goals were scored. It was a great advert for the Spanish game but it’s a bit like after the Lord Mayors Show this week. There are only seven games left now and Stan James bookmakers bet Barca at 1/8 for the Title. Real Madrid are a tempting 9/2. Any slip up now could be very costly for either side, although this weekend both teams should be able to bag the full three points on offer to them. Barcelona (2/7) are at home to Getafe. They are already safe from the drop and even a sometimes shaky Barca defence should have enough to subdue them. The game is being shown live on SSP1 at 20.00pm on Sunday and Stan James bookmakers will be betting In-Running throughout. Two hours earlier Real Madrid (8/13) are on the road to Levante and if they play with the same verve they showed last weekend, Real will surely be too strong for the home side. Levante are eleven points clear of the drop zone so they must see themselves as being safe already. The game is also live on SSP1 on Sunday.

There is an interesting race developing for the four remaining ‘European’ places. Third and fourth spots go into the qualifying rounds for the Champions League, and fifth and sixth spots go into the UEFA Cup. Currently it’s very open. Sevilla (4/9) in third spot have a relatively easy game at home to Osasuna. A tasty encounter will be fourth placed Villarreal (Evs) at home to fifth placed Real Betis. If Villareal win they could open up a nice gap between them and the bunch and they also have a game in hand. The televised match on Saturday night on Sky at 19.00pm is Atletico Madrid in 8th at home to 6th placed Espanyol. Atletico are a very solid home side and the 4/5 is a very tempting bet indeed.

At the trap door are Mallorca, Albacete and bottom club Numancia. They are all ten points away from the next club and with just seven games to play, it does look particularly grim for them. Albacete (11/8) and Mallorca (2/1) are both at home to tricky opposition in Malaga and Valencia respectively, whereas as poor old Numancia have to travel to arch rivals and near neighbours Real Zaragoza, who’ll get great pleasure in sending them back to Serie B. There is also a basque derby between Racing Santander (11/8) at home to Athletico Bilbao (13/8). There’ll be no love lost here as well.

Stan James bookmakers will be In-Running on all the live Sky matches this weekend.

Serie A Preview
The Italians have had a bad few weeks. Events off the pitch caused the postponement of last weeks matches in respect to the Pope, and then the more unsavoury elements of Italian football caused mayhem and embarrassment all round with their antics. Maybe things will settle down a bit and we can get back to business in Serie A. It’s still neck and neck at the top between AC Milan (67 pts) and Juventus (610pts) and these two are still a street ahead of Inter Milan in third spot. Stan James bookmakers bet AC Milan at 8/13 and Juve at 6/5 for the Serie A title.

For Juventus it’s been a particularly bad time. They showed very little in the second leg of the Champions League Q-Final when they were expected to come out guns blazing and they are going to have to raise their game if they think they can go head to head with AC Milan in the eight remaining games. At least they are free to concentrate on the league. They have a relatively easy game at home to mid table Lecce and they should have enough to get back to winning ways. They should be at 1/14…..AC Milan look very good at the moment. Solid at the back and able to win the big crucial games with ease they will be buoyed by their Champions League exploits and the fact that they now have a relatively easy passage to the final. The one problem for AC is the fact that they can struggle against the lesser sides. And this week they have to travel to lowly Siena, who are desperate for points themselves as they try and carry themselves away from the drop zone. They will fight tooth and nail and they could upset the league leaders. At 4/7 AC look a bit vulnerable and the draw at 12/5 looks a very good bet.

At the bottom it is so wide open. Twelve points separate the bottom 13 clubs and with eight games left that means if you have a poor run you could very well find yourself in trouble. One consoling thing this week though is the fact that the two clubs at the very bottom Brescia and Atalanta play each other. It’s a local derby as well so expect fireworks on and off the pitch. Atalanta are on a remarkable run at the moment, gaining 13 points from their last six matches and at 9/4 they look a decent bet. Brescia at 11/10 need to stop the rot and quickly and it’s a chance to build on a very good point against AC Milan a fortnight ago. This game will be a cracker. Chievo at home to Parma is another relegation dogfight. It’s really hard to call this one. Chievo at home are very inconsistent and Parma although starting to string some results together will have their UEFA Cup tie with Austria Vienna on their minds. The draw at 2/1 is a good call here.

Messina at home to fourth placed Udinese is an intriguing match. The Sicilians have a habit of doing well at home to the big guns and at 7/4 they could be good value. Their neighbours across the strait, Reggina have a tricky trip to Roma, although they will be buoyed by Roma ability to self destruct this season. At 4/7 Roma are not a tempting bet and the way things are going it would not be inconceivable that Reggina could bag the points at 9/2. The game is being televised live by Canal+, so we’ll have betting In-Running as well on this game. Fifth and sixth play when Sampdoria host Palermo.It’s a difficult game to call but Sampdoria with home advantage will be eyeing that all important Champions League spot. Inter will have to put the embarrassment of the Champions League loss out of their minds. At 2/5 they should beat Cagliari but in the aftermath it’s not the safest bet in the world. All the Serie A weekend odds are available by clicking on the link below. Let’s hope everybody behaves themselves as well.