Back Keane or Szabics to score in Budapest
Ireland warm up for Euro 2012 with a trip to Hungary and star strikers on both sides could do the damage.
Having come through Ireland’s friendly with Bosnia unscathed, record goal scorer Robbie Keane is among the favourites in bwin’s goalscorer betting markets for Monday’s final pre-Euro 2012 friendly with Hungary in Budapest.
Keane is on offer at 6/5 to add to his 53 goals for Ireland by scoring at any time, while he is 5/1 to score first and 5/1 to score last.
New customers who register online with bwin qualify for a free bet of up to £25 and if you use that to back Keane to score at anytime at 6/5, you stand to win £55 if successful.
The LA Galaxy veteran was upstaged by Shane Long at the Aviva Stadium, however, when the West Brom hitman bagged the only goal of the game after 77 minutes.
| Confederation Cup - Group B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 0-1 | Uruguay | £135.00 | (23/4) |
| Nigeria | 1-1 | Uruguay | £140.00 | (6/1) |
| Nigeria | 0-2 | Uruguay | £155.00 | (27/4) |
| Nigeria win | £92.00 | (18/5) | ||
| Draw | £75.00 | (11/4) | ||
| Uruguay win | £34.00 | (7/10) | ||
Long is 19/10 to score again in this one, while he is 7/1 to open the scoring and 7/1 to close it. Having said that, the former Reading man has never scored in two consecutive games for his country, so it might pay to look elsewhere.
Stephen Hunt and Simon Cox didn’t feature last weekend and so they could be given the opportunity to prove their worth before the real business begins on June 10th.
Hunt has only ever scored once for his country – a late penalty in a 3-2 home defeat to Poland in 2008 – and that could explain why he is as long as 13/2 to score at any time against Hungary, while Cox is 6/5 to add to his three international goals with a strike at any time.
The home side’s main threat is likely to come from Sturm Graz striker Imre Szabics. The 28-year-old has scored 12 international goals in his career so far and is 19/10 to score in the match against Ireland.
Midfielder Balazs Dzsudzsak scored in the Magyars’ friendly win over Czech Republic on Friday night and he is 5/2 to score again here, while QPR star Akos Buzsaky and former Hull City midfielder Peter Halmosi are 5/1 and 8/1 respectively.
Ireland kick off their Euro 2012 campaign against Slaven Bilic’s Croatia in Poznan on June 10th and the bookies are expecting them to come out second best, pricing them at 27/10 to open the competition with a win, compared to 21/20 on a Croatia win and 11/5 for the draw.
But for now, backing Keane to add to his hugely impressive tally for the Boys in Green should do very nicely indeed at the price on offer, with Szabics offering a reasonable alternative.
Recommended bet: Robbie Keane to score against Hungary @ 6/5
Outside punt: Imre Szabolics to score against Ireland @ 19/10
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