The long International break has passed and we are back to the bread and butter of mainstream club football to make a profit.

It was not an easy week for punters as there were some strange results involving big teams. Portugal were 1/12 (1.08) in places to overcome Northern Ireland and could only labour to a 1-1 draw. 

Incredibly, Germany, who were widely considered a “banker” after their destruction of Republic of Ireland, let a four-goal lead slip and drew 4-4 at home to Sweden. It is the first time in history that die Mannschaft have given up a four-goal lead.

Even Spain, who had won every qualifier home and away since September 2007, failed to beat France, conceding a goal with the last kick of the game.

Have courage in your convictions, despite setbacks

I got stung on the Spanish result myself and it is important to react with professionalism when you suffer such a painful loss and not to allow it to affect your confidence and judgement. It is not often that Spain will fail to win a qualifier and it must be put into perspective.

If you have had rough weeks in your betting, don’t despair! Be reluctant to make wholesale changes if there is no real need.

Some bettors are tempted to change their approach and methods if they go through a difficult period. My general advice would be to stick with your approach if you believe in it and it has a history of producing results.

The danger in changing is that a new approach will come with no guarantee of working and you could experience a further period of loss. You will soon get back into profit and my own experience tells me that these difficult patches are often followed by a sustained period of profitability.

Weekend Tips

Looking ahead to the weekend, Sportingbet offer some nice prices on certain markets. Liverpool once again are very short in the market to beat Reading at home at 1/3 (1.33).

I have already discussed the methods of simply opposing teams that come with abnormally short prices. Liverpool are certainly in that category.

Another angle is to simply back the other team to score one goal or more. In this case, with over 0.5 goals, as soon as you get your goal your bet is won.

Reading are 8/11 (1.73) simply to find the net at Anfield and this is worthy of consideration if you wish to oppose Liverpool in some way.

Elsewhere, Palermo look a much happier team under Gian Piero Gasperini and they seem to enjoy his 3-4-3 system. They can overcome promoted Torino at home at an attractive 6/5 (2.20) with Sportingbet.

Thank you to all who have signed up to my service www.jdfootballbetting.com.  The service comprises of a full advisory service and regular selections. You can sign up for a reduced €79 this weekend only.  You can contact me directly on jdfootballbetting@live.com or subscribe to www.jdfootballbetting.com