This has been a question plaguing the lovers of the beautiful game for many years now. There are many supporters on both sides, each with their own set of logic and examples. But nobody really has a definite answer based on strong scientific reasoning that could settle the question once and for all.
However, some time back somebody decided to take the bull by the horns and really study this issue. And that happened at the end of the last World Cup. Four years down the line when we stand at the start of another World Cup edition, and with most of the club seasons done, maybe it is time to look back at the findings of that long-ago study. On a side note, here are some golden rules of football betting that you should always keep in mind.
In football the conventional wisdom does suggest that the club teams are better than international teams, like those in the World Cup. It would then suggest that if you need to place your money on a head-to-head match if there ever was one such, the prudent thing would be to bet on the club team. Even if you have great insights through some expert World Cup tips it’s crucial to know your stuff even before going that far. Knowing how betting works is incredibly important but what’s even more important is knowing the game, knowing the players and knowing the teams.
Of course, this is a merely hypothetical scenario since many clubs have team members drawn from various countries and making up teams for a match like this one will be a problem. But let us try and debate out to see the factors that can skew the match in one’s favour.
The team mix
It is said that club teams will rule the roost and it is not really very tough to see why this is so intuitively. Unlike in other games like basketball and ice-hockey where most of the talent is concentrated in small number of countries, football talent has a diverse catchment area. Talent then is more diluted in the international level. A club can rope in great players from across countries while the other side cannot. And they will differ from person to person, but the essence of drawing in players from different places will not. A similar exercise was tried out in 2017 by some pundits and as an activity for everyone to participate. A general consensus led to the formation of the grand team but every pundit had their own view as can be seen here.
The Soccer Power Index
This is another way to gauge the strength of teams. It uses head-to-head results as well as measuring the talent level of teams based on the skills of their component players. Each player is allotted a rating that is determined by his own records as well as the team’s when he is in the line-up. This figure can give us the potential of the player in any team. Now if we use this to make up the two sides we can predict, statistically speaking, the odds of who will win the match.
Your best bet
Now this is more to do with using your bet intelligently than looking at a result of a head-to-head. Based on what is stated above it should be your endeavour to use in-game betting tactics rather than placing your bets on final outcomes. Though that might be skewed in one team’s favour statistically it will consequently give you the least favourable odds. So, you should be playing the odds on individual players and individual plays. That’s the way to make the most money in this scenario. Here’s a list of the best players as of 2017.
From the discussion above, it should be clear that statistically speaking, if there was ever a match possible such as this, club teams are the ones you should be putting your money on. If you really have to bet on outcomes.
