Football betting tips: EFL, Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, Scottish Premiership, Chance Liga, Austrian Bundesliga, Eerste Divisie, Ligue 2
1pt Over 10.5 corners in Austria Wien vs Rapid Wien (16:00) at 7/5 (General)
Austria Wien vs Rapid Wien
- Kick-off time: 16:00 GMT, Sunday
- Home 11/8 | Draw 11/5 | Away 17/10
Sunday afternoon presents us with a Vienna derby in Austria, with visitors Rapid Wien looking to stop rivals Austria Wien from closing the gap on Sturm Graz at the top.
Rapid were deserved winners when these sides last met at the end of September and they'll be looking to go three-in-a-row here.
Far easier said than done. Austria Wien are the league's best home side with seven wins and a draw across their eight outings so far. The only side to leave with something being the previously mentioned league leaders.
What both sides have demonstrated throughout the course of the season is a clear preference to use their width and that makes the 7/5 on OVER 10.5 CORNERS worth backing.
These two lead the crossing metrics in the Austrian Bundesliga by a healthy margin. Austria Wien's 397 equates to a per 90 average of 23.4 while Rapid's 380 is 22.4.
Sitting in third in this area is Graz who are in 337 - a considerable amount behind the two sides from Vienna.
It's partly why 62% of Austria Wien's home games this season have seen the corner count hit double figures; the same number applying to Rapid's contests on the road.
I'm not too concerned with it being a losing pick if you backed it in both games they played in last weekend, the match-up looks good this time around.
As strong as the hosts have been in front of their own fans, they've only grabbed the first goal in half of those games. Should Rapid take the lead, it presents an interesting dynamic.
Even if it's the other way, the reliance of both teams on their width should see this used as a method to find a way back in. Let's hope that leads to corners being taken.
Already advised:
1pt Over 2.5 goals & Over 11.5 corners in Magdeburg vs Köln (17:30) at 11/4 (Sky Bet)
1pt Over 10.5 corners in Den Bosch vs Telstar (19:00) at 6/5 (Sky Bet)
1pt Over 10.5 corners in Pau vs Rodez (19:00) at 5/4 (William Hill)
1pt Bobby Thomas to score anytime in Sheffield Wednesday vs Coventry (15:00) at 14/1 (bet365)
1pt Over 11.5 corners in Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich (17:30) at 3/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes)
1.5pts Over 10.5 corners in Hearts vs Rangers (12:00) at 20/23 (BetVictor)
1pt Over 10.5 corners in Teplice vs Plzen (14:30) at 5/4 (General)
The midweek football helped me to gain back a bit of enthusiasm for the game.
The final few moments of Everton's clash with Liverpool - an entertaining contest with plenty of action already - followed by the full-time scenes will be remembered for a while.
James Tarkowski, a centre-back, sprinting forward to volley a last-minute equaliser into the top corner was a sight to behold.
And then Abdoulaye Doucouré celebrates in front of the Liverpool fans. Good behaviour. Curtis Jones takes exception and it all kicks off. Good behaviour again.
They're both sent off, Liverpool boss Arne Slot is sent off. We might, maybe just might, have our game back.
"TheSE aRe ScEneS NOboDy LiKeS tO seE". Shut up. We all do. Stop lying.
Will this weekend's action match that pure entertainment value? Errr, probably not. Shame. Nevertheless, there's a good bit of value floating around the leagues.
A similar approach to last week's edition features here. Let's get into it.
Magdeburg vs Köln
- Kick-off time: 17:30 GMT, Friday
- Home 7/5 | Draw 12/5 | Away 6/4
Magdeburg may well be the most fascinating team in Europe this season.
Why? Well their promotion hopes are underpinned by an unusual method of gaining points. They are absolutely hopeless at home.
They may well sit fourth in the table - and they have been higher previously - but they are second-bottom of the home standings. Played ten, won none, drawn seven.
Seven points gained from a possible 30 in front of your own supporters. No surprise then to see they've picked up the most of any team by far in games on the road.
The positive for the Magdeburg season ticket holders who are otherwise in disbelief is that the games have been entertaining watches at least. Half of them have seen at least four goals scored.
Taking the 13/5 on OVER 2.5 GOALS AND OVER 11.5 CORNERS when league-leading Köln are in town on Friday is certainly an interesting bet.
Backing this as a double has been a winner in 40% of Magdeburg's home games this season. Given their poor record, they take a lot of corners as they chase ways back into games.
The Over 11.5 corners element has been a winner in 80%. Magdeburg themselves have hit double figures for corners taken in 50% - 'winning' the corner count in 70%.
Köln may be tighter defensively than other sides, particularly on the road, but three or more goals have arrived in half of their away games - three of their 1-0 successes have been against those currently 13th or below.
The corners element is more than fine to take as a single at around the 6/5 marker, but I'll squeeze extra value out of it by adding in the goals.
Oh and this was a winner when these sides last met too, which, unsurprisingly, ended in a Magdeburg victory.
Den Bosch vs Telstar
- Kick-off time: 19:00 GMT, Friday
- Home 13/8 | Draw 2/1 | Away 29/20
A league which has been on my radar since taking a look at the corner statistics around Europe is the Dutch second tier - the Eerste Divisie.
Why? It's a league that, overall, possesses a high corner count. From the 248 matches that have been played so far, 59% of them have seen the corner count hit double figures.
Styles and a largely competitive nature seem to be reasons behind this. With 20 teams in the league, 13 of those average 18.0 crosses or more per 90 (65%)
For comparison, the Championship sees 11 of their 24 hit this tally (46%), Spain's Segunda División has 12 from 22 (55%). Even the Eredivisie only sees this from seven of their 18 sides (39%).
Two of the sides who sit high in this metric are Telstar (third on crosses average) and Den Bosch (seventh on crosses average). Combined, they average 39.1 crosses per 90.
It's why the 6/5 on OVER 10.5 CORNERS is worth backing here.
The meeting between these two teams at the end of September finished 0-0 but did deliver a huge total of 15 corners.
Den Bosch have played 13 home games this season and 69% of those have seen the corner count hitting double figures - it's 46% in Telstar's away games.
Telstar's trip to Excelsior delivered 11 corners and they are just one of two teams who have attempted more crosses this season.
Den Bosch's meeting with Excelsior saw 10 while they took seven against Vitesse, another high crossing side. A visit to Venlo, who sit fourth for crosses, returned 16 match corners.
Odds correct at 1100 GMT (14/12/25)
Pau vs Rodez
- Kick-off time: 19:00 GMT, Friday
- Home 11/8 | Draw 5/2 | Away 13/8
A very rare trip to the French second tier now but one which has been led by a couple of interesting data points.
Pau, sat 11th in the Ligue 2 standings, welcome Rodez who are five points behind in 15th. Friday's visitors won 1-0 thanks to an 88th minute strike when the teams met at the beginning of December.
I'm continuing on the theme of the column by taking OVER 10.5 CORNERS here given Rodez's involvement.
They led the league in crosses attempted, with their per 90 average standing at a considerable 23.8. It's partly why the corner count has hit double figures in 68% of their games so far.
That figure remains at a considerable 64% in their away games, and while Pau may be lower down on 55%, the average is affected by their opponents typically not seeing as many corners awarded.
That previously mentioned meeting between the sides led to 16 corners being awarded. Pau may not be as high as others on corners taken but they sit third for crosses attempted (22.0 per 90).
Rodez have lost their last four games and that's partly why they've also taken at least nine corners themselves in each of those contests.
They have every chance of covering the large majority of this line themselves, which could certainly be the case should the hosts take the lead.
Sheffield Wednesday vs Coventry
- Kick-off time: 15:00 GMT, Saturday
- Home 29/20 | Draw 12/5 | Away 17/10
Into the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday and a game which sees Frank Lampard's Coventry City™️ travel to take on Sheffield Wednesday in a battle between two play-off hopefuls.
The Sky Blues' upturn in form and results isn't a particularly surprise because they were wasteful in front of goal under Mark Robins earlier in the season - it was a matter of time before the fortunes turned.
One area they have improved on under Lampard though is attacking set-pieces. They rank among the league's best.
The 0.43 expected goals (xG) they create on a per game average would rank them second to only Millwall across the course of a season.
The 1.13 shots after set-pieces puts them fourth while big chances created sees them fifth. They scored from a set-piece in the midweek win over QPR.
BOBBY THOMAS grabbed that goal and the 14/1 for the centre-back to SCORE ANYTIME again in this game is certainly eye-catching given Wednesday's set-piece defending issues.
The Owls are averaging a concerning, and crucially league-leading, 0.51 expected goals against (xGA) from corners and free-kicks this season.
It's no shock then to see they have conceded a league-high 17 goals from set-pieces - that's two clear of Watford who rank second.
Thomas has now posted at least one shot in each of his last three league outings too.
In a game which could actually go either way, I'll side with a goalscorer at a huge price.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich
- Kick-off time: 17:30 GMT, Saturday
- TV: Sky Sports Football
- Home 2/1 | Draw 13/5 | Away 23/20
Step aside, Dortmund. This is the newly-established contest of the big-hitters in Germany's top-flight.
Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen are set to lose their crown to the usual top team in Bayern Munich but they know a victory here can close the lead to five points. That keeps the pressure on in the second-half of the season.
Since losing their first home game of the campaign against Leipzig, Xabi Alonso's men have been near-perfect in front of their own supporters - they've won eight of the next ten.
They're also unbeaten in both meetings with Bayern this season which includes a 1-0 victory in the cup back in December.
Confidence will be there and it could become a game which goes end-to-end. CORNERS is the avenue again here with OVER 11.5 a seriously eye-catching 3/1 in places.
Leverkusen have seen the corner count hit double figures in 64% of their home games, with the same true in 40% of Bayern's on the road.
The thing with Bayern is that their opponents are just not good enough to be competitive. They are also a team which have lost just one of their ten away games.
But they now go to a Leverkusen side who have scored first in seven of their home contests. The game state becomes an intriguing factor should that happen.
There is also the fact that anything less than three points is no good for the hosts. They either take the lead and Bayern go on the attack or they have to force the issue should the scoreline not be in their favour.
These two sides are tied-third for average crosses attempted per 90 so the styles are there as well. It's no surprise 16 corners were taken when they last met.
We don't even need a repeat for this to be a winner but we'll side with 12+ as the best bet.
Odds correct at 1145 GMT (14/12/25)
Hearts vs Rangers
- Kick-off time: 12:00 GMT, Sunday
- TV: Sky Sports Main Event
- Home 10/3 | Draw 29/10 | Away 7/10
A glance at the league table would make you believe this would be a straightforward away win but the constant noise surrounding Rangers' performances means it is anything but.
A shock 1-0 loss to Queen's Park in the cup last time out piles further pressure on Philippe Clement, although whether a change actually happens is a completely separate matter.
Away from home, they've been poor. Just one of Rangers' last six on the road have ended in victory, that coming against Dundee United at the end of January.
This is a Hearts outfit in great form too with their unbeaten run now standing at eight games in all competitions. We can expect a competitive contest.
With near even money available on OVER 10.5 CORNERS, that appears to be the best way into this match.
Hearts have attempted the most crosses of any side in Scotland's top-flight by some margin. The 667 posted across 25 games well clear of next-best Celtic with 616.
It's partly why 67% of their home games this season have seen the match corner count hit double figures.
Rangers are fourth for crosses attempted but the likely competitive nature of the game should hopefully see the corner tally go high.
Clement's men have also conceded the first goal in seven of their 12 away games this season. A repeat here forces them into chasing a way back in.
Front foot football leads to corners due to the pressure and this is a match-up with a good potential for it to happen.
Odds correct at 0930 GMT (14/12/25)
Teplice vs Plzen
- Kick-off time: 14:30 GMT, Sunday
- Home 13/5 | Draw 9/4 | Away 17/20
Back over to Czechia, where last weekend's corner mission fell short but only by a matter of inches.
Games which were backed to see 11 or more corners hit double figures but couldn't get over the required line. Still, it offers encouragement on the approach, so much so that I'm happy to target it again.
Sunday's game to focus on sees Teplice hosting Plzen where OVER 10.5 CORNERS is the bet.
Teplice have seen this being a winning pick in half of their ten home games this season while the same applies to Plzen's ten on the road.
Style plays a part in this, as does the game state. Plzen sit third for average crosses attempted per game in the Czech top-flight while Teplice are fifth.
That inevitably leads to some of those efforts being deflected behind resulting in corners.
What's interesting here is that potential game state which comes into play. Teplice have scored the first goal in seven of their 10 at home despite sitting 13th from 16 in the table.
For Plzen, they've only got the first goal in half of their contests on the road. Should the hosts score first with a couple of corners already on their tally, it could throw the game wide open.
Even without that, the potential remains for a high corner count. At an odds-against price, siding with 11 or more provides appeal.
Odds correct at 1445 GMT (13/02/25) unless otherwise stated
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