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World Cup Kickoff - Opening Day Predictions and Specials

By David Jester

The four year wait is almost over as the 2010 World Cup is just two days away from the kickoff down in South Africa. It seems you can't walk down the street without seeing a flag, or a footballing promotion pasted onto a shop window. The Bookmakers have also latched onto the occasion, as expected, with some fantastic offers around.

Offers

Ladbrokes are offering a £25 Free Bet for new customers who stake a mere £5 bet. Sky Bet have a highly recommended 'Super Six' competition going where you can win thousands without staking a penny (they also have a £10 Free Bet on some great markets), and Betfair are loaded with offers. As well as their standard £25 Free Bet, they have also opened up Fantasy Football leagues (prizes up to £100.000) and a daily prize of £1000 for anyone who can guess the minute of the first goal in any given game. It's a lottery, but it's free to all members so get yourself on board to take advantage.

Predictions

The competition kicks off with the hosts South Africa, playing a skillful Mexico side. On paper this all swings in Mexico's favor, but the home side will have some amazing support on this opening day and Mexico could also find themselves succumbing to the high altitudes - against the side possibly best equipped to play in those conditions. For all Betfair and exchange customers my main tip would be a Lay on Mexico as the sure-fire bet. I think South Africa may struggle to win here though so I would opt for a 1-1 Draw.

Uruguay and France play later in the evening. France will be the favorites by far but I think this World Cup will prove disastrous for them and they could easily crash out in the group stage. Again, I would opt for a Lay on France, or alternatively, split the bets between a Uruguay win and a Draw if you don't play the exchanges.

There are three games played on the second day of the competition with USA v England perhaps being the big one for the majority of the readers of this article. Despite that, I really don't think there is any money here as I can't see beyond an England win and the odds of that are too small to bother. The same goes for Argentina v Nigeria. This is sure to go to the Argentines with Messi looking to show the world his skills in his opening game.

South Korea v Greece is the game that grabs my attention on the second day as Greece are the favorites to win in a game that I think Korea will dominate. A Lay on Greece is a safe option, but I really think the win should be on the cards for South Korea here and they should come in at around 2/1 or more for that. This is the best bet of the opening two days for me and therefore has to be my pick of the lot, so get your money on a South Korea win.

More

Keep checking into Newsblaze during the World Cup for more predictions, promotions and for a check on all the games and goals. As you may have noticed with some of the tips, they rely on 'Lay' bets being available, this is a form of betting where you can bet against any given outcome and is available only on the exchanges such as Betfair. I would really recommend signing up there if you want to get make this WC a more profitable experience, it may seem a complicated site at first but they have detailed walkthroughs for anyone new to the exchanges.

Alternatively, check out the following Bookmakers for some Free Bets and special offers:

Betfair - £25 Free Bet.
Victor Chandler - £125 Free Bet
Bet365 - £200 Free Bets.
Sky Bet £10 Free Bet + Free Super 6 (possible £100k win) entry.
Ladbrokes £25 Free Bet from £5 Stake.

David Jester is the Newsblaze Soccer expert. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/DavidJester