Match

YOU BET NOT ALL BRITS FANCY ENGLAND FOR WORLD CUP!

ALMOST one of every five bets being placed on the World Cup with William Hill by punters in English betting shops is for England to win the tournament – but in Wales it is only one in every nine; in Northern Ireland one in every twelve – and in Scotland just one in every twenty.
‘It is certainly the case that there are regional differences in the support for England to win the World Cup, which is to be expected – but taking the betting as a whole, England are definitely the one team we’d rather see not win the World Cup,’ said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.
In English betting shops Hills only Spain rival the support for England; in Wales the most popular selection is Brazil (21%), closely followed by Spain, with England 3rd; in Northern Ireland punters are opting for Argentina (24%), Spain, Brazil and Holland in front of England; and in Scotland, Brazil (26%) take top billing ahead of Argentina, Spain, and Holland with England 5th.
France are currently the worst possible result for Hills, who have taken one bet of £110,000 on Les Bleus at odds of 20/1, but England are a close second, and Hills anticipate that they will regain the lead before the first match kicks off – ‘The single France mega-bet has distorted our financial liability for France, as there are very few other big bets for them, but we are continually taking substantial bets for England and victory for Capello’s team will prove hideously expensive for us’ said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Bizarrely, North Korea are Hill’s third worst result – ‘We have taken scores of small bets of up to £80 for the 2000/1 outsiders’ – with Germany, the subject of a £60,000 bet with Hills at 14/1 on Thursday, now the 4th worst outcome.
At the other end of the scale, Hills would welcome unlikely World Cup triumphs for New Zealand, Honduras, Slovakia or Slovenia.

LATEST WILLIAM HILL WORLD CUP ODDS…4/1 Spain; 9/2 Brazil; 13/2 Argentina; 8/1 England; 9/1 Holland; 14/1 Germany; 16/1 Italy; 20/1 France; 25/1 Portugal; 50/1 Ivory Coast; 66/1 Serbia.
**Hills cut Holland from 10/1 to 9/1 on Thursday after continued support.

WILLIAM HILL PERCENTAGE OF BETS TAKEN ONLINE (up to noon, Thursday,June 10):
ENGLAND 15%

SPAIN 13%

BRAZIL 11.5%

ARGENTINA 14%

HOLLAND 13%

GERMANY 6.5%

ITALY 6.5%

IVORY COAST 4%

PORTUGAL 5.5%

FRANCE 3.5%

USA 1.5%

MEXICO 1.5%

SERBIA 1.5%

GHANA 0.5%

S. AFRICA 0.5%

All other teams make up the remaining 2%

Algeria least backed team with Hills: 128 bets for £455

Further information…….graham sharpe…….0208 918 3731