African Cup of Nations 2012 Betting

Later this month the biennial competition between Africa’s best nations takes place in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and will star some of the biggest names at the moment in the UK, Spain, Germany and the rest of Europe. Betting on this competition grows every year as this is likely to be the biggest tournament in the continent’s history. The timing might not be the best, in the middle of the domestic campaigns in every major league in Europe, but this spectacle will be helped in profile after the successful hosting of the World Cup in South Africa two years ago.

UK supporters’ eyes will turn towards the best of the Premier League, the Toure brothers and Razak from Man City, Gervinho and Chamakh from Arsenal, Kalou and Drogba from Chelsea, Taarabt and Bassong from Spurs, Ba and Tiote from Newcastle amongst others. The absence of these players could well affect the fortunes of their respective clubs at both ends of the table and it is worth checking out the fixtures that they will miss before making bets on Premier League matches in this period.

The African Cup of Nations will be without holders, Egypt, who won the last 3 competitions but that won’t curb the volume of bets on this tournament. The ‘Premier League factor’ will have more of an impact of whether predictions will be made from match to match over all of the fixtures. I fully expect to see betting on Ivory Coast matches, which have a high number of recognisable players, far exceed betting on fixtures with no famous names that UK punters are used to regularly making a bet on.

A predictor of African Cup of Nations matches will be searching the internet for an online bookmaker with which to place bet on their market of choice. There are scores of online bookmakers out in cyber space offering a Free Bet or even Free Bets, as well promises of ‘best odds’ on specified markets. A punter, new to internet betting, really needs to check out the competition for the best prices and offers.

Additionally, from a punting perspective, a predictor really needs to do their homework before making bets. Checking out highlights and results of the competing sides’ recent matches as well their FIFA standings is as important as comparing odds before a final bet is made.

Like most big football tournaments, it will take a while to get going but once highlights of the best goals are shown, the results come through and the group standings take shape, then punters will be even more willing to place a bet, up to the final in February.