It's coming, it's coming, it's coming. In only eight days, the greatest sports event of the year will be upon us and I'm so hyped I thought I will kickstart my Steemit blog with a few football-themed posts.

I know many of you bet on big tournaments, so do I. Generally, I don't bet that much during the year, the crypto market is usually enough of a gamble for a guy like me. But the World Cup is different, it spices up the whole tournament even more, which is already crazy interesting by default.

I find great joy in preparing for the World Cup, by which I mean I browse through the bookmakers offers, I read and watch every prediction and every analysis I come across. So I thought why not share my thoughts and bets with you guys? It helps me organize my thoughts and could be useful for you too. Whether you might find them risky or safe, against your favorite team or not, I hope you enjoy. For now, it's Group A. Let's do it.

Group A

Russia - Urugay - Egypt - Saudi Arabia

Russia 2018 Group A flags logo | Free vector by Vexels

Russia

Honestly, I don't have much trust in the Russian National Team. The last time they won a match with a stake was in October 2015. Yes, I'm not counting the Confederation Cup, it's different. I think that the only reason they are here is the fact that they are the hosting nation. Otherwise, they would probably not qualify from the very strong European branch. The indicators do not look good: they could not win their last 7 friendlies either, they had 4 losses and 3 draws. The fact that many experienced players have simply resigned from the national team due to the manager's person provides enough of a worry in itself.

The bookies give 3.25 times your money if Russia does NOT go into the playoffs. I think it's a steal.

In case they win against Saudi Arabia at the very first game of the tournament they can gain enough momentum to give a headache to Uruguay and Egypt.

I will put my money on Russia against the Saudis, but I'm afraid that might be their only success in this tournament.

Egypt

The worries about Salah's shoulder injury seems to be evaporating. Further medical examinations will tell when he could step out on the grass, with the fans hoping they will see him at least twice in the group stage. I have high hopes for Egypt since their key strength is their defense. Under the wings of manager Hector Cúper, the backline showed great discipline and focus on the pitch: they only allowed 4 goals during the qualifications. Well, they only scored 8, but I still think that they will be the most successful African team in this tournament.

An odd of 2.62 for progress into the round of 16 is a decent one, it might go lower as Salah is getting better. I am taking it.

Uruguay

Uruguay usually plays an honest and creative styled football, as opposed to any of their groupmate. The contrast will be huge, I would easily put them on top of the group with 7 or 9 points. They were the second best South-American team right behind Brazil during the qualifiers. Based on the strength of the South-American confederation, they will easily burst through this group. I see one thing going against them: they allowed 20 goals in 18 matches. In case the defense would not improve, the will have great troubles going forward.

If Uruguay gets at least 7 points, you can double your money, odds are going from 2.0 to 2.3 depending on your favorite site.

Saudi Arabia

They are definitely the weakest team in this group and they know it. All of the players play in the Saudi Professional League which is just really out of sight for the mainstream media during the season. For this reason, it’s hard to predict their performance, but I don’t see any indication of them being the surprise team in this group. They Saudi National Team is not as bad as they were a decade or so ago, but it’s improbable they will earn a single victory.

The odds of them earning 1 point is around 1.5. I’m still thinking about betting on it but the 0 point group stage finish is having nearly the same odds.

To wrap it all up, I think the end results of the group will be:

1. Uruguay
2. Egypt
   Russia
   Saudi Arabia

I hope enjoyed my tips and insights and wish you a good luck in case you decide to bet.

Disclaimer: The odds that I'm using are from my local bet365 site, I am not sponsored by them nor is this an endormsement.

The Group B predictions are coming soon.

Have a great rest of the day!