00:00So today we've got several World Cup matches premiered by Monday today, 12 p.m. Eastern Spain taking on Cape
00:07Verde and Spain is one of the biggest favorites in all of the initial World Cup matches that are about
00:13to go off this week.
00:14They're minus $1,500, Joe. So if you're really feeling frisky, maybe you can bank a tie on this with
00:21your $100 bet to take back $1,300. I'm sorry to say, I think Spain is probably the play today,
00:30but you may have to parlay it with not one, not two, not three, but like several other things. I
00:35mean, what could you possibly do with this match today?
00:38Well, it's so funny, Greg, because yes, there's a lot of different ways that you can go about betting these
00:45kinds of early matches. And we all know Spain is expected to establish dominance, shall we say here. And they
00:52have been pretty dominant leading into this.
00:55Three nothing victory over Bulgaria leading into this. Six nothing win over Turkey. There is a reason why they are
01:03one of the biggest favorites here to actually win the whole thing. But are they going to look at the
01:09odds tell you everything you need to know about this?
01:11What I would do, Greg, is and what we've noticed about Spain is I would look to lay maybe the
01:17goal or goal and a half early because I think Spain is going to make a statement like they do
01:24in most matches. It's usually early. So the idea of this thing being two nothing heading into the second half
01:32by the time the first half is over, that's, you know, you can get that at close to plus money
01:38there. That's the kind of way that I would look.
01:40Look, I go into the alternate markets. I would not expect there to be any scoring on K-30. I
01:46would expect Spain to do all the scoring and I would expect Spain early to have a multiple goal lead
01:52by the end of the first half.
01:55Meanwhile, that will be followed by the Belgium versus Egypt matchup. And by the way, a lot of these matches
02:02being played inside the United States today in different locations, including here where Joe and I live in South Florida.
02:10Also in Seattle and all over Atlanta, if I'm not mistaken, there's a match today as well. But this one
02:15is in Seattle. So it's Belgium minus 165. And the game is at 3 p.m. Eastern. They take on
02:22Egypt. And as you can see, this one is closer to a potential pick them here.
02:27Do you have any research or opinion that would lead you to take the other side outside of Belgium today,
02:33Joe? Because this is one that would seemingly be up in the air a little bit today.
02:37Well, Belgium is your favorite to win Group G, the group that they're in here with Egypt. And it all
02:44has to do with the offensive side of the ball. They've got plenty of offense here, Craig.
02:49You're talking about in the qualifying matches leading up. They average almost four goals a game in eight matches. So
02:57this is a team offensively that is always attacking and will have absolutely no issue.
03:02If you are lazy and give them the opportunity. But Egypt actually pretty good defensively here. And that's their only
03:13shot at winning this game is by slowing this down, not giving Belgium all the opportunities and shots on goal.
03:21So I think maybe looking not only Belgium to win, but pairing it up with maybe an under in this
03:28game is not a bad way to go, because sure, I think Belgium is going to win.
03:33I'm not going to run and lay the 170. But at the same time, I don't think there's going to
03:37be a ton of goals happening because that's the only way Egypt is going to have a chance to keep
03:41this thing close.
03:41And good morning. Welcome into Prediction Markets Edge here on the Sports Grid.
03:47We'll dive into some of the World Cup action. But before we do that, Joe Ranieri and I will take
03:52a look at the story of the weekend, which had nothing to do with the pitch.
03:55In fact, England's stolen World Cup equipment has finally been recovered. If you missed it this weekend, two arrests have
04:01been made in Kansas City with a vehicle break in.
04:04And the items were taken Friday night. Team's gear was transferred to England's Swope Soccer Village base, including footwear.
04:12But no elite boots or game critical items were lost. Gotta be, I guess, a little bit more cognizant of
04:18security during the World Cup.
04:20Hard to believe that this would happen. But let's check in on this report on exactly what went down.
04:27FA logistics before any England game away from home are huge, but even more so before a major tournament.
04:34It is a hugely complicated operation to get all of the equipment and kit out in advance of the team
04:40arriving anywhere.
04:40We're talking training cones, mannequins, footballs, kit, that sort of thing.
04:46And our understanding is that large amounts of that kit were stolen while it was in transit heading towards where
04:52we are now in Kansas City.
04:55Now, the FA are making no comment. They say it's now a matter for the U.S. police.
04:58But my understanding is that the vast majority of the kit that went missing has now been recovered.
05:05And that's really good news, of course, for the players who are due to arrive here in Kansas City later
05:09on today.
05:10They'll hold an open training session later on in front of local dignitaries and children.
05:14A bit of a show training session, if you like.
05:17And they've only got three more training sessions after that before their World Cup opener against Croatia on Wednesday.
05:22All right. So got to be more careful with the equipment.
05:25I guess that's the moral of the story there in the World Cup.
05:29All right. Meanwhile, let's hit on the prediction markets here.
05:32Prediction markets games of the day.
05:34We'll start off with Spain, just a huge favorite today against Cape Verde.
05:3992% of the tickets on Spain.
05:42You know, there are some analysts, Joe, that feel that we're going to get because there's so many teams now
05:49in this and so many opportunities.
05:50There's going to be a massive upset.
05:52But I don't know. This does not seem like one of them to me.
05:55But you're more educated on me than this one.
05:57So I'll defer to you.
06:00No, no, you're right.
06:01I mean, the upsets are going to happen.
06:03But it ain't happening here with Spain against Cape Verde here.
06:08It's just not it's not in the cards here.
06:11And I do think, listen, they are extremely dominant.
06:16There's a reason why they're considered one of the top favorites in the World Cup.
06:21They're deep. They have experience.
06:23They can score in waves.
06:25And they got a pretty good goaltender.
06:27And they play defense better than most.
06:30So I think finding the back in the net going to be a little bit hard for Cape Verde here.
06:35I don't think it's going to be hard for Spain.
06:37They have all we've already seen blowouts against Bulgaria.
06:41leading into the World Cup.
06:42They beat Turkey, which everyone thought was going to be pretty good.
06:46Six nothing here.
06:48And I kind of tend to think that maybe maybe playing the alternate markets here.
06:55Not a bad look for Spain, because we should not be shocked.
06:58You got Germany in a 7-1 win right over the weekend.
07:02Could we see a 5-0, 4-0, 4-0 game?
07:06Absolutely correct.
07:08So I would tend to look and maybe move that slider there on the Cal Shies or the Pali markets.
07:14Move that slider and maybe lay two-and-a-half goals or three-and-a-half goals and take a
07:19shot that way.
07:21All right, good analysis there from Joe.
07:23Let's see if we can get some more here, because Belgium is going to take on Egypt.
07:27Now, naturally, Egypt has a better shot here.
07:29This could be one of those potential upsets that we were talking about.
07:3216% of the tickets here are on Egypt.
07:36The tie, by the way, 24% is what Joe mentioned before, if you missed it earlier in the show.
07:41And then Belgium, 62%.
07:43Do you think that this is one of them, Joe?
07:45Or I think you're more inclined to go with a tie here, maybe?
07:49Well, I mean, listen, there are two total opposites here, right?
07:54Defense is the name of the game for Egypt.
07:57Belgium is all about controlling the ball and making sure offensively.
08:03I mean, they're averaging heading into this here, Craig, about four goals a game.
08:07They're a veteran-laden group.
08:09They got a ton of experience, a little bit older, but they've got a ton of experience.
08:14And they understand you got to be able to score to win in the World Cup.
08:18And you're going to have Egypt who's going to try to slow it down and not give them a chance
08:22to do so.
08:23I don't think they're going to have much success.
08:26But I don't think this is going to be some sort of crazy 4-0, 5-1 type of situation
08:32here.
08:33I think Belgium's team total, 1.5, maybe for them to score over 1.5 goals may not be a
08:40bad look here.
08:41But two totally different styles and clashes happening in this one.
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