Football Tips: Paddy’s 10/1 treble for Thursday’s AFCON and Spanish action

Our tipster Paddy Murphy rounds up his best picks for Thursday's AFCON and Copa del Rey action.

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

On Thursday we have some massive games to search for value in. The African Cup of Nations sees hosts Cameroon taking on Egypt in the second semi-final of the competition. The Indomitable Lions are favourites but the Pharaohs will aim to frustrate the home side and knick a goal on the counter. While in Spain we have two Copa del Rey quarter-finals where Real Sociedad entertain Real Betis and Real Madrid travel to Athletic Bilbao.

Let’s get down to business!

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All three of these picks in a Paddy Power treble will give you odds of 9/1. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR BETSLIP.

7pm: Cameroon vs Egypt: Cameroon to Win

TV: Sky Sports Football/ BBC 3

Cameroon have won four of their five tournament games so far, drawing the other one and have scored at least two goals in four of those games; scoring a total of 11 and conceding four. Both Teams to Score has landed in four of their matches and Over 2.5 goals has occurred in three. Egypt have won two of their five games. They’ve also drawn two, winning one in extra-time and the other on penalties while they lost their opening game to Nigeria.

They’re not exactly pleasing on the eye but they’re managed by Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz, a man who took Italian Catenaccio football to his heart a long, long time ago. Egypt simply try to frustrate sides and then get the ball to Mo Salah to score. However, they lack the fast players needed to get the ball up to Salah quickly. Of course, the Liverpool man cannot be dismissed. His return of a goal once every four shots is impressive but his teammates need to make sure he gets those shooting opportunities.

The momentum, however, is with Cameroon. As mentioned above they’ve scored at least two goals in four of their last five games and these superior goal stats, coupled with their roaring home support, means we have to back them to book their place in the final.

7pm: Real Sociedad vs Betis: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals

TV: Premier Sports 2

Both of these sides come into this Copa del Rey quarter-final in decent form. Sociedad have won three of their last five in all competitions, drawing two. On home turf they’ve won three of their last five, drawing one and losing one. In those games they’ve scored seven and conceded three, keeping four clean sheets in the process. Betis have won four of their last five in all competitions, drawing the other one. Their away form is decent too, winning two, drawing two (winning one in extra-time and losing the other), scoring 12 (+2 in extra-time) and conceding seven.

While Sociedad’s clean sheets record is nothing short of mighty, it’s Betis’ attacking record that will give them confidence. They’ve scored 10 goals over their last five away trips to Sociedad. They didn’t win any of those games though, losing two and drawing three. Over 2.5 goals and Both Teams to Score landed in all five with Over 3.5 occurring in four. With all those goal stats we have to go with Both Teams to Score and Overs here.

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8.30pm: Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid: Real Madrid to Win

TV: Premier Sports 1

Bilbao have won two of their last five in all competitions, drawing two (winning one in extra-time) and losing one. On home turf they’ve won just one of their last five, drawing two (winning one in extra-time) and losing two, with eight goals scored (+1 in extra-time) and nine conceded. Real Madrid have won two of their last five in all competitions, drawing three, winning two of them in extra-time. Their away form has seen them also win two of their last five, drawing two (winning both in extra-time) and losing one. Over those five games they scored seven (+3 in ET) and conceded four (+1 in ET).

Real have lost just one of their last 10 visits to the San Mames, keeping three clean sheets in their last five. With Los Leones’ less-than-impressive home form we have to side with Los Blancos here, Real Madrid to Win has the value in this one.

Thursday Football Tips:

19:00 – Cameroon vs Egypt: Cameroon to Win
19:00 – Real Sociedad vs Real Betis: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 goals
20:30 – Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid: Real Madrid to Win

All three of these picks in a Paddy Power treble will give you odds of 10/1. CLICK HERE TO ADD TO YOUR BETSLIP.

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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