The World Cup is almost upon us and the bookmakers are already rubbing their hands in anticipation of a bumper summer having priced England at, for my money, a ridiculously short 7-1. With Spain firm favourites at 4-1, closely followed by Brazil (9-2) and Argentina (6-1) it is worth looking further down the field for a bit of value.

Irrespective of an injury to Arjen Robben Holland are looking ominously good in the build up – could they go one better than the ‘total football’ teams of 74 and 78 at a very interesting 12-1? Last year’s winners Italy are 16-1 to retain the cup with Germany (who’d bet against Germany?) at 14-1. France and Portugal also merit a look at 16-1 and 22-1 respectively.

The Golden Boot will be hotly contested this year too. David Villa currently heads the field at 8-1 with Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi hot on his heels at 9-1. This may raise a chuckle or two but I quite like the look of Peter Crouch at 33-1 to top score – if he gets the playing time. His international record against the lesser teams is phenomenal and with early games against Algeria and Slovenia he could get off to a flying start (he’s 5-1 to be England’s top scorer). Fernando Torres meanwhile is 12-1 with Thierry Henry 50-1.

Fabio Capello’s boys are 2-1 on to win their opening game, with the USA a very tempting 6-1. The smart money however could well be on 3-1 for the draw. The USA also interest me at 5-1 to make the Quarter Finals.

Finally, for those of you who like an emotional hedge you can get 3-1 on England to be eliminated in a penalty shootout. Very possibly the safest bet of all.

All odds from www.ladbrokes.com

I will be looking for value bets throughout the tournament and will share any that I find with you on this site. Who do you think will win it this year? Share your tips below.

4+ goals in the Honduras v Chile match is 3-1. Value a bit thin on the ground in today's fixtures and am still smarting from my loss on Italy last night

The first week of World Cup matches has, as ever, thrown up a few odd results. Many will have lost out when Brazil only managed to beat North Korea by a solitary goal while Serbia’s shock win against Germany and Switzerland’s triumph over Spain will also have lined the bookmakers’ pockets.

I now have the dubious pleasure of watching week two from holiday in France where the histrionics of the media and certain members of the national team are only matched by the ‘oh la las’ of the TF1 commentators whenever a tackle goes in and a carton jaune is produced.

This week Monday throws up a couple of interesting options with Switzerland 12-5 to repeat their heroics against Chile. For the dreamers out there North Korea are 9-1 for a shock win against Portugal – after their result against Brazil I’m sorely tempted to have a couple of pounds on them pulling it off.

South Africa look very good value to salvage some home pride on Tuesday against a French team in disarray at 11-4 to win. In the same group Uruguay are 3-1 to beat Mexico which could be worth a look, although both teams are showing promising form and the draw, at 8-11, could be a banker.

Wednesday sees England take centre stage with Ladbrokes backing Capello to turn it around and making England 1-2 favourites to win. The draw is a generous 3-1 while the emotional hedge is Slovenia to win at 6-1. I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that I can’t see an upset in this game as conceding two (which should really have been three) against the USA should have taken the wind out of Slovenia’s sails.

I’m also sticking with Japan to progress to the knock out stages by beating Denmark at 11-4 on Thursday, while Holland look certain to defeat an already eliminated and apparently unhappy Cameroon at 4-5. What is it with French managers and their squads this year?

The real fun starts with the knockout stages and the arrival of penalty shootouts. Until then enjoy and good luck

All odds from www.ladbrokes.com – let us know if you have any tips by commenting below.