Correct-score betting brings back memories of Fernando Torres

With pubs, clubs, cinemas and theatres shut, sporting events taking place behind closed doors, and the swinging scene in hibernation, lockdown has forced many of us to find new hobbies.

While others throw themselves into baking, knitting or online Scrabble, I've rekindled my interest in correct-score betting.

All sports bettors are essentially fuelled by the pursuit of smugness – that glorious, finger-wagging, 'I told you so' moment when an outcome proves you right and the bookmakers wrong.

And a winning correct-score wager plonks a self-satisfied cherry on top of the smug cake. After all, why settle for being right when you can be (officially) correct?

The downside, however, is that it's actually quite difficult to predict the final score of a football match.

My memorable correct-score successes have been few and far between.

I recall a 2-2 draw, at odds of 16-1, in a late-season Serie B game – a result that appeared to suit all parties (except the bookmaker who swiftly closed my account and, presumably, passed on my details to Interpol).

And Spain 10 Tahiti 0 at the 2013 Confederations Cup was a sweet triumph, despite a Fernando Torres penalty miss that denied me an even more lucrative payout on 11-0.

Typically, though, the best-laid plans of punters are scuppered by an early red card or a bitterly ironic 'consolation' goal.

However, the attritional football we have often witnessed since the resumption of the English season has steered me back into the arms of the correct-score market.

Teams such as Wolves, Manchester United, Brentford, Wigan and Charlton have been racking up clean sheets while other clubs have a string of duck eggs by their names.

On Saturday, for example, Norwich, who have failed to score in seven of their last eight league matches, host a Brighton side with four blanks in their last five.

If you can confidently assign a 'nil' to one team, either due to their toothless attack or their opponents' stout defence, then that's half the battle.

Although, having backed Aston Villa 0 Wolves 1 last weekend, I'm not due another correct-score winner until about 2026.

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