There are times when a little knowledge can take you a long way in sportsbetting - it can certainly help to swing the betting odds in your favour. This time  of year is always a difficult time in football betting. Teams are fighting to avoid relegation while others are fighting for that coveted number one spot.

In the middle of the table there is the battle to finish in a high enough position to win a spot in the European competitions. Add to this the FA Cup and the current European competition that is coming to a head and you have a lot of turmoil in the playing ranks.

Use of this knowledge would have gone a long way over the weekend. Take the Fulham – Manchester City game. Let’s look at what is known and should have been taken into account before betting.

• Fulham are comfortable in the middle of the league table. They are beyond relegation and next season’s European competition is now out of their reach.
• Manchester City are fighting hard for one of those European competition places.
• Fulham are still in the FA Cup.
• Fulham are through to the quarter finals of the Europa League.

Taken individually they don’t mean much – add them together and it’s a different story. Fulham have nothing to lose or gain by winning or losing against Manchester City – except pride. They are professionals and I think there may be just a little more pride in making the FA Cup finals or the Europa League finals?

With those two competitions in mind, and the Premier League competition effectively over for the season, where are the coaches and players going to concentrate their attention? Come half time with Fulham down 0-2, the coaching staff pulled their important players off the field and sent on substitutes – let’s face it, who wants injured players going into finals.

It happens every season with teams not fielding their very best side in one particular competition so they can concentrate on more important contests. It’s against the rules of the game – but it happens. As punters, you need to be aware of what is going on in any sport. That way, you can look at a contest with knowledgeable eyes – the betting odds now start to work in your favour – Fulham were 100/1 to win over the weekend yet the best from bookies was 3/1. Manchester City should have been a stand out bet and 11/8 – they are pretty handsome odds. Know your sport and capitalise on your knowledge.