Servette vs Young Boys Bern
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Today’s free pick is in the Swiss Super League encounter between Servette and Young Boys Bern.
This is one of the Super League’s more curious fixtures, generally speaking. Servette tend to hold something of a voodoo sign over the capital club, which nobody else in the country can really boast. Whether it remains that way or not here, I don’t know; the timing suits Young Boys Bern a lot more. This is a tough game though, so suffice to say that I wouldn’t be surprised if the visitors dropped points.
Servette’s big problem, as always, is that they have no depth. Subsequently, when they have players out, they tend to miss them; central midfield is the only area with any real depth but with Antunes and Valls out, even that’s being stretched. Severin is injured, and Rouiller is suspended for his assault on Celar so they’re now short of centre-backs too, meaning Baron is likely to partner Vouilloz, which is a very unfamiliar pairing – and don’t forget Baron has barely played at Super League level.
Servette still find themselves without a striker too. Bedia is still out, as he has been for months now, but Crivelli is out again despite threatening to return recently. Fofana has done an admirable job on their stead, especially considering he’s a midfielder, but by no means is he going to win balls in the air or emulate the precise movement of a natural striker. Essentially, any team that parks the bus against Servette is going to cause them problems. Luckily, that’s not the way Young Boys Bern play but still – worth noting.
It’s my belief that the Servette starting eleven picks itself here; Frick, Diallo, Vouilloz, Baron, Clichy, Cognat, Douline, Rodelin, Stevanovic, Fofana, Pflucke in a 4-3-3. Cespedes may get the nod over Rodelin (and Rodelin would replace Pflucke) but other than that, I don’t see what changes they could realistically make here. That team can cause Young Boys Bern problems but only if the visitors try to win it i.e. go on the offensive. If Young Boys Bern sit back and wait to see what happens then this could end up being a 0-0.
Again though, the visitors don’t like to play that way. They’re not good at it. They’re better at making the running, and they’re fools if they don’t do that here because this is as threadbare a Servette as they could hope to encounter. Besides, I think it’s worth noting that Wicky will not be in charge of the visitors here; he’s unwell. I could be wrong, but I believe his temporary stand-in would want to impress by playing the Young Boys Bern way, and that should mean attacking play is guaranteed.
The visitors are better at chance conversion than their hosts but they’re worse at dictating the tempo, which is why this is an interesting kind of match. In Elia, Itten, and Nsame they have some of the most dangerous forwards in Switzerland, and they’re not short of support from wonderkid Rieder, ex-Servette ‘traitor’ Imeri (don’t be surprised if he gets booked here), and the evergreen Fassnacht. I’d include Ugrinic too but I doubt he’ll be risked. Then you have to factor in their marauding full-backs, which are very good at getting forward too. Simply put, it’s not hard to see why Young Boys Bern score goals as often as they do.
Fun fact, though – the visitors really don’t play particularly well anymore. They haven’t for a while. It’s easy to get bamboozled by statistics, I suppose, or even simple form guides. The reality is that this team does not dominate Swiss football like they once did. They do take their chances better than the rest but that’s the only real difference nowadays. Servette might exploit that if they’re smart here. I fear for the home team though, because there’s very little on that bench that can change the course of the game if they start badly.
I won’t enter the 1×2 market but backing over 3 Asian goals is appealing with the proviso that Young Boys Bern try to win it rather than playing it safe.
Verdict: Over 3 Asian goals at 21/20.
Sunday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Australian A-League:
Wellington Phoenix vs Macarthur FC
Brisbane Roar vs Sydney FC
Western United vs Adelaide United
Austrian Bundesliga:
SCR Altach vs Sturm Graz
WSG Tirol vs Austria Vienna
Rapid Vienna vs LASK
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
AA Gent vs Club Brugge
Union Saint-Gilloise vs Westerlo
Antwerp vs RSC Anderlecht
KV Oostende vs Kortrijk
Brazilian Serie A:
Cuiaba vs Palmeiras
Fortaleza vs Atletico Goianiense
Coritiba vs Flamengo
Bulgarian A PFG:
Slavia Sofia vs Cherno More Varna
Spartak Varna vs Levski Sofia
CSKA Sofia vs Lokomotiv Sofia 1929
Croatian Prva Liga:
Varazdin vs Rijeka
Dinamo Zagreb vs Sibenik
Czechia Liga 1:
Mlada Boleslav vs Teplice
Slovan Liberec vs Hradec Kralove
Slovacko vs Pardubice
Slavia Prague vs Banik Ostrava
Danish Superligaen:
Aalborg BK vs Silkeborg
Viborg vs AGF
FC Copenhagen vs Lyngby
OB vs Brondby
English Premier League:
Chelsea vs Arsenal
Aston Villa vs Manchester United
Southampton vs Newcastle United
West Ham United vs Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Kuressaare vs Vaprus Parnu
Flora Paide vs Nomme Kalju
French Ligue 1:
Lorient vs Paris Saint-Germain
Clermont Foot 38 vs Montpellier HSC
OGC Nice vs Stade Brestois
Stade de Reims vs FC Nantes Atlantique
Toulouse vs AS Monaco
Lille OSC vs Stade Rennais
Olympique de Marseille vs Olympique Lyonnais
German Bundesliga:
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Union Berlin
SC Freiburg vs Koln
German Bundesliga 2:
Hamburger SV vs Jahn Regensburg
Nurnberg vs Magdeburg
Eintracht Braunschweig vs Greuther Furth
Hungarian Liga 1:
Vasas Budapest vs Debreceni VSC
Paksi SE vs Budapest Honved
Fehervar vs Ferencvaros
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Maccabi Bnei Raina vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva
Beitar Jerusalem vs Maccabi Haifa
Italian Serie A:
Bologna vs Torino
Sampdoria vs ACF Fiorentina
Monza vs Hellas Verona
AS Roma vs SS Lazio
Juventus vs Internazionale
Italian Serie B:
Como vs Venezia
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Suduva Marijampole vs Zalgiris Vilnius
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Utrecht vs FC Groningen
FC Twente Enschede vs Go Ahead Eagles
FC Volendam vs Feyenoord Rotterdam
AFC Ajax Amsterdam vs PSV Eindhoven
RKC Waalwijk vs AZ
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Aalesund FK vs Lillestrom SK
Bodo/Glimt vs Viking Stavanger
Hamarkameratene vs Tromso
Haugesund vs Valerenga Oslo
Jerv vs Rosenborg BK
Molde FK vs Sandefjord
Sarpsborg 08 vs Kristiansund
Odd vs Stromsgodset
Portuguese Liga 1:
Rio Ave vs Boavista
Maritimo Funchal vs Famalicao
Sporting Braga vs Casa Pia
Estoril vs SL Benfica
Spanish Primera Liga:
Atletico Madrid vs RCD Espanyol
Real Sociedad vs Valencia
Villarreal vs Real Mallorca
Real Betis Balompie vs Sevilla
Swedish Allsvenskan:
AIK Solna vs Elfsborg Boras
BK Hacken Goteborg vs IFK Norrkoping
Djurgarden vs Mjallby Solvesborg
Helsingborg vs Hammarby
IFK Varnamo vs IFK Goteborg
Sirius vs Varberg
Kalmar FF vs GIF Sundsvall
Malmo FF vs Degerfors
Swiss Super League:
Servette vs Young Boys Bern
FC Basel vs FC Sion
Lugano vs FC Zurich
Swiss Challenge League:
Vaduz vs Neuchatel Xamax
Turkish Super Lig:
Gaziantep vs Kayserispor
Antalyaspor vs Fatih Karagumruk
Trabzonspor vs Konyaspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!