Darmstadt 98 vs Union Berlin
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Today’s free tip is in the German Bundesliga encounter between Darmstadt 98 and Union Berlin.
I appreciate that Union tend to be at their best when playing as underdogs rather than as favourites but against newly-promoted Darmstadt 98 after an impressive pre-season, a strong start to the Bundesliga, and some really good signings (the latest of which is supposedly Bonucci!), I have to believe that the capital club will triumph here.
Why? Well, the beauty of Union is that they know what’s like to be paupers. Christ, they still are (to an extent) – read Isco’s transcript of what happened when they wanted to sign him for more information on that front! They don’t forget their roots though, which lie in bankruptcy. They’ve had to recover from that, and rise like a phoenix from the ashes – and they have, and they’ve done it in quite some style too. Not only do they play lovely football but they work bloody hard too; there’s not a scrap of arrogance in this entire squad.
I mean, look at their attack now. I’m not Siebatcheu’s biggest fan but between him, Becker, Chelsea loanee Fofana, and now Volland they’ve got some seriously good options. Schafer and Aaronson were superb acquisitions in midfield, and having Kral/Tousart to run the show from deep – just perfect. Again though, they’re not afraid to recruit players that aren’t particularly of this level but they make them good enough by being strong tactically; Pantovic and Laidouni are good examples.
Their defence looks good too. Gosens has arrived to fill in a hole at full-back, and when Bonucci joins – they’ll be complete. Honestly, there’s nothing I don’t like about Union nowadays. Industrious, flexible, confident, clinical, and very organised. On a limited budget, they’re very much the perfect team. No, they’re not going to compete for the title but a top four finish really isn’t beyond such a capable group. I fear for Darmstadt 98 here, honestly – Union Berlin were ruthless last weekend.
Darmstadt 98 are no mugs, of course, but they’ve struggled to attract Bundesliga quality footballers since promotion. They may have only lost 1-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend but it was one-way traffic; the result was never truly in doubt. They do have players that I like in attack, particularly injury-prone Seydel, but none of which are going to be good enough to keep them up. Stojilkovic leads a line well, for example, but is not a natural finisher. This level really should be beyond Pfeiffer too.
They’ve signed some good players pre-season but only from the division below, you know? They may have been good players in that division but the Bundesliga is another kettle of fish. I think Darmstadt 98 have done what they can, financially speaking, but I very much doubt it’ll be enough. They’re going to find themselves out of their depth in a lot of games, and no matter how astute they are tactically, they just don’t have the firepower to survive.
I’m confident that, in their first Bundesliga home match in years, Darmstadt 98 will give a good accounts of themselves here. It’s in their nature to play as a team, and to give little away. However, they’re just not good enough across the park, especially not when it comes to handling such a dangerous Union Berlin side. Therefore, the away win tickles my fancy at 91/100.
Verdict: Union Berlin to win at 91/100.
Saturday’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 Cup:
Sydney United vs Brisbane Roar
Austrian Bundesliga:
Sturm Graz vs Blau-Weiss Linz
Wolfsberger AC vs Salzburg
Austria Lustenau vs SCR Altach
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Westerlo vs KV Mechelen
AS Eupen vs OH Leuven
Kortrijk vs Standard de Liege
Brazilian Serie A:
Flamengo vs Internacional
Corinthians vs Goias
Bulgarian A PFG:
Krumovgrad vs Lokomotiv Sofia 1929
CSKA Sofia vs Cherno More Varna
Croatian Prva Liga:
Varazdin vs Hajduk Split
Lokomotiva Zagreb vs NK Osijek
Czechia Liga 1:
Banik Ostrava vs Ceske Budejovice
Zlin vs Teplice
Pardubice vs Slovacko
Danish Superligaen:
FC Copenhagen vs Silkeborg
English Premier League:
Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal vs Fulham
Brentford vs Crystal Palace
Everton vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest
Brighton & Hove Albion vs West Ham United
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Tammeka vs Vaprus Parnu
FCI Levadia Tallinn vs Tallinna Kalev
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Inter Turku vs FC Lahti
SJK vs IFK Mariehamn
Finnish Ykkonen:
SalPa vs Jaro Pietarsaari
KaPa vs KPV
French Ligue 1:
Olympique de Marseille vs Stade Brestois
Paris Saint-Germain vs Racing Club Lens
German Bundesliga:
SC Freiburg vs Werder Bremen
Koln vs VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Bochum vs Bv09 Borussia Dortmund
Heidenheim vs TSG Hoffenheim
Darmstadt 98 vs Union Berlin
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
German Bundesliga 2:
Hertha Berlin vs Greuther Furth
Hansa Rostock vs VfL Osnabruck
Elversberg vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Hannover 96 vs Hamburger SV
Hungarian Liga 1:
Kecskemeti TE vs Puskas FC
Diosgyori VTK vs Varda SE
Ujpest vs Zalaegerszegi TE
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Bnei Sakhnin vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Maccabi Petah Tikva vs Hapoel Jerusalem
Hapoel Be’er Sheva vs Hapoel Hadera
Maccabi Netanya vs Maccabi Bnei Raina
Italian Serie A:
Frosinone vs Atalanta Bergamo
Monza vs Empoli
Hellas Verona vs AS Roma
Milan vs Torino
Italian Serie B:
Venezia vs Cosenza
Como vs Reggiana
Cremonese vs Bari
FeralpiSalo vs Sudtirol
Modena vs Ascoli
Parma vs Cittadella
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Suduva Marijampole vs Kauno Zalgiris
Dainava vs Hegelmann Litauen
Dutch Eredivisie:
NEC vs RKC Waalwijk
Excelsior Rotterdam vs Fortuna Sittard
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Sarpsborg 08 vs Tromso
Portuguese Liga 1:
Farense vs Chaves
Arouca vs Portimonense
Gil Vicente vs SL Benfica
Spanish Primera Liga:
Cadiz vs Almeria
Granada vs Real Mallorca
Sevilla vs Girona
Swiss Super League:
Yverdon-Sport vs Servette
FC Zurich vs St. Gallen
Turkish Super Lig:
Kasimpasa vs Pendrikspor
Trabzonspor vs Rizespor
Istanbulspor vs Galatasaray
Sivasspor vs Antalyaspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!