Vitoria vs Fluminense
FreeWe’re always looking for new recruits to help us so please click here if you want to find out more about the ways you can help us (e.g. local input, watching games)!
Our personal betting tips service continues to make profit so click here if you are interested in a free trial!
There are 6 bankers and 13 value tips in the Members Section today so feel free to sign up here to see them + team news!
Generally speaking, Brazilian clubs are knowing for playing some of the lazier football in South America. Even their “average” players tend to be very comfortable on the ball but their attitudes are random, to say the least, which makes it challenging to know when they’ll show up and when they won’t.
However, there are two teams that I always trust to show up because they often do, which are Bahia and Vitoria. They’re local rivals so I can only assume it’s something regional that keeps them constantly motivated but when either are at home, I do not oppose them without a really good reason. I certainly don’t have one today either!
Vitoria are not one of Serie A’s best teams but they’re one of the more consistent sides. They struggle on the road but are generally very strong at home. They’re fiercely competitive, fearless, and good at scoring goals. Mighty Corinthians just about escaped with a 0-0 draw here in the Copa do Brasil recently, and Flamengo needed to score two goals in order to get a 2-2 draw here before that. This is not an easy place to play football!
I can’t deny that Vitoria do have some good individuals like Baumjohann but it’s all about the team effort. Collectively, they’re a bloody nightmare. It’s their home form that keeps them up, year after year, and everybody in this team knows it. They’re not a team to take lightly, Vitoria, and they’ve got previous when it comes to hosting good teams. Fluminense themselves have won at the Estadio Manoel Barradas just once in the past decade, for example. I doubt that record will improve tonight either.
Still, Vitoria’s guile and tenacity wasn’t enough for me to just back them to beat a team that is essentially better than they are. There needs to be something else involved – and there is. Fluminense have a big Copa Sudamericana game in Bolivia next week, which will be played at high altitude. That basically means that they need to rest players for this game unless they’re going to rotate and take their chances against Nacional Potosi. I mean, they do take a 3-0 lead into that knockout game but bigger deficits than that have been overturned over the past year in South American continental competition so I’m inclined to believe that they’ll go with their strongest squad next week and rotate players here.
Now, I respect Fluminense a lot but they don’t have much depth. There’s a gulf between their “A” team and their “B” team. Considering that they generally struggle to score goals as it is, it’s hard to believe that their potential “B” team will find it easy to score goals here. Fluminense play some good football but they’ve got plenty of very young players, and this is a game where you need experienced heads. I think Fluminense’s “A” team would get a draw here but if they play the team that I expect them to then they’d have to play seriously well to get something here.
I’ll take my chances on the home win.
Verdict: Vitoria to win at 57/50.
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 to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Argentinian Superliga:
Temperley vs Patronato
Independiente vs Gimnasia de la Plata
Tigre vs Atletico Lanus
Boca Juniors vs Union de Santa Fe
Estudiantes de la Plata vs Racing Club Avellaneda
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg vs Sturm Graz
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Club Brugge vs RSC Anderlecht
Standard de Liege vs Racing Genk
Beerschot-Wilrijk vs KV Oostende
Brazilian Serie A:
Corinthians vs Ceara
Cruzeiro vs Botafogo
Atletico Paranaense vs Palmeiras
Vitoria vs Fluminense
Flamengo vs Internacional
Sport Recife vs Bahia
Gremio vs Santos
Bulgarian A PFG:
Beroe vs Vereya
Croatian Prva Liga:
Rudes vs Hajduk Split
Danish Superligaen:
FC Copenhagen vs Brondby
SonderjyskE vs Hobro
AGF Aarhus vs OB Odense
Silkeborg vs Lyngby
Randers vs FC Helsingor
English Premier League:
Manchester City vs Huddersfield Town
Arsenal vs Burnley
Chelsea vs Liverpool
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Flora Paide vs Tammeka
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
NSI Runavik vs B36 Torshavn
Skala vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur
HB Torshavn vs AB Argir
KI Klaksvik vs Vikingur Gotu
TB/FCS/Royn vs EB/Streymur
Finnish Ykkonen:
Klubi-04 vs JJK Jyvaskyla
Ekenas IF vs Haka Valkeakoski
French Ligue 1:
AS Saint-Etienne vs Girondins de Bordeaux
Olympique Lyonnais vs Troyes
Stade Malherbe de Caen vs AS Monaco
Dijon FCO vs En Avant Guingamp
Metz vs Angers SCO
Nantes Atlantique vs Montpellier HSC
Stade Rennais vs Racing Club Strasbourg
Toulouse vs Lille OSC
Olympique de Marseille vs OGC Nice
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
IBV Vestmannaeyjar vs Fjolnir Reykjavik
Fylkir Reykjavik vs KA Akureyri
KR Reykjavik vs Stjarnan Gardabaer
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Ra’anana vs Hapoel Ashkelon
Maccabi Petah Tikva vs MS Ashdod
Italian Serie A:
Udinese vs Internazionale
SS Lazio vs Atalanta Bergamo
SPAL vs Benevento
Chievo Verona vs Crotone
Genoa vs ACF Fiorentina
SSC Napoli vs Torino
Sassuolo vs Sampdoria
Cagliari vs AS Roma
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Suduva Marijampole vs Trakai
Dutch Eredivisie:
Heerenveen vs Feyenoord Rotterdam
FC Utrecht vs VVV Venlo
Sparta Rotterdam vs Heracles Almelo
AZ Alkmaar vs PEC Zwolle
Willem II vs Vitesse Arnhem
PSV Eindhoven vs Groningen
Excelsior Rotterdam vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam
Roda JC Kerkrade vs ADO Den Haag
Twente Enschede vs NAC Breda
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Bodo/Glimt vs Stromsgodset
Kristiansund vs Stabaek
Lillestrom vs Sandefjord
Valerenga Oslo vs Haugesund
Odd vs Start Kristiansand
Brann Bergen vs Tromso
Portuguese Liga 1:
Moreirense vs Desportivo Aves
Estoril vs Vitoria Setubal
Chaves vs Maritimo Funchal
FC Porto vs Feirense
Portuguese Liga 2:
Sporting Braga II vs SL Benfica II
Gil Vicente vs Sporting Covilha
FC Porto II vs Famalicao
Santa Clara vs Real
Academica de Coimbra vs Cova Piedade
Arouca vs CD Nacional de Madeira
Vitoria Guimaraes II vs Sporting Clube de Portugal II
Leixoes Matosinhos vs UD Oliveirense
Penafiel vs Academico Viseu
Uniao Madeira vs Varzim
Russian Premier League:
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast vs Amkar Perm’
CSKA Moscow vs Arsenal Tula
Spanish Primera Liga:
Malaga CF vs Deportivo Alaves
Atletico Madrid vs RCD Espanyol
Las Palmas vs Getafe
Barcelona CF vs Real Madrid
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Brommapojkarna vs Djurgarden
Dalkurd vs Kalmar FF
Elfsborg Boras vs AIK Solna
Trelleborg FF vs BK Hacken Goteborg
Swiss Super League:
St. Gallen vs FC Basel
Thun vs Grasshopper Zurich
FC Zurich vs Lausanne Sport
Swiss Challenge League:
Chiasso vs FC Schaffhausen
Turkish Super Lig:
Fenerbahce vs Bursaspor
Genclerbirligi vs Antalyaspor
Akhisarspor vs Galatasaray
Enjoy your free betting tips!