Gland vs Luzern
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Today’s free tip is in the Schweizer Pokal encounter between part-timers Gland and Super League club Luzern.
Luzern are rightly favourites for this game, given that they’ve got better players and they play at a higher level than Gland. Anything but an away win would be a bit of a surprise today.
Having said that, I have no reason to believe that the visitors will make light work of their trip to face Gland. Everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for the lakeside outfit this season. Part of it is their fault; part of it is beyond their control. You see, they’re trying to operate on a smaller budget so they’re selling their best players without properly replacing them. They do have some promising youngsters but they don’t exactly have a top-drawer academy so it’s one hell of a tightrope for them to walk.
Furthermore, in their second year of this cost-saving exercise, they’ve lost a lot of players due to injury. For example, on the sidelines lately have been Lustenberger, Juric, Cirkovic, Knezevic, and Custodio, to name a few. This club cannot perform properly without some of those players, and even when they do, they’re not particularly good these days. Let’s face it – a lot of the players in this team are about brawn and tenacity, not skill and trickery, which is a start contrast to the team they were three years ago. The only player in their squad with any real class these days is young midfielder Rodriguez. They’ve added Eleke for a bit of pace but ultimately, this is a predictable side. I rate central midfielder Ugrinic and big striker Demhasaj, and I think that Georgia’s Gvilia has applied himself really well this season, but these are not-match winners. This is a decidedly thin squad, to be blunt, and I find it hard to believe that such a squad will win convincingly at part-timers Gland today.
You also have to bear in mind that Luzern have played a lot of games lately, thanks to their brief stint in the UEFA Europa League. This is actually their fifth game in fifteen days and they just don’t have the squad for a game every three days. They’ll improve now that Olympiakos Piraeus have dumped them out but they’re still a very limited squad. However, what I will credit them with is having an outstanding work-rate. The harder the times get, the harder the players work. That was evident against Young Boys Bern – despite being outplayed and getting an extremely fortunate route back into the game – and against Olympiakos Piraeus. This team is making it really hard for their opponents to stand up to them, basically, whether it’s via physicality or simple long balls. That sounds like the kind of tactics that lower league Gland are used to though, so I am not convinced it’ll work out for the visitors today, especially given how profligate they are.
That’s the other side of it, you see. Luzern do create chances; they just don’t take them very often. You can tell that they lack quality and confidence. I genuinely fear for their survival this season because Omlin is no longer between the sticks to bail them out of tough games, and with so many of their games now “tough” because of who they’ve lost, things aren’t going to be any easier for them in the future without a couple of massive signings.
I do think that Luzern have enough about them to beat Gland today but with the above in mind, it’s hard to believe it’ll be done convincingly.
Verdict: Gland to win with a +4.5 Asian Handicap at 9/10.
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.
Argentinian Superliga:
San Martin de San Juan vs Patronato
Colon de Santa Fe vs Tigre
Aldosivi vs Atletico Huracan
San Lorenzo de Almagro vs Atletico Lanus
Racing Club Avellaneda vs Velez Sarsfield
Austrian Bundesliga:
Sturm Graz vs SCR Altach
LASK Linz vs Rapid Vienna
Austria Vienna vs Admira Wacker
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Antwerp vs Club Brugge
Racing Genk vs Sporting Charleroi
AS Eupen vs AA Gent
Brazilian Serie A:
Internacional vs Parana
Cruzeiro vs Bahia
Atletico Paranaense vs Flamengo
Vitoria vs Palmeiras
Botafogo vs Atletico Mineiro
America Mineiro vs Fluminense
Sao Paulo vs Chapecoense
Bulgarian A PFG:
Levski Sofia vs Septemvri Sofia
Ludogorets Razgrad vs CSKA Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Hajduk Split vs Gorica
Rudes vs Rijeka
Czech Repulic HET Liga:
Karvina vs Viktoria Plzen
Sparta Prague vs Marila Pribram
Danish Superligaen:
FC Nordsjaelland vs Vejle
Randers vs Hobro
AGF Aarhus vs FC Copenhagen
Brondby vs Esbjerg
OB Odense vs FC Midtjylland
English Premier League:
Burnley vs Watford
Manchester City vs Huddersfield Town
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester United
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Vaprus vs FCI Levadia Tallinn
Flora Tallinn vs Tallinna Kalev
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
HB Torshavn vs TB/FCS/Royn
KI Klaksvik vs EB/Streymur
AB Argir vs B36 Torshavn
NSI Runavik vs Skala
Vikingur Gotu vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
HJK Helsinki vs PS Kemi Kings
IFK Mariehamn vs FC Honka Espoo
Finnish Ykkonen:
HIFK Helsinki vs Kajaani
Ekenas IF vs Klubi-04
French Ligue 1:
Racing Club Strasbourg vs AS Saint-Etienne
Toulouse vs Girondins de Bordeaux
Nimes Olympique vs Olympique de Marseille
German DFB Pokal:
Lok Stendal vs Arminia Bielefeld
TSV Steinbach vs Augsburg
Weiche Flensburg vs VfL Bochum
Chemie Leipzig vs Jahn Regensburg
BFC Dynamo vs Koln
Jeddeloh vs Heidenheim
Viktoria Koln vs RB Leipzig
Karlsruher SC vs Hannover 96
1860 Munich vs Holstein Kiel
Carl Zeiss Jena vs Union Berlin
Hastedt vs Borussia Moenchengladbach
Icelandic Pepsideild:
KA Akureyri vs KR Reykjavik
Fylkir Reykjavik vs FH Hafnarfjordur
UMF Grindavik vs Stjarnan Gardabaer
Italian Serie A:
Torino vs AS Roma
Bologna vs SPAL
Empoli vs Cagliari
Parma vs Udinese
Sassuolo vs Internazionale
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Utrecht vs PEC Zwolle
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Excelsior Rotterdam
BV Emmen vs AZ Alkmaar
Heerenveen vs Vitesse Arnhem
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Stabaek vs Molde FK
Kristiansund vs Rosenborg BK
Brann Bergen vs Sarpsborg 08
Lillestrom vs Haugesund
Stromsgodset vs Start Kristiansand
Ranheim vs Sandefjord
Valerenga Oslo vs Tromso
Portuguese Liga 1:
Rio Ave vs Maritimo Funchal
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Moreirense
Belenenses vs FC Porto
Santa Clara vs Sporting Braga
Portuguese Liga 2:
Arouca vs SL Benfica II
Leixoes Matosinhos vs Varzim
Academico Viseu vs UD Oliveirense
Cova Piedade vs Sporting Covilha
Famalicao vs Penafiel
Russian Premier League:
Krylya Sovetov Samara vs Lokomotiv Moscow
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast
FK Rostov vs Yenisey
Spanish Primera Liga:
Eibar vs Huesca
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid vs Sevilla CF
Real Madrid vs Getafe
Swedish Allsvenskan:
GIF Sundsvall vs BK Hacken Goteborg
Elfsborg Boras vs IFK Norrkoping
Djurgarden vs Kalmar FF
Brommapojkarna vs AIK Solna
Swiss Schweizer Pokal:
Buochs vs Grasshopper Zurich
Freienbach vs FC Schaffhausen
Gland vs Luzern
Dietikon vs Lugano
Ueberstorf vs St. Gallen
Yverdon Sport vs Neuchatel Xamax
Turkish Super Lig:
BB Erzurumspor vs Besiktas JK
Akhisarspor vs Rizespor
Alanyaspor vs Ankaragucu
Galatasaray vs Goztepe
Enjoy your free betting tips!