FC Basel vs Lugano
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Today’s free tip is in the Swiss Super League encounter between FC Basel and Lugano.
I’ve gone against FC Basel on plenty of occasions this season but they do seem to be gradually turning things around. I still wouldn’t blindly trust them as I would have done 2+ years ago because they’re nowhere near that level for a multitude of reasons. However, they remain a very strong side in Switzerland, and they’re playing well enough to prove it right now.
Importantly, FC Basel have got some of their injured players back in recent times. Instead of missing their entire defence and, signing of the season thus far, goalkeeper Omlin, they’re now just missing two defenders, which are Suchy and Zambrano. Balanta is a doubt but I expect him to be ok here; he’s always got some niggle or either, that lad!
I like what I’ve seen from FC Basel lately, though – that’s the crux of this tip. It’s a bit of everything that has led to that conclusion. Koller is a good manager and the team is getting used to his approach. Getting players back from injury helps. Most of all, playing with more confidence is aiding FC Basel to no end. As bad as Grasshopper Zurich were in the first-half of the derby last weekend, FC Basel were extremely dangerous, constantly carving out good opportunities. Truth be told, Grasshopper Zurich could not have complained if they went in 5-0 down at the break. FC Basel were a bit too casual in the second-half but they did enough to secure a good win. They did a professional job against impressive Winterthur in the Schweizer Pokal earlier this week too.
I don’t honestly trust FC Basel to keep clean sheets nowadays though – keep that in mind. They’re a bit too sloppy for my liking, and it’ll stay that way until Suchy comes back. However, their stars are starting to shine and that’s really helpful. This way, the under-performing of playmaker Stocker isn’t as apparent because Frei and Zuffi have stepped up. I love that FC Basel have finally embraced the fact that Ajeti is a far better finisher than van Wolfswinkel too. They’ve been smart enough to bench the massively overrated Oberlin too. All the decisions Koller and co. are making right now are working, and things are beginning to slide into place. Again, they’re not impeccable, or even close to it, but I trust them more now than I have for a long time.
I quite like Lugano in an odd sort of way but they’re not very good. Indeed, away from home, they tend to put in seriously disappointing displays. It’s like they lose all of their composure because they concede lots of daft goals without scoring many. Now, there is still a new manager – Celestini – to impress, and Lugano have unquestionably done well lately. However, switching the team from a short-passing outfit to a long ball outfit isn’t something that I expect to be too positive a move today. It’ll work against Neuchatel Xamax and St. Gallen but I doubt it’ll work against FC Basel.
The thing is that Celestini doesn’t really have an alternative because the club never replaced star creator Mariani, which makes their midfield extremely short of natural creativity. They’re not short of mobility nor tenacity but when it comes to playing that final pass, they really struggle. Therefore, they’re going long now, and although that’s playing to their strengths, I just don’t see FC Basel struggling to deal with that approach. The bad news for the southerners is that they can’t keep teams out nowadays so unless they get lucky with their long ball attacking, they’re going to lose.
In the past, Lugano used to really have the measure of FC Basel, just like Lausanne Sport did. However, the days of Alioski etc. are long gone now, and Lugano look a bit bare so I can’t see them being able to keep on upsetting their more illustrious hosts. Things have changed since they last met and I genuinely believe that FC Basel are now in a position whereby they can control a game against Lugano and take their chances well enough to beat the -1 Asian Handicap, hence the below tip.
Verdict: FC Basel to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 93/100.
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:
Argentinos Juniors vs Independiente
Aldosivi vs Banfield
San Lorenzo de Almagro vs Talleres de Cordoba
Racing Club Avellaneda vs Newell’s Old Boys
San Martin Tucuman vs San Martin de San Juan
Australian A-League:
Central Coast Mariners vs Adelaide United
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg vs SV Mattersburg
Austria Vienna vs Wolfsberger AC
SCR Altach vs Rapid Vienna
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Standard de Liege vs Antwerp
Waasland-Beveren vs RSC Anderlecht
Lokeren vs AS Eupen
Sint-Truiden vs Zulte-Waregem
Brazilian Serie A:
Parana vs Vitoria
America Mineiro vs Cruzeiro
Botafogo vs Corinthians
Sao Paulo vs Flamengo
Bahia vs Chapecoense
Internacional vs Atletico Paranaense
Bulgarian A PFG:
Botev Vratsa vs Cherno More Varna
Levski Sofia vs Botev Plovdiv
Etar vs Ludogorets Razgrad
Croatian Prva Liga:
Gorica vs Hajduk Split
NK Osijek vs Dinamo Zagreb
Czech Republic HET Liga:
Sparta Prague vs Slavia Prague
Danish Superligaen:
Brondby vs FC Copenhagen
FC Nordsjaelland vs Aalborg BK
AGF Aarhus vs Randers
Esbjerg vs FC Midtjylland
English Premier League:
Manchester City vs Southampton
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Flora Paide vs Tallinna Kalev
French Ligue 1:
Nantes Atlantique vs En Avant Guingamp
AS Saint-Etienne vs Angers SCO
Montpellier HSC vs Olympique de Marseille
German Bundesliga:
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Mainz 05 vs Werder Bremen
German Bundesliga 2:
Arminia Bielefeld vs St. Pauli
Jahn Regensburg vs Union Berlin
Heidenheim vs Erzgebirge Aue
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv vs Hapoel Hadera
Hapoel Be’er Sheva vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Italian Serie A:
SS Lazio vs SPAL
Chievo Verona vs Sassuolo
Parma vs Frosinone
Sampdoria vs Torino
Bologna vs Atalanta Bergamo
Udinese vs AC Milan
Italian Serie B:
Crotone vs Carpi
Venezia vs Salernitana
Livorno vs Perugia
Dutch Eredivisie:
Heerenveen vs FC Emmen
FC Utrecht vs ADO Den Haag
Fortuna Sittard vs PEC Zwolle
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs VVV Venlo
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Valerenga Oslo vs Sarpsborg 08
Haugesund vs Ranheim
Rosenborg BK vs Odd
Tromso vs Molde FK
Sandefjord vs Start Kristiansand
Brann Bergen vs Stromsgodset
Portuguese Liga 1:
Feirense vs Tondela
Santa Clara vs Sporting Clube de Portugal
Sporting Braga vs Vitoria Setubal
Portuguese Liga 2:
Leixoes Matosinhos vs FC Porto II
Vitoria Guimaraes II vs Estoril
Varzim vs Farense
Sporting Covilha vs UD Oliveirense
Academica de Coimbra vs Academico Viseu
Russian Premier League:
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Akhmat Grozny
FK Krasnodar vs FK Rostov
Spartak Moscow vs Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast
Spanish Primera Liga:
Eibar vs Deportivo Alaves
Villarreal CF vs Levante CF
Real Sociedad vs Sevilla CF
Huesca vs Getafe
Real Betis Balompie vs Celta de Vigo
Swedish Allsvenskan:
IFK Norrkoping vs Orebro
IFK Goteborg vs Malmo FF
Hammarby vs BK Hacken Goteborg
AIK Solna vs GIF Sundsvall
Swiss Super League:
FC Basel vs Lugano
Luzern vs FC Zurich
Sion vs St. Gallen
Swiss Challenge League:
Chiasso vs Aarau
FC Wil vs SC Kriens
Winterthur vs Rapperswil-Jona
Servette vs FC Schaffhausen
Turkish Super Lig:
Ankaragucu vs Kayserispor
Alanyaspor vs Yeni Malatyaspor
Trabzonspor vs Bursaspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!