Mjondalen vs Bodo/Glimt
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Today’s free tip is in the Norwegian Eliteserien encounter between newly-promoted Mjondalen and Bodo/Glimt.
Opposing Mjondalen at home in their first game of the season is risky. They’re going to be seriously motivated in front of their own fans for obvious reasons so they could make this an uncomfortable game for their opponents. Indeed, Bodo/Glimt is known as something of an enigma in Norwegian football; capable of great things at home but equally as capable of disastrous things on the road. That’s the risk with this tip, in a nutshell!
Still, based purely on the footballing side of things, I really don’t have a reason to doubt the visitors. You see, Mjondalen has arrived back in the Eliteserien with a rather weak squad. Other than the loan signings of a couple of youngsters like Lund and Ranmark (both goalkeepers), Mjondalen has opted mostly to stick with the squad that got them promoted. I admire their loyalty but honestly, I think they’re in trouble this season. There’s just not enough quality in any area of the pitch.
In many ways, Mjondalen is the typical lower league Norwegian team that is playing at a level above them. Basically, they’re well-stocked when it comes to height but not when it comes to finding an alternative to their wide game if it gets stopped. I do like strikers Occean and Brustad, both of which have been around for a long time and lead the line well, although I must confess that I didn’t even think Occean was playing any longer! Still, both are handfuls – with the right service. Mjondalen doesn’t have much in the way of creativity though, so making chances for those two is going to be very tough. Also, I may have seen worse defences than Mjondalen’s but they still won’t keep many Eliteserien sides out this season. I just don’t think Mjondalen is good enough, basically.
Bodo/Glimt can be frustrating sometimes with their Jekyll and Hyde displays but when they want to be, they’re really annoying to face. This is because Bodo/Glimt is quite good at everything without excelling at anything. Tactically, they can be flexible, although their preferred style is to press high and ensure they keep possession. As a unit, they look solid defensively, and they know how to hold leads. Offensively, they’re a touch predictable but still hard to defend against as mighty Rosenborg BK found out last time out. Bodo/Glimt is certainly painful to beat if nothing else.
Pre-season, Bodo/Glimt lost consistent target man Ospeth, which isn’t the end of the world. Yes, he did a good job for them but he’s not irreplaceable. I’d be far more concerned if they lost talismanic midfielder Saltnes! I liked that they managed to prise towering centre-back Bergan from Odd – he was excellent last season – and French forward Konate from Boulogne, a move clearly inspired by the impact that Muhammad had at Sarpsborg 08 last season. I think Konate can help make this team even harder to handle, although I doubt his finishing will improve their goal-scoring!
Ultimately, Bodo/Glimt is a very settled and experienced side with great cohesion. They won’t win any trophies in the near future but they are a very stable and dependable outfit so I find it hard to believe that they’ll lose at Mjondalen today, even if their hosts do work their socks off. Bodo/Glimt’s win last weekend came about because of their maturity whereas Mjondalen was beaten 2-0 by Valerenga Oslo due to their inability to cope at this level. I may be a touch dubious about backing Bodo/Glimt on a regular basis but backing them to win this game with draw no bet cover makes a lot of sense to me at odds of 83/100, hence the below tip.
Verdict: Bodo/Glimt to win with draw no bet at 83/100.
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.
Argentinian Superliga:
Gimnasia de la Plata vs Colon de Santa Fe
Union de Santa Fe vs Estudiantes de la Plata
Banfield vs Newell’s Old Boys
Velez Sarsfield vs Atletico Lanus
Aldosivi vs Boca Juniors
Australian A-League:
Newcastle Jets vs Western Sydney Wanderers
Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory
Austrian Bundesliga:
Wacker Innsbruck vs Rapid Vienna
Admira Wacker vs SCR Altach
SV Mattersburg vs Hartberg
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Racing Genk vs AA Gent
KV Oostende vs Beerschot-Wilrijk
Westerlo vs Sint-Truiden
Union Saint-Gilloise vs Waasland-Beveren
Royal Excel Mouscron vs Cercle Brugge
Bulgarian A PFG:
Ludogorets Razgrad vs CSKA Sofia
Vereya vs Vitosha Bistritsa
Croatian Prva Liga:
Inter Zapresic vs Lokomotiva Zagreb
Gorica vs Rijeka
Czech Republic HET Liga:
Dukla Prague vs Slavia Prague
Danish Superligaen:
Randers vs Vendsyssel
English Premier League:
Bournemouth vs Burnley
Huddersfield Town vs Leicester City
Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace
English FA Cup:
Manchester City vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Flora Paide vs Trans Narva
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
NSI Runavik vs Vikingur Gotu
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
SJK vs HIFK
French Ligue 1:
Olympique Lyonnais vs Dijon FCO
Amiens SC vs AS Saint-Etienne
Angers SCO vs Stade Rennais
En Avant Guingamp vs AS Monaco
Nimes Olympique vs Stade Malherbe de Caen
German Bundesliga:
Schalke 04 vs Eintracht Frankfurt
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs RB Leipzig
VfB Stuttgart vs Nurnberg
Hertha Berlin vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
VfL Wolfsburg vs Hannover 96
Bayern Munich vs Bv09 Borussia Dortmund
German Bundesliga 2:
Holstein Kiel vs St. Pauli
MSV Duisburg vs Ingolstadt
SV Sandhausen vs Paderborn 07
Hungarian Liga 1:
Puskas FC vs Varda SE
Ferencvaros vs Paksi SE
Ujpest vs Mezokovesd-Zsory
Diosgyori VTK vs Szombathelyi Haladas
Debreceni VSC vs MTK Budapest
Budapest Honved vs Vidi
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Be’er Sheva vs Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv
Maccabi Haifa vs Hapoel Hadera
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Hapoel Haifa
Bnei Sakhnin vs Maccabi Petah Tikva
Italian Serie A:
Parma vs Torino
Juventus vs AC Milan
Sampdoria vs AS Roma
Italian Serie B:
Cittadella vs Livorno
Carpi vs Padova
Foggia vs Spezia
Perugia vs Benevento
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Palanga vs Atlanta Klaipeda
Stumbras vs Kauno Zalgiris
Dutch Eredivisie:
Willem II vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam
ADO Den Haag vs FC Utrecht
Groningen vs Excelsior Rotterdam
De Graafschap vs AZ Alkmaar
Heracles Almelo vs NAC Breda
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Mjondalen vs Bodo/Glimt
Portuguese Liga 1:
Belenenses vs Santa Clara
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Desportivo Aves
Vitoria Guimaraes vs Chaves
Moreirense vs Sporting Braga
Portuguese Liga 2:
Academica de Coimbra vs FC Porto II
Cova Piedade vs Academico Viseu
Mafra vs Sporting Braga II
Varzim vs Arouca
Russian Premier League:
Anzhi Makhachkala vs Dinamo Moscow
FK Krasnodar vs Krylya Sovetov Samara
Spartak Moscow vs CSKA Moscow
Spanish Primera Liga:
Girona vs RCD Espanyol
Real Madrid vs Eibar
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid vs Valencia CF
Barcelona CF vs Atletico Madrid
Swedish Allsvenskan:
GIF Sundsvall vs Malmo FF
BK Hacken Goteborg vs Helsingborg
Swiss Super League:
Grasshopper Zurich vs FC Zurich
Neuchatel Xamax vs St. Gallen
Swiss Challenge League:
Rapperswil-Jona vs Lausanne Sport
FC Wil vs Servette
Aarau vs Vaduz
Chiasso vs FC Schaffhausen
Turkish Super Lig:
Sivasspor vs Kayserispor
Alanyaspor vs Bursaspor
Galatasaray vs Yeni Malatyaspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!