Esbjerg vs FC Midtjylland
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Today’s free tip is in the Danish Superligaen encounter between Esbjerg and FC Midtjylland.
Ordinarily, FC Midtjylland has to plan out some intelligent way of getting around teams because that’s their speciality. Man for man, they can’t compete with either of the massive Zealand clubs, Brondby or FC Copenhagen. As a unit, however, their superior tactics keep them in every title race – that’s how FC Midtjylland hurt teams. I don’t see the plans for today’s trip to Esbjerg being all that complicated though. Esbjerg tend to attack a lot, which should play right into the hands of an athletic FC Midtjylland side, which is basically the foundation for today’s tip.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Esbjerg scored in this game, though. In the current campaign, they’ve spent far more time on attacking in training and the results are there for all to see. They won’t achieve anything this season but they’ve made it into the Championship group stage of the Superligaen campaign, which is a victory in itself. It’s not impossible for them to claim a UEFA Europa League place for next season, I suppose, but I juts find it unlikely because every other team in this group is considerably better than they are. Still, time will tell.
Esbjerg has become a very full-blooded team nowadays, giving 110% in their matches in a bid to outwork and outscore teams. I think it’s safe to say that it’s not easy to beat the home team anymore, particularly not with a butcher like Austin parked in front of the back four. Lammers has brought in some good attackers to the club and none of them are operating as passengers either, which helps! There’s enough speed and brawn to cause each Superligaen team problems and it’s logical enough to expect that to still be the case today.
The problem Esbjerg has, however, is that FC Midtjylland can do it better. Just look at the recent examples of how Denmark’s most intelligent club has done – keeping a clean sheet versus kamikaze FC Nordsjaelland, hammering high-flying OB Odense without breaking into a sweat etc. FC Midtjylland’s defenders know how to frustrate teams – with the appropriate preparation. Experienced lads like Hende and Sviatchenko do a great job on that front.
In midfield, FC Midtjylland controls games easily because of the presence of experienced Finnish midfielder Sparv. He’s certainly not their only good midfielders, though. Indeed, FC Midtjylland has something of a penchant for finding seriously good midfielders, no matter what age. Bulgarian youngster Kraev and Brazilian creator Evander are fine examples of such. Throw consistent Wikheim, rapid Hassan, and classy Poulsen into the mix and you’ve got a find blend of everything a midfield really needs. That is where FC Midtjylland wins its games – midfield.
I’d happily argue the case that FC Midtjylland doesn’t have a good finisher in its ranks though. I don’t care how many goals Onuachu has scored this season – they’ve all come about because of how unplayable he is physically. He wins every ball in the air and the length of his stride allows him to get in behind defenders easily so he doesn’t have to be a good finisher in order to score goals because he’ll get plenty of opportunities in each game from a supremely talented midfield. It’s nice to see that rapid attacker Mabil has added a bit more to his game than just speed since moving to Denmark too. George has a bit more intelligence than Onuachu but isn’t as physically hard to handle but he’s a handy alternative. Again, it’s all about midfield for this intelligent FC Midtjylland side; if they’re on song, then so are the rest.
FC Midtjylland has faced lots of tough tests of late but has come through them all with flying colours. The visitors really seem to excel at this stage of the season, year after year, which is indicative of their excellent mental strength. FC Midtjylland has a good record of winning at the Blue Water Arena, winning two out of their last three visits, scoring a total of seven goals along the way. I don’t believe Esbjerg is in any kind of position to stop them today either. Therefore, my call is to back the visitors to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 91/100.
Verdict: FC Midtjylland to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 91/100.
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:
Atletico Huracan vs Atletico Tucuman
Rosario Central vs Independiente
River Plate vs Tigre
San Martin de San Juan vs Talleres de Cordoba
Patronato vs Argentinos Juniors
Belgrano de Cordoba vs Godoy Cruz de Mendoza
Racing Club Avellaneda vs Defensa y Justicia
Australian A-League:
Adelaide United vs Wellington Phoenix
Central Coast Mariners vs Perth Glory
Austrian Bundesliga:
Austria Vienna vs Sturm Graz
St. Polten vs Wolfsberger AC
LASK Linz vs Salzburg
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
RSC Anderlecht vs Antwerp
AS Eupen vs Sporting Charleroi
Bulgarian A PFG:
Cherno More Varna vs Levski Sofia
Beroe vs Botev Plovdiv
Croatian Prva Liga:
Rudes vs Dinamo Zagreb
Hajduk Split vs NK Osijek
Czech Republic HET Liga:
Sigma Olomouc vs Karvina
Bohemians 1905 vs Mlada Boleslav
Slovan Liberec vs Baumit Jablonec
Banik Ostrava vs Teplice
Slovacko vs Viktoria Plzen
Danish Superligaen:
Esbjerg vs FC Midtjylland
OB Odense vs FC Copenhagen
Hobro vs Aalborg BK
Vejle vs SonderjyskE
English Premier League:
Everton vs Arsenal
English FA Cup:
Watford vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Tammeka vs FCI Levadia Tallinn
Tulevik vs Nomme Kalju
Kuressaare vs Tallinna Kalev
Flora Tallinn vs Maardu
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
IF vs KI
B36 Torshavn vs HB Torshavn
TB vs EB/Streymur
AB vs Skala
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
RoPS vs FC Honka Espoo
KPV vs Ilves
FC Lahti vs KuPS
French Ligue 1:
Stade de Reims vs Lille OSC
Toulouse vs Nantes Atlantique
OGC Nice vs Montpellier HSC
Paris Saint-Germain vs Racing Club Strasbourg
German Bundesliga:
Augsburg vs TSG Hoffenheim
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Werder Bremen
German Bundesliga 2:
Heidenheim vs Koln
Dynamo Dresden vs Union Berlin
Greuther Furth vs Darmstadt 98
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Maccabi Netanya vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Hapoel Ra’anana vs MS Ashdod
Italian Serie A:
ACF Fiorentina vs Frosinone
Udinese vs Empoli
Cagliari vs SPAL
Internazionale vs Atalanta Bergamo
SS Lazio vs Sassuolo
SSC Napoli vs Genoa
Italian Serie B:
Cremonese vs Lecce
Ascoli vs Pescara
Cosenza vs Crotone
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Panevezys vs Rieterai
Zalgiris Vilnius vs Suduva Marijampole
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Emmen vs Heerenveen
PEC Zwolle vs Fortuna Sittard
VVV Venlo vs Feyenoord Rotterdam
Vitesse Arnhem vs PSV Eindhoven
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Molde FK vs Stabaek
Haugesund vs Sarpsborg 08
Kristiansund vs Valerenga Oslo
Tromso vs Viking Stavanger
Lillestrom vs Ranheim
Brann Bergen vs Stromsgodset
Portuguese Liga 1:
Vitoria Setubal vs Maritimo Funchal
Feirense vs SL Benfica
Sporting Clube de Portugal vs Rio Ave
Portuguese Liga 2:
Leixoes Matosinhos vs Famalicao
Sporting Covilha vs Estoril
Pacos de Ferreira vs UD Oliveirense
Russian Premier League:
FK Ufa vs FK Rostov
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast vs Yenisey
Rubin’ Kazan vs Arsenal Tula
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Zenit St. Petersburg
Spanish Primera Liga:
Deportivo Alaves vs Leganes CF
Getafe vs Athletic Club
Real Valladolid vs Sevilla CF
Celta de Vigo vs Real Sociedad
Levante CF vs Huesca
Real Betis Balompie vs Villarreal CF
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Ostersunds FK vs Falkenberg
IFK Goteborg vs Elfsborg Boras
Hammarby vs Kalmar FF
Swiss Super League:
FC Basel vs Lugano
FC Sion vs Luzern
Young Boys Bern vs FC Thun
Turkish Super Lig:
Kasimpasa vs BB Eruzurumspor
Goztepe vs Akhisarspor
Ankaragucu vs Fenerbahce
Istanbul BB vs Konyaspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!