VfB Stuttgart vs St. Pauli
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Today’s free tip is in the German Bundesliga 2 clash between VfB Stuttgart and St. Pauli. As a club, I like St. Pauli. However, I really don’t like where they’re at right now. I’m also not a fan of what they’ve done in the transfer market.
Alright – to be fair to St. Pauli, they did sign a replacement target man because of the injuries that Tashchy and Veerman keep suffering. I can recognise and appreciate that much. However, with key defenders Avevor and Ziereis both still out from months ago, don’t you think the club could have done more to help their defence out? I do. They’ve not, though, so everybody is finding it very easy to score against the Hamburg club.
I also find this St. Pauli side to be very top-heavy. That’s not a problem if you’re scoring goals but they’re not doing that enough either. I believe that will charge in time but the injuries I mentioned earlier fused with the retirement of Meier has made their position tricky, to say the least. I still think that class acts like Miyaichi and Daehli can be the springboard for this club becoming something against but whilst they’re as top-heavy and injury-ravaged as they are, it’s hard to imagine St. Pauli troubling many teams much, especially not a far superior VfB Stuttgart.
The only thing that might play into the visitors’ hands today is that VfB Stuttgart boss Walter prefers his teams to play attacking football. I don’t just mean the kind of attacking where a team scores a couple of goals and then sits on it, either. I’m talking about someone that will bring on a playmaker for a holding midfielder when his team is 2-0 up away from home against a very good opponent, irrespective of what it leads to. This is a team that will be very entertaining to watch this season, whether it’s for their football or their mistakes. Needless to say I’m hoping for more of the former than the latter here.
VfB Stuttgart also have injuries to bear in mind today but unlike their opponents, they’ve got a lot of depth. That’s because they’ve got more money and they’re not afraid to spend it, either. I am not concerned by the VfB Stuttgart absentees here, to be blunt. Instead, I am focusing on the attacking chaos they’ll bring to a defensively suspect St. Pauli today, and what should happen as a consequence of such. They’ve got numerous routes to goal, especially as they have the best target man in the Bundesliga 2 on their books, and lots of Bundesliga-level creators in midfield. I’m including Castro in that list but honestly, having watched him over the past six months, I’m struggling to even believe what I just wrote because he’s making all kinds of mistakes. Still, the quality is in there…somewhere. Let’s hope Walter can find it for him.
I like the balance of this VfB Stuttgart squad, even if the play imbalanced football. I like their ability to control and use the ball well. They look very good in the final third, and if it comes down to which team can score the most goals in today’s game – likely – then the home side should win it convincingly. I just don’t see what the current St. Pauli can do about it, to be honest. These two teams are poles apart – and heading in opposite directions.
For my money, it’s worth backing VfB Stuttgart to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 4/5.
Verdict: VfB Stuttgart to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 4/5.
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.
Austrian Bundesliga:
LASK Linz vs Swarovski Tirol
Wolfsberger AC vs SV Mattersburg
St. Polten vs Salzburg
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Kortrijk vs RSC Anderlecht
KV Mechelen vs Cercle Brugge
Waasland-Beveren vs Racing Genk
Brazilian Serie A:
Fortaleza vs Internacional
Corinthians vs Botafogo
Vasco da Gama vs Flamengo
Athletico Paranaense vs Atletico Mineiro
Gremio vs Palmeiras
Bulgarian A PFG:
Beroe vs Botev Plovdiv
Vitosha Bistritsa vs Levski Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Varazdin vs Lokomotiva Zagreb
Istra 1961 vs Slaven Koprivnica
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Opava vs Zlin
Slovacko vs Marila Pribram
Bohemians 1905 vs Sigma Olomouc
English Premier League:
Arsenal vs Burnley
Aston Villa vs Bournemouth
Brighton & Hove Albion vs West Ham United
Everton vs Watford
Norwich City vs Newcastle United
Southampton vs Liverpool
Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Maardu vs Kuressaare
FCI Levadia Tallinn vs Flora Paide
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
B36 Torshavn vs TB
KI vs Skala
Finnish Ykkonen:
Jaro Pietarsaari vs Ekenas IF
French Ligue 1:
Nantes Atlantique vs Olympique de Marseille
Metz vs AS Monaco
Toulouse vs Dijon FCO
Nimes Olympique vs OGC Nice
Amiens SC vs Lille OSC
Girondins de Bordeaux vs Montpellier HSC
German Bundesliga:
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs Augsburg
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Paderborn 07
VfL Wolfsburg vs Koln
Werder Bremen vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
SC Freiburg vs Mainz 05
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Schalke 04
German Bundesliga 2:
VfB Stuttgart vs St. Pauli
Arminia Bielefeld vs Erzgebirge Aue
Wehen Wiesbaden vs Hannover 96
Hungarian Liga 1:
Debreceni VSC vs Zalaegerszegi TE
Ferencvaros vs Kaposvari Rakoczi
Mezokovesd-Zsory vs Puskas FC
Fehervar vs Diosgyori VTK
Ujpest vs Paksi SE
Budapest Honved vs Varda SE
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Kauno Zalgiris vs Rieterai
Dutch Eredivisie:
ADO Den Haag vs Sparta Rotterdam
VVV Venlo vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam
FC Emmen vs Heerenveen
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Odd vs Rosenborg BK
Portuguese Liga 1:
Moreirense vs Gil Vicente
Belenenses vs SL Benfica
FC Porto vs Vitoria Setubal
Portuguese Liga 2:
Academico Viseu vs Academica de Coimbra
UD Oliveirense vs Sporting Covilha
Chaves vs Mafra
Casa Pia vs Penafiel
Russian Premier League:
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast vs Krylya Sovetov Samara
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Akhmat Grozny
Tambov vs FK Krasnodar
Spanish Primera Liga:
Celta de Vigo vs Real Madrid
Valencia CF vs Real Sociedad
Real Mallorca vs Eibar
Leganes CF vs CA Osasuna
Villarreal CF vs Granada
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Hammarby vs GIF Sundsvall
Swiss Schweizer Pokal:
Red Star Zurich vs FC Wil
YF Juventus vs Winterthur
Pully Football vs FC Basel
Echallens vs Servette
Black Stars vs FC Zurich
Seefeld vs Grasshopper Zurich
Taverne vs SC Kriens
Iliria vs Lausanne Sport
Allschwil vs FC Sion
Bulle vs Chiasso
Perly-Certoux vs Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
Monthey vs St. Gallen
Turkish Super Lig:
Genclerbirligi vs Rizespor
Sivasspor vs Besiktas JK
Kayserispor vs Alanyaspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!