Mainz 05 vs Borussia Moenchengladbach
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Today’s free tip is in the German Bundesliga encounter between Mainz 05 and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
At home, Mainz 05 tend to be adventurous, which stems from the time when they actually had a good attack, not to mention good managers. Neither are really the case nowadays but it hasn’t dampened Mainz 05’s spirits when it comes to playing good attacking football, at least at home. They’re a lot more cagey on the road, as we saw in their defeat at SC Freiburg last weekend. They held their own rather well in what was essentially something of a relegation six-pointer before capitulating and conceding three in the last ten minutes. I wouldn’t underestimate them because of that, though.
On paper, Mainz 05 have actually put together a pretty good squad for the season ahead. It’s a bit wet behind the ears for a multitude of reasons but there’s talent to work with. I think they’re going to be good on the break in time because Quaison, Boetius, and Onisiwo are all painful to play against in such scenarios, although none of them are all that clinical. Awoniyi is going to be the focal point of the attack, which I am sitting on the fence about, but Seydel is an option too, who can play anywhere across a front three because of his speed and height. The lad is very injury prone but rather capable too.
There’s pace out wide in this squad, and some good ball-winners too. I don’t see much by way of natural creativity, which is going to make breaking teams down their biggest challenge of all. Fortunately for Mainz 05, not many teams park the bus against them for obvious reasons. In defence, I like what they’ve done. Aaron Martin is a very good full-back. St. Juste and Niakhate bring pace and power to the back four. Pierre-Gabriel is a good option at full-back too, albeit moreso offensively than defensively. Bluntly put, I think it’s prudent to be respectful of what Mainz 05 have to offer. I wouldn’t handicap a team like this but they’re going to love games like today’s where they’ll have space on the break, and maybe that’ll lead them a positive result.
I mean, I thought Borussia Moenchengladbach deserved to win against Schalke 04 last weekend but that’s not because they were outstanding. I thought Schalke 04 were poor – which is pretty much par for the course nowadays – and that Borussia Moenchengladbach were a bit sluggish in their new 4-3-3 formation, giving the ball away too often and looking far too open to counter-attacks. Had Schalke 04 not been shit, they’d have conceded in the first-half. Fortunately, Schalke 04 don’t have good finishers so Borussia Moenchengladbach got away with it. They controlled the game for the most part, though, and they improved a lot in the second-half in front of goal – apart from with their own finishing. I love Thuram – he was a great signing. I’m not a fan of Embolo; that was a risky signing. Alongside Plea, I can see how that trio would be a nightmare to play against because of their speed and movement. However, as we saw last weekend, the only one of them that is a natural finisher is Plea – and that’s only some of the time. Therefore, this approach of Rose’s is bold. I’m curious as to how it’ll work in the long-term though.
For now, it looks likely to me that Borussia Moenchengladbach will be involved in plenty of high-scoring games. Even with bad finishing, they’ll score goals if last week’s game is anything to go by. I still don’t know how it ended 0-0 as it was very open, and the home team created lots of good opportunities. They’re going to give lots of chances away by playing so far up the pitch though. The gap between midfield and defence was too big, and their defence looked suspect without someone sat in front of them. The return from injury of Kramer may change that – or at least give Rose an alternative – but I still think this team will play more openly.
With the above in mind, I’m expecting a good game today. Both teams have reason to believe that they can win it, and both could do with it after last weekend’s respective depressing results. With the proviso that some of the inevitable chances are converted, backing over 2.5 goals at 4/5 should be a good value bet.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals 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:
Rapid Vienna vs LASK Linz
Wolfsberger AC vs SCR Altach
SV Mattersburg vs St. Polten
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Cercle Brugge vs Waasland-Beveren
Sint-Truiden vs Zulte-Waregem
KV Oostende vs KV Mechelen
Brazilian Serie A:
Atletico Mineiro vs Bahia
Gremio vs Athletico Paranaense
Bulgarian A PFG:
Botev Plovdiv vs Vitosha Bistritsa
Levski Sofia vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Croatian Prva Liga:
Slaven Koprivnica vs Varazdin
Inter Zapresic vs Lokomotiva Zagreb
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Zlin vs Karvina
Marila Pribram vs Baumit Jablonec
Slavia Prague vs Bohemians 1905
English Premier League:
Norwich City vs Chelsea
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Southampton
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
Sheffield United vs Leicester City
Watford vs West Ham United
Liverpool vs Arsenal
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Nomme Kalju vs FCI Levadia Tallinn
Trans Narva vs Flora Tallinn
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
FC Honka Espoo vs HJK
KuPS vs VPS
Finnish Ykkonen:
Jaro Pietarsaari vs MyPa
Ekenas IF vs TPS
Kajaani vs AC Oulu
French Ligue 1:
Amiens SC vs Nantes Atlantique
Dijon FCO vs Girondins de Bordeaux
Angers SCO vs Metz
Stade Brestois vs Stade de Reims
German Bundesliga:
TSG Hoffenheim vs Werder Bremen
Fortuna Dusseldorf vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Mainz 05 vs Borussia Moenchengladbach
Augsburg vs Union Berlin
Paderborn 07 vs SC Freiburg
Schalke 04 vs Bayern Munich
German Bundesliga 2:
Hannover 96 vs Greuther Furth
Jahn Regensburg vs Arminia Bielefeld
VfL Bochum vs Wehen Wiesbaden
Hungarian Liga 1:
Varda SE vs Ujpest
Paksi SE vs Fehervar
Diosgyori VTK vs Mezokovesd-Zsory
Budapest Honved vs Debreceni VSC
Kaposvari Rakoczi vs Zalaegerszegi TE
Icelandic Pepsideild:
IA vs IBV
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Maccabi Haifa vs Hapoel Ra’anana
Hapoel Hadera vs MS Ashdod
Sektzia Nes Tziona vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Italian Serie A:
Parma vs Juventus
ACF Fiorentina vs SSC Napoli
Italian Serie B:
Crotone vs Cosenza
Salernitana vs Pescara
Ascoli vs Trapani
Cittadella vs Spezia
Venezia vs Cremonese
Virtus Entella vs Livorno
Dutch Eredivisie:
Willem II vs FC Emmen
Heracles Almelo vs Vitesse Arnhem
PSV Eindhoven vs Groningen
Heerenveen vs Twente Enschede
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Rosenborg BK vs Stabaek
Portuguese Liga 1:
SL Benfica vs FC Porto
Boavista vs Pacos de Ferreira
Portuguese Liga 2:
Academica de Coimbra vs Chaves
Feirense vs Academico Viseu
Sporting Covilha vs Vilafranquense
Penafiel vs Cova Piedade
Russian Premier League:
Tambov vs Dinamo Moscow
FK Ufa vs Zenit St. Petersburg
FK Krasnodar vs Lokomotiv Moscow
Spanish Primera Liga:
CA Osasuna vs Eibar
Real Madrid vs Real Valladolid
Celta de Vigo vs Valencia CF
Getafe vs Athletic Club
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Sirius vs Orbero
Swiss Super League:
Neuchatel Xamax vs FC Basel
Young Boys Bern vs FC Zurich
Swiss Challenge League:
FC Wil vs SC Kriens
Lausanne Sport vs Aarau
FC Schaffhausen vs Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
Turkish Super Lig:
Ankaragucu vs Kayserispor
Alanyaspor vs Kasimpasa
Istanbul BB vs Fenerbahce
Enjoy your free betting tips!