AS Saint-Etienne vs Racing Club Strasbourg
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Despite some seriously big absentees for Les Verts, I can’t help but like the idea of backing them to win at 6/5 today. As much as I admire the enthusiasm and athleticism of Racing Club Strasbourg, their attacking against OGC Nice really did leave me cold. I’ve no doubts whatsoever over Waris turning things around for them soon enough, but for the present, the easterners simply don’t have enough penetration.
Then factor in that they’re trying to break down a Claude Puel team tonight and…yeah. It doesn’t look rosy for the visitors. By nature, AS Saint-Etienne are a talented attacking team, and the same can be said of this group. However, Les Verts look a lot more cautious under Puel, as you’d expect, and although I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that it suits them more, I do think that they’ve taken to it well. The proof is in the pudding, really – they’ve already beaten Lorient at home this season despite the absence of key creators Boudebouz and Khazri.
AS Saint-Etienne do have a lot of depth in attack, though – club legend Hamouma carried them through their last match. Bouanga, Nordin – they all contribute though. AS Saint-Etienne look young and fast when they do get forward, and move the ball around more intelligently, negating the dependency upon nominated creators. I still think they’re lacking a natural poacher, and it’s a really curious time for them to have sold misfit Diony with that in mind, but they do look quite silky, AS Saint-Etienne. They’re perhaps going to get caught out in bigger games as they’re relying on a lot of younger players this season but in general, I do like what I see.
Defensively, things are alright for AS Saint-Etienne right now, although that might change in the near future with Fofana and Gabriel both linked with moves away from the club. They need Moukoudi back alongside Kolodziejczak before I trust this team at the back. Still, as a whole, I do like what Les Verts have done, and their manager is really rather consistent with what he gets from them. If AS Saint-Etienne play with the patience and composure that they showed against Lorient tonight, they should ultimately win the match, even if it takes a while to come.
I do hate opposing Racing Club Strasbourg, though. They’ve got such a lot of energy and athleticism that opposing them is something I just try to avoid doing. They are so desperate to win every game that writing them off always feels risky, even when they face top Ligue 1 teams. Again, I’m sure Waris will improve their final third play in time, but for the present Racing Club Strasbourg are huffing and puffing without every blowing any team down. They need to sort that out rather fast because two defeats from two is not encouraging; three from three is even worse.
Racing Club Strasbourg are alright at the back because they’ve got the speed to defend well when playing attacking football. However, if the team is attacking without scoring, and not using the ball intelligently enough in the final third, opponents will get at their defence more, and that will lead to more goals being conceded – which is what has happened lately. There’s not a lot wrong at this club, but what is wrong is having a domino affect on the rest of their tactical approach. There are a lot of players in this squad that I like, and they’ll never be short of chances with Lienard and Thomasson in the mix, but unless they’re scoring goals, they’re not winning games.
Therefore, as undeserving as Racing Club Strasbourg typically are of defeat, I expect a display akin to that of the one that saw them comfortably beaten 2-0 at home by OGC Nice in the last round, which would make backing the home win here a good value bet.
Verdict: AS Saint-Etienne to win at 6/5.
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:
SCR Altach vs Hartberg
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
KV Mechelen vs KV Oostende
OH Leuven vs Standard de Liege
Club Brugge vs Waasland-Beveren
Brazilian Serie A:
Athletico Paranaense vs Coritiba
Santos vs Sao Paulo
Bulgarian A PFG:
Cherno More Varna vs CSKA Sofia
Ludogorets Razgrad vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Croatian Prva Liga:
NK Osijek vs Rijeka
Hajduk Split vs Dinamo Zagreb
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Teplice vs Slovacko
Marila Pribram vs Opava
Baumit Jablonec vs Banik Ostrava
Ceske Budejovice vs Slovan Liberec
Pardubice vs Slavia Prague
English Premier League
Crystal Palace vs Southampton
Fulham vs Arsenal
Liverpool vs Leeds United
West Ham United vs Newcastle United
Estonian Meistriliiga
Tallinna Kalev vs Flora Tallinn
Tulevik vs Flora Paide
Faroese Betrideildin:
NSI Runavik vs B36 Torshavn
KI vs HB Torshavn
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Haka Valkeakoski vs SJK
RoPS vs FC Honka Espoo
Finnish Ykkonen
Gnistan vs Kajaani
SJK-Akatemia vs AC Oulu
Ekenas IF vs KPV
MyPa vs VPS
MuSa vs KTP
French Ligue 1:
Montpellier HSC vs OGC Nice
AS Saint-Etienne vs Racing Club Strasbourg
German DFB Pokal:
Nurnberg vs RB Leipzig
Union Furstenwalde vs VfL Wolfsburg
Todesfelde vs Osnabruck
1860 Munich vs Eintracht Frankfurt
FV Engers 07 vs VfL Bochum
Oberneuland vs Borussia Moenchengladbach
Altglienicke vs Koln
Ingolstadt vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
Eintracht Celle vs Augsburg
Ulm vs Erzgebirge Aue
Meinerzhagen vs Greuther Furth
Karlsruher SC vs Union Berlin
Carl Zeiss Jena vs Werder Bremen
Hungarian Liga 1
Mezokovesd-Zsory vs Budafoki MTE
Diosgyori VTK vs Budapest Honved
Fehervar vs Puskas FC
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Hapoel Haifa
Maccabi Netanya vs Bnei Sakhnin
Maccabi Petah Tikva vs Hapoel Kfar Saba
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Mexican Liga MX:
Atlas vs Mazatlan
Tigres UANL vs Santos Laguna
America vs Toluca
Pumas UNAM vs Atletico San Luis
Dutch Eredivisie:
SC Heerenveen vs Willem II
PEC Zwolle vs Feyenoord Rotterdam
FC Twente Enschede vs Fortuna Sittard
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Kristiansund vs Viking Stavanger
Stabaek vs Haugesund
Paraguayan Division Profesional:
Sol de America vs Club Guarani Asuncion
General Diaz vs Libertad Asuncion
Portuguese Liga 2:
Academico Viseu vs Academica de Coimbra
Vizela vs UD Oliveirense
Russian Premier League:
Tambov vs FK Ufa
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast vs FK Khimki
Akhmat Grozny vs PFC Sochi
Spanish Primera Liga:
Eibar vs Celta de Vigo
Cadiz vs CA Osasuna
Swedish Allsvenskan
Djurgarden vs Elfsborg Boras
Swiss Schweizer Pokal:
Tuggen vs Winterthur
Schotz vs FC Sion
Stade Nyonnais vs Lausanne Sport
Stade Lausanne-Ouchy vs Grasshopper Zurich
Aarau vs FC Wil
Turkish Super Lig
Sivassporvs Alanyaspor
Fatih Karagumuruk vs Yeni Malatyaspor
Galatasaray vs Gazisehir Gaziantep
Goztepe vs Denizlispor
Enjoy your free betting tips!