FC Wil vs Chiasso
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Today’s free tip is in the Swiss Challenge League encounter between FC Wil and Chiasso.
I watched Chiasso face Aarau recently, and although I thought Chiasso gave as good as they possibly could, they just weren’t good enough. They got into some good positions, didn’t make anything of them (kind of hard without Bahloul) and their opponents did when the reverse occurred. Aarau showed more balls in that game than they have against Chiasso in recent years but that can’t have been unexpected. No, the simple truth is that Chiasso are not good enough to play at this level.
That doesn’t mean the part-timers will lose every game for the rest of this season. Indeed, an argument could be made that FC Wil are one of the few teams at this level that Chiasso stand a semi-realistic chance of scoring points off. However, as luck would have it, Chiasso have been royally screwed over with absentees. Few are more negatively affected than them when it comes to playing every few days because, as I said above, they’re part-timers. This is not a professional club. Subsequently, they pick up injuries easier than most, and rotation is not even remotely possible for them due to a lack of quality. Welcome to the world of Chiasso!
At times like these, Chiasso often see fit to have men sent off for no reason too. I’ve seen Gamarra do it enough times by now, and even Dixon has too. They seem hell bent on making their own lives hell, Chiasso, and they always seem to manage it too. I’ll give them their dues, though – they do work bloody hard, and they never give up. Any team not prepared to run, to deal with being pressed, and to keep their heads up when under the cosh, will struggle with this team. FC Wil don’t look fazed by much at the moment though.
Chiasso also have other issues to contend with here. Star French midfielder Bahloul is still out, and he’s now been joined on the sidelines by two key defenders, namely Conus and Dixon. Defence is by far Chiasso’s biggest weakness. They’re awful at defending even without absentees. Their only real hope is to outscore teams, and even that’s not very likely whilst Bahloul is out. Barring a Bnou Marzouk masterclass – who is capable, but hasn’t looked the same since his stint abroad – I can’t see Chiasso getting anything from this encounter.
True enough, tonight’s hosts don’t win enough games, and boss Frei knows it. They’re really not that far away from converting these draws into wins though. They don’t seem to struggle to control games, FC Wil, but they do struggle to convert enough chances to negate the odd naive goal that they give away, which is mostly borne out of the fact that they’re a very young team. It’s really not a coincidence that they appointed Frei as manager of the club, given his extensive experience of managing FC Basel U21, although it was pure comedy gold that he turned down Koller’s old job in favour of this one, which really does tell you where FC Basel are at.
I think Frei has done well with this group too, all things considered. There are lots of new faces, and lots of young players; it’s easy to get swept away in a highly competitive division with such to contend with. FC Wil have held their own well though, for the most part, even frustrating arguably the best two teams in the division lately, FC Schaffhausen and Grasshopper Zurich respectively. They aren’t scoring enough, as I said above, but not many teams will give them as many chances as Chiasso will, especially not with the visitors missing half of their back four.
Therefore, I have to believe that FC Wil can score enough goals to handicap Chiasso tonight. Their defending does concern me a tad, but it’s a risk I am prepared to take with Bahloul still out. It’s only a matter of time before FC Wil click into gear more, especially with the promising winger Haile-Selassie impressing, not to mention Super League level creator Kamber on their books. Muntwiler is a class act at this level too, and club legend Fazliu is still there. This is not a team that should be underestimated, to put it simply, and they’re a lot better than Chiasso, which is not reflected in the odds.
All things considered, backing FC Wil to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 5/4 appeals to me greatly here.
Verdict: FC Wil to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 5/4.
Friday’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.
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
RSC Anderlecht vs Racing Genk
Bulgarian A PFG:
Arda vs CSKA 1948 Sofia
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Banik Ostrava vs Bohemians 1905
Danish Superligaen:
Randers vs Vejle
English Premier League:
Leeds United vs West Ham United
French Ligue 1:
AS Saint-Etienne vs Angers SCO
German Bundesliga:
VfL Wolfsburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt
German Bundesliga 2:
VfL Bochum vs Paderborn 07
SV Sandhausen vs Greuther Furth
Hungarian Liga 1:
Ujpest vs Puskas FC
Italian Serie A:
Sassuolo vs Benevento
Italian Serie B:
Venezia vs Monza
Chievo Verona vs Reggina
Dutch Eredivisie:
Heracles Almelo vs Fortuna Sittard
Russian Premier League:
FK Khimki vs Arsenal Tula
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Valladolid vs CA Osasuna
Swiss Challenge League:
Aarau vs Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
SC Kriens vs FC Schaffhausen
FC Thun vs Grasshopper Zurich
FC Wil vs Chiasso
Winterthur vs Neuchatel Xamax
Turkish Super Lig:
Kasimpasa vs Denizlispor
Enjoy your free betting tips!