Galatasaray vs PSV Eindhoven
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Today’s free tip is in the UEFA Champions League encounter between Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven.
I can’t say I was entirely surprised by the ass-whopping that PSV Eindhoven dished out in the reversal of this fixture. I didn’t expect either team to specifically show up because I figured they’d be just as dysfunctional as one another. However, PSV Eindhoven looked fresher and hungrier, and with the help of the brilliant Zahavi plus a couple of very uncharacteristic Muslera errors, PSV Eindhoven probably did enough to secure their progress to the next round.
Still, it’s a bold person that treats an away game in Turkey lightly. They have some of the best fans in Europe, the Turks, and few are more supported in that country than Galatasaray are. Furthermore, they’re not very patient fans so even if Galatasaray don’t go through, their team is expected to deliver a convincing display tonight or there will be hell to pay. Forget the disappointment of not making the next round for the players; those fans will be after them and their families if they deliver another depressing display like they did in The Netherlands.
It’s not as if Galatasaray don’t have threats either. With an experienced manager like Fatih Terim at the helm, and quality players like Babel, Kilinc, Feghouli, Mohamed, Turan, Akbaba, and Durmaz on their books, this is a team that should score goals. It’s not a coincidence that most of their new recruits this season are defence-minded; that’s because it’s the team’s weakest area. They’ll still concede goals, Galatasaray, so I do think that they’ll ultimately go out here. However, their attack is very good on its day, and PSV Eindhoven’s defence is not so who knows? Maybe we’ll see something weird here, especially given that away goals no longer count.
Much like Galatasaray, PSV Eindhoven are a very top-heavy team now. They’ve just lost Malen to Bv09 Borussia Dortmund, which is a big blow for them on the pitch, but I personally think that they got the better of that deal. I just don’t know if he’s got what it takes to play at a higher level or not. Still, Bv09 Borussia Dortmund don’t make too many mistakes when it comes to signing youngsters to ultimately sell for profit so let’s wait and see. The one area of their team that PSV Eindhoven could afford players to leave was in attack though, as they’ve got a lot of options to call upon.
Belgian youngster Vertessen was one such option last time out, starting in the 5-1 win. I’ve not seen much of him, but I guess we’ll soon find out what he’s made of. I know that they’ve got Zahavi, Gakpo, Bruma, Romero, Doan, Gotze, Rosario, Ihatterern, Mauro Junior, and Madueke as options though, and that’s more than enough for any Eredivisie team to score goals. They’ve somehow worked wonders, presumably via a witch-doctor, to get van Ginkel fit again, and have made him their captain for the season. They’ve re-signed Propper to play alongside him, which is a good, hard-working partnership in the middle of the park, both capable of getting forward and back. So, yeah – I expect PSV Eindhoven to score lots of goals this season, no matter what competition, and I’d like to think that Propper’s return will help them control games better, something that they seriously struggled with throughout 2021.
That defence is poor though, a belief reinforced by the signing of Ramalho, who is calamitous to say the least. There was no Dumfries in the first leg, and with the constant rumours he’ll be moving on, I can’t help wondering if he’ll continue to be omitted. He’s earned rave reviews for his attacking play but he’s a very important player for them defensively too. Without him, it’s a mish-mash of randomers that don’t know one another well, none of which are particularly good, and thus PSV Eindhoven will also concede a lot of goals in general. This is why I didn’t even dream of touching the 1×2 market last week.
With Galatasaray needing to win convincingly here though, and both teams really only convincing in attack, backing over 3 goals at 51/50 makes sense to me here.
Verdict: Over 3 Asian goals at 51/50.
Wednesday’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.
UEFA Champions League:
Young Boys Bern vs Slovan Bratislava
Sheriff Tiraspol vs Alashkert
Neftchi Baku vs Olympiakos Piraeus
Red Star Belgrade vs Kairat Almaty
CFR Cluj vs Lincoln Red Imps
Ludogorets Razgrad vs Mura
Sparta Prague vs Rapid Vienna
Galatasaray vs PSV Eindhoven
FC Midtjylland vs Celtic
Faroese Betrideildin:
B36 Torshavn vs TB
Finnish Ykkonen:
VPS vs Jaro Pietarsaari
RoPS vs MuSa
Klubi-04 vs Jippo Joensuu
Gnistan vs KPV
Ekenas IF vs PK-35 Helsinki
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Haugesund vs Stromsgodset
Lillestrom vs Sarpsborg 08
Mjondalen vs Stabaek
Odd vs Sandefjord
Enjoy your free betting tips!