St. Gallen vs Grasshopper Zurich
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Today’s free tip is in the Swiss Super League encounter between St. Gallen and Grasshopper Zurich.
St. Gallen’s problems in defence were highlighted by FC Sion last time out. A team that doesn’t try to score goals managed to score three against them as Zeidler’s men made every mistake that you can think of in defence.
It was inevitable, to be fair to today’s hosts. They’re still without key full-backs Luchinger and Kempter. Backup right-back Krauchi has been out all season long, and their sole remaining right-back Cabral is now suspended following his unnecessary red card versus FC Sion. Someone is going to have to fill in for him that can’t play there, and that’s not only a problem when defending but also when attacking as St. Gallen rely on their full-backs heavily for natural width. A makeshift right-back plus Traore as full-backs – it’s not something that’s going to have Grasshopper Zurich running for the hills.
Problems still exist in the middle too, as Stergiou is a major doubt on his path to recovery, and he’s their best centre-back. Nuhu is making too many errors now; Stergiou’s absence is being felt. Diakite, their best defensive midfielder, is also a major doubt because of injury. Fazliji has stood in well for him but they’re starting to get caught out in positions like that because they’re fielding players out of position. It’s not ideal.
Zeidler has often turned to kids over the past month or so, tired of his stars not turning up. For a while, the likes of Schmidt, Besio, and Diarrassouba played really well and surprised some of Switzerland’s best clubs. Again, the novelty has worn off though; they’ve become predictable, and easier to defend against. Youan is still a handful, but with Ruiz not getting enough game time because of a lack of form, and nobody really scoring goals with any regularity, St. Gallen’s decision to attack more than defend is naive to say the least.
There are too many weaknesses in St. Gallen’s ranks right now, and this is the kind of game that Grasshopper Zurich should win. The visitors are really good in certain games. Against tactically superior teams like Lugano, they do find life hard. They’re not geared up for matches like that, really. However, in open games with lots of space, they thrive because Bonatini and Sene are unplayable when darting into channels and in behind defenders.
Pleasingly, the visitors are in cracking shape right now as both Bolla and Abrashi are back, meaning that only long-term absentees plus Cvetkovic are out, and Margreitter is a slight doubt too. In other words, they couldn’t be in a stronger position if they tried. Yes, I still have my reservations about the visitors because they keep having these weird moments in games where they lose focus for five minutes and they tend to concede when they do. That’s something that’s in my mind.
Still, against an injury-ravaged, demoralised, and wholly unconvincing St. Gallen, I have to believe that Grasshopper Zurich will simply score more goals tonight. They’re more confident, more clinical, and have far more options to call upon at this moment in time. Bolla’s return balances things out better in wide positions, and Bonatini/Sene get stronger together with each passing match. Football can be weird sometimes; we all know it. However, all logic points to backing the underdogs here.
Grasshopper Zurich to win with draw no bet at 11/10.
Sunday’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.
Australian A-League:
Macarthur FC vs Central Coast Mariners
Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory
Austrian Bundesliga:
Wolfsberger AC vs SCR Altach
LASK vs SV Ried
Rapid Vienna vs Austria Vienna
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Germinal Beerschot vs Antwerp
RSC Anderlecht vs Zulte-Waregem
Standard de Liege vs Sporting Charleroi
KV Mechelen vs Racing Genk
Brazilian Serie A:
Corinthians vs Gremio
Atletico Mineiro vs RB Bragantino
Bahia vs Fluminense
Ceara vs America Mineiro
Bulgarian A PFG:
Slavia Sofia vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Lokomotiv Sofia 1929 vs Ludogorets Razgrad
Pirin Blagoevgrad vs CSKA Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Sibenik
Dinamo Zagreb vs Hajduk Split
Czechia Liga 1:
Mlada Boleslav vs Pardubice
Banik Ostrava vs Ceske Budejovice
Bohemians 1905 vs Baumit Jablonec
Slovacko vs Viktoria Plzen
English Premier League:
Leeds United vs Brentford
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur vs Norwich City
Aston Villa vs Leicester City
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Flora Tallinn vs FCI Levadia Tallinn
Flora Paide vs Nomme Kalju
French Ligue 1:
AS Saint-Etienne vs Stade Rennais
Lorient vs FC Nantes Atlantique
AS Monaco vs Metz
Montpellier HSC vs Clermont Foot 38
Stade de Reims vs Angers SCO
OGC Nice vs Racing Club Strasbourg
Girondins de Bordeaux vs Olympique Lyonnais
German Bundesliga:
VfB Stuttgart vs Hertha Berlin
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs SC Freiburg
German Bundesliga 2:
Heidenheim vs Jahn Regensburg
Hannover 96 vs Hamburger SV
Dynamo Dresden vs Karlsruher SC
Hungarian Liga 1:
Varda SE vs Fehervar
MTK Budapest vs Ujpest
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Tel-Aviv vs Hapoel Jerusalem
Hapoel Nof HaGalil vs Maccabi Haifa
Beitar Jerusalem vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Italian Serie A:
Bologna vs ACF Fiorentina
Spezia vs Sassuolo
Venezia vs Hellas Verona
Sampdoria vs SS Lazio
Juventus vs Genoa
Italian Serie B:
Ascoli vs Parma
Como vs Pisa
Brescia vs Monza
Alessandria vs Cittadella
Dutch Eredivisie:
RKC Waalwijk vs NEC Nijmegen
AZ Alkmaar vs Sparta Rotterdam
Go Ahead Eagles vs FC Twente Enschede
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs Fortuna Sittard
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Bodo/Glimt vs Brann Bergen
Molde FK vs Lillestrom
Sandefjord vs Kristiansund
Sarpsborg 08 vs Tromso
Stabaek vs Rosenborg BK
Stromsgodset vs Haugesund
Viking Stavanger vs Odd
Valerenga Oslo vs Mjondalen
Portuguese Liga 1:
Santa Clara vs Arouca
Gil Vicente vs Famalicao
Sporting Braga vs Estoril
Portuguese Liga 2:
Penafiel vs Academica de Coimbra
Sporting Covilha vs Chaves
Trofense vs Academico Viseu
Mafra vs Farense
Romanian Liga 1:
CS Mioveni vs Sepsi
U Craiova 1948 vs Voluntari
FCSB vs UTA Arad
Russian Premier League:
FK Khimki vs Arsenal Tula
Dinamo Moscow vs FK Ufa
FK Nizhnyi Novgorod vs Rubin Kazan
PFC Sochi vs FK Krasnodar
Spanish Primera Liga:
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid vs RCD Espanyol
Elche vs Cadiz
Levante vs CA Osasuna
Celta de Vigo vs Valencia
Swiss Super League:
FC Basel vs Lausanne Sport
Lugano vs FC Sion
St. Gallen vs Grasshopper Zurich
Turkish Super Lig:
Kayserispor vs Antalyaspor (
Giresunspor vs Fatih Karagumruk
Hatayspor vs Istanbul Basaksehir
Fenerbahce vs Rizespor
Enjoy your free betting tips!