Gamba Osaka vs Suwon Bluewings
FreeToday’s card looks appalling in virtually all competitions so good luck if you’re investing heavily tonight! I’ll be nibbling at some “dead cert” accumulators as there’s a lot of fodder today but I won’t be going elsewhere.
Today’s featured game is the Asian Champions League game in Japan between Gamba Osaka and Suwon Bluewings. Despite a bizarre, topsy-turvy campaign thus far, Gamba Osaka are beginning to piece things together just in time for this group winning battle with South Korean side Suwon Bluewings.
Gamba Osaka are one of the giants of Japanese football but they’ve done little to show such so far this season. They’re yet to win a home game in three attempts in the J-League largely because they’re not scoring many goals. The only side they’ve beaten in the Asian Champions League is Singapore’s Armed Forces (twice) so they’re hardly setting the world alight currently. However, they’ve finally broken their duck with goalscoring of late by hammering six goals in two games despite both games being away from home. They lost 4-3 at Jubilo Iwata but won 3-1 at Omiya Ardija so I’m expecting this to be the catalyst that Gamba Osaka desperately needed to start their season to meet their pre-season expectations as a potential candidate for winning the J-League and also winning the Asian Champions League. It’s a bit of a gamble but I think they’re showing all the necessary signs at the moment and a win today puts them in the driving seat to win the group.
Visitors Suwon Bluewings have had a good tournament so far with three wins and one draw without even conceding a goal. However, they’ve played some damn poor opponents and failed to beat Gamba Osaka in South Korea despite the Japanese side under-performing at that time. Suwon Bluewings don’t need to win this game – a draw would please them and a defeat doesn’t rule them out of the group winners battle with Gamba Osaka facing a trip to China to take on Henan Jianye in their last game whereas Suwon Bluewings host Armed Forces in their last group stage game in a game that they will win. Suwon have already qualified for the latter stages of this competition and I can’t see them going all out in this game with a terrible start to their K-League campaign leaving them with four defeats in six games. They’ve shipped five goals in their last two games and face a trip to a Jeju United side that are unbeaten at home this season in a few days time so why they’d go all out in this game is beyond me.
I think the bookies have been more generous with the odds on Gamba Osaka to win than they usually are as I personally rate them a lot higher than Suwon Bluewings. The odds should be about 1/2 so 3/4 is good value at the present time. There’s always a rivalry of sorts between the Japanese and South Korean side so I expect a fairly feisty affair but ultimately Gamba Osaka are growing in momentum and are scoring for fun whereas Suwon Bluewings are conceding too many and aren’t playing well. Therefore, the home win surely has to be the outcome today.
Verdict: Gamba Osaka to win at 3/4.
Tuesday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
SL Benfica vs Sporting Clube de Lisboa – lay SL Benfica at 11/10.
I simply can’t accept that SL Benfica are 4/6 to win the infamous Lisbon derby when they’ve only beaten Sporting once in their last five attempts at home. Benfica are sweeping the rest of the Liga Sagres aside, that’s true, but ignoring the stealthily efficient form of Sporting of late would be very foolish. Benfica have just crashed out of Europe and perhaps feel a tad demoralised. I don’t think I’m being unfair by saying that Sporting are more motivated for this game because they’ve got more local youngsters playing for them and they have less to play for overall this season so they’re more concerned with pride for this one. Benfica tried their hand at beating Sporting away from home earlier in the season when Sporting were dismal but still couldn’t manage it, leaving with a draw. Why they’ve suddenly become 4/6 for this game truly baffles me – the derbies in Portugal are never straightforward and are rarely predictable at best! This game is rarely anything but a draw and I can’t only envision a similar result tonight between a resolute Sporting and a somewhat demoralised Benfica. Either way, expect cards in this game and and probably a more boring game than the statistics suggest…
Verdict: Lay SL Benfica at 11/10.
Accumulator fodder:
Deportivo Quito, Rapid Vienna, Racing Genk, Lokomotiv Sofia, Chelsea, Hartlepool United, Notts County, Brescia, Heracles Almelo, The New Saints, Port Talbot Town.
Recommended bets:
Rapid Vienna, Racing Genk, Port Talbot Town, and Hartlepool United at 4/1.
Chelsea, Notts County, Brescia, and Heracles Almelo at 3/1.
As ever, if there any questions/explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the complete picks listing, see below!
Copa Libertadores:
Deportivo Quito vs Cerro (7) 2-0
Caracas vs Universidad de Chile (5) 0-1
Asian Champions League:
Gamba Osaka vs Suwon Bluewings (7) 2-1
Pohang Steelers vs Adelaide United (7) 1-0
Shandong Luneng vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima (5) 1-2, at least one red card in this game
Armed Forces vs Henan Jianye (5) 0-1
Pakhtakor Tashkent vs Al Ain (6) 1-0
Sepahan vs Al Shabab (5) 0-0
Al Ahli vs Mes Kerman (6) over 2.5 goals
Al Hilal vs Al Sadd (7) over 2.5 goals
Austrian Bundesliga:
Rapid Vienna vs LASK Linz (9) over 2.5 goals
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Racing Genk vs Charleroi (8) 2-0
Belgian Tweede Klasse:
Brussels vs Turnhout (6)
Bulgarian A PFG:
Lokomotiv Sofia vs Minior Pernik (8) 2-1
Chernomorets Burgas vs Sliven (7) over 2.5 goals
English Premier League:
Chelsea vs Bolton Wanderers (9) -1.75 handicap
English Championship:
Reading vs Newcastle United (6)
English League One:
Bristol Rovers vs Southampton (6)
Carlisle United vs Leeds United (6)
Charlton Athletic vs Colchester United (6)
Gillingham vs Brighton & Hove Albion (6)
Hartlepool United vs Stockport County (7)
Huddersfield Town vs Walsall (7)
Leyton Orient vs Norwich City (6)
Milton Keynes Dons vs Oldham Athletic (7)
Southend United vs Brentford (4)
Tranmere Rovers vs Wycombe Wanderers (5) over 2.5 goals
Yeovil Town vs Millwall (6)
English League Two:
Accrington Stanley vs Port Vale (7)
Aldershot Town vs Torquay United (6)
Bournemouth vs Hereford United (7)
Bradford City vs Morecambe (6)
Bury vs Crewe Alexandra (5)
Dagenham & Redbridge vs Barnet (6)
Grimsby Town vs Chesterfield (6)
Macclesfield Town vs Burton Albion (7)
Notts County vs Lincoln City (9) -1.75 handicap
Rochdale vs Darlington (7)
Rotherham United vs Northampton Town (5)
Shrewsbury Town vs Cheltenham Town (6)
Italian Serie B:
Vicenza vs Ancona (7)
Gallipoli vs Cittadella (5)
Brescia vs Frosinone (8)
Albinoleffe vs Grosseto (6)
Padova vs Lecce (6) under 2.5 goals
Cesena vs Mantova (7) under 2.5 goals
Crotone vs Modena (6)
Torino vs Piacenza (7)
Sassuolo vs Reggina (6) over 2.5 goals
Empoli vs Salernitana (7)
Ascoli vs Triestina (4)
Dutch Eredivisie:
Heracles Almelo vs RKC Waalwijk (8) over 2.5 goals
Vitesse Arnhem vs NAC Breda (5) 1-1
AZ Alkmaar vs Twente Enschede (6) 0-0
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
SL Benfica vs Sporting Clube de Lisboa (5) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Russian Division 1:
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok vs Kuban Krasnodor (6) under 2.5 goals
Mordovia Saransk vs Baltika Kaliningrad (5)
Scottish Premier League:
Celtic vs Motherwell (7) under 2.5 goals
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Valladolid vs Sevilla CF (4) 1-1
Sporting Gijon vs Tenerife (5) 2-1
Getafe vs Villarreal (6) 1-0
Swedish Superettan:
Angelholm vs Hammarby (5)
GIF Sundsvall vs Brage (7) under 2.5 goals
Swiss Super League:
Aarau vs Neuchatel Xamax (6) 0-1
Grasshoppers Zurich vs Young Boys Bern (5) 1-2
Welsh Premier League:
Bangor City vs Airbus UK (7) 2-0
Carmarthen Town vs Rhyl (7) 1-2
Welshpool Town vs The New Saints (8) 0-2
Cefn Druids vs Connah’s Quay Nomads (6) 1-2
Caersws vs Porthmadog (5) 0-0
Bala Town vs Llanelli (4) 1-1
Port Talbot Town vs Newtown (8) over 2.5 goals
Prestatyn Town vs Neath Athletic (6) 1-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!