Hull City vs Aston Villa
FreeToday’s featured game is the English Premier League game between Hull City and Aston Villa. The game is massive for both sides with Hull needing to win to boost their chances of avoiding the drop and Aston Villa needing to win to try and claim a European place ahead of next season’s campaign so we should see a good open game tonight.
Hull City have frankly merited relegation this season; let’s be blunt about that. Any side that averages conceding over two goals per game doesn’t deserve to be playing top flight football. Only bottom club Portsmouth have won as few games as Hull have this season so it’s fair to say that Hull have struggled in attack too. They’re no pushovers at home with just five defeats at home all season but they’ve lost two out of their last three home games, the most recent of which was last match’s embarrassing 4-1 defeat against the worst away side in the division – Burnley. Hull took the lead in that game and still somehow lost to an inept Burnley side. Hull will have taken a heavy mental blow from that game as Burnley are relegation battlers themselves and despite claiming a valuable 0-0 draw at Birmingham City last match, the fact is that Hull aren’t playing well enough to win and winning is exactly what they must do. Nothing but three points will suffice here for Hull so being caught on the counter-attack may be something they have to try and ford at their peril.
Visitors Aston Villa have looked stretched for a while, something I’ve mentioned quite a lot. They don’t have the strength in-depth to be a force all season long and it’s beginning to show. However, a gritty display at Portsmouth last match saw them win the game 2-1 and they’ll have taken some decent momentum from this outcome. Given that only Manchester United and Chelsea have won more away games than Aston Villa in the Premier League this season, giving the visitors some momentum ahead of this game could be fatal. Aston Villa have been strong defensively on the road this season so I’ll be surprised if Hull break through them tonight. Villa have won their last two away games consecutively and have the firepower to damage Hull tonight, particularly on the inevitable counter-attacks, so I expect them to score at least once during this game, which should ultimately be enough to win them the encounter.
With Hull needing three points and having to attack Aston Villa tonight despite a lack of momentum, morale, and composure, I fear for them in this game. Villa are lethal on the counter-attack with their tremendous pace and they’re a very composed side in general so they shouldn’t have many problems dealing with Hull. I fully expect Villa to score at least one during this game and that realistically should be enough to see them win the game at generous odds of 11/10.
Verdict: Aston Villa to win at 11/10.
Wednesday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
Lyngby vs Viborg – home win at 10/11.
How long will Lyngby’s record go on for?! They’ve won every home game in the Danish 1st Division this season – all nine games – and average scoring nearly three goals per home game so they’re a constant force on their own turf. I backed out of recommending them to you all to beat AB Copenhagen last match as I thought it was a bridge too far but their determination won them the game so my faith in them is now of a sufficient level to back them to win today. They’ve played well of late either way with three wins in four games, their only defeat during that run coming at promotion rivals Fredericia so they shouldn’t be too disheartened. Lyngby are too big for this division and should really be in the Superligaen, in my opinion, and if they maintain their current level of form then they may just end up there. Lyngby are absolutely lethal at home and I expect them to get their own back on Viborg for back-to-back defeats in their last two games against tonight’s visitors.
Visitors Viborg make their living by not losing games. They don’t enjoy scoring or conceding goals so I think it’s fair to say that they’ll approach tonight’s game by attempting to prevent a potent Lyngby from adopting their usual free-scoring style. Viborg have only lost three out of their ten away games this season so they’re generally a tough nut to crack. However, I’m encouraged by the fact that they’ve looked a little weak of late with an unthinkable defeat at home against Thisted and a surprising draw at Roskilde last match so they’re certainly looking likely to stumble at the moment. Unfortunately for Viborg, their little blip has come as they take on the toughest home side in the division so I don’t think they’ve got enough momentum to resist their impressive hosts.
Although these two sides are generally capable of going blow-for-blow on their respective days, Lyngby have been phenomenal at home this season, particularly with goalscoring. They’re consistently good at home and should be again tonight and Viborg, for a change, are looking likely to lose a game although it should be a tight game as Viborg are strong defensively – well, unless Lyngby break through early! Either way, there should be some value in the home win at decent odds of 10/11.
Verdict: Lyngby to win at 10/11.
Accumulator fodder:
Banfield, Sao Paulo, Flamengo, Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast, Partizan Belgrade, Red Star Belgrade, Schaffhausen.
Recommended bets:
Aston Villa, Lyngby, and Schaffhausen at 7/1.
As ever, if there any questions/explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the complete picks listing, see below!
UEFA Champions League:
Bayern Munich vs Olympique Lyonnais (6) 1-1
Copa Libertadores:
Club Nacional de Montevideo vs Morelia (6) 2-1
Banfield vs Deportivo Cuenca (7) 2-0
Nacional Asuncion vs Monterrey (7) 1-1
Sao Paulo vs Once Caldas Manizales (8) 2-1
Universidad de Chile vs Universidad Catolica (7) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Flamengo vs Caracas (9) -1.75 handicap
Belgian Tweede Klasse:
Liege vs Tubize (5)
Eupen vs Boussu Dour Borinage (5)
Bulgarian A PFG:
Cherno More Varna vs Pirin Blagoevgrad (7) 1-0
Lokomotiv Sofia vs Slavia Sofia (6) 0-0
Sportist Svoge vs Montana (7) 1-2
CSKA Sofia vs Litex Lovech (6) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Danish 1st Division:
Lyngby vs Viborg (7) under 2.5 goals
English Premier League:
Hull City vs Aston Villa (7) 1-2
International Friendly:
Honduras vs Venezuela (7) 1-0
Japanese J-League:
Sanfrecce Hiroshima vs Nagoya Grampus (6) 1-1
Russian Division 1:
Khimki vs Kuban Krasnodor (6) under 2.5 goals
Zhemchuzhina Sochi vs Krasnodor (5)
KamAZ Nab Chelny vs Luch-Energiya Vladivostok (6)
Volga Nizhnyi Novgorod vs Energiya Khabarovsk (6)
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast vs Avangard Kursk (8)
Irtysh Pavlodar vs Salyut Belgorod (6)
Baltika Kaliningrad vs Rotor Volgograd (6)
Dinamo St.Petersburg vs Volgar Gazprom Astrakhan (5)
Shinnik Yaroslavl’ vs Nizhnyi Novgorod (6)
Dinamo Bryansk vs Mordovia Saransk (5)
Serbian Super Liga:
Jagodina vs Spartak Subotica (6) 1-0
Rad Belgrade vs BSK Borca (7) 2-0
Napredak vs Partizan Belgrade (8) 0-2
Red Star Belgrade vs Javor Ivanjica (8) 2-1
OFK Belgrade vs Borac Cacak (7) under 2.5 goals
Smederevo vs Hajduk Kula (5) 0-0
Mladi Radnik vs Vojvodina Novi Sad (5) 0-1
Metalac GM vs Cukaricki (6) 2-1
Singaporean S-League:
Gombak United vs Home United (7) 1-0
Swiss Challenge League:
Schaffhausen vs Wohlen (8)
Venezuelan Primera Division:
Trujillanos vs Deportivo Italia (6) 1-1
Welsh Premier League:
Airbus UK vs Prestatyn Town (7) 1-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!