Jablonec vs Banik Ostrava
FreeToday’s featured game is in the Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga and features Jablonec and Banik Ostrava. The hosts were well-reputed for their relentlessly good home form in their last campaign. This home form was only actually bettered by the eventual top three sides – Slavia Prague, Sparta Prague and Slovan Liberec. In the past, it’s fair to say that Banik Ostrava have been the better side but the tide appears to be turning in favour of Jablonec, particularly when you consider that Banik Ostrava haven’t won here since 2006. The hosts have only played one game in this campaign, which they won, unsurprisingly! Banik Ostrava have only played one away game this season, which they drew 0-0. Their away form tends to be on a par with most Gambrinus Liga sides, which isn’t great. Interestingly, neither side has lost a league game yet but I think that’s going to change today, one way or the other. I can’t help but feel a Jablonec victory is on offer here today, however, given their excellent home form in general and the fact that they won this fixture last season too. They won last season 2-1 and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same scoreline today. A home win for this game at 5/4 looks a real bargain, however!
Monday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
Jablonec vs Banik Ostrava – home win at 5/4 – see introduction for full details.
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs Keflavik – home win at 13/10. Despite the deceptive graph that shows Stjarnan Gardabaer have now lost three in a row, their immaculate home form is still relatively entact. They were crushed at home by FH Hafnarfjordur, but to be honest, most sides, if indeed not all sides suffer this fate at somepoint in the Landsbankadeild Karla. If anything, I’d be more worried by the form of Keflavik, who have won just once in their past five games, losing their last two. In fact, they took an absolute hammering away from home last match at Fram Reykjavik, losing 5-0. Stjarnan Gardabaer’s home record still reads eight games and six wins and I fancy them to increase that today. Let’s face it – odds of 13/10 for a home side to win with this kind of home record is a bargain although I do emphasise caution because Keflavik are one of the giants of Icelandic football, even if they’re not showing it at the moment.
Dundee United vs Heart of Midlothian – home win at 11/8. These two sides are generally the ones that are fighting for third and fourth spot in the Scottish Premier League. Heart of Midlothian are the moneybags, owned by crazy Vladimir Romanov, who tends to interfere in his side’s selection and players far too much. However, the side appear to have stabilised if only a little and are ready to be a dangerous side once more. However, they have lost key defender Christophe Berra over the summer and will find it hard to replace him. On top of that, they also have a tricky tie away to Dinamo Zagreb in just three days time. I don’t fully understand why the Scottish FA thought it would be a good idea to make this game playable on a monday night in light of this information when the game could have easily been played on saturday or sunday, but then again, I don’t really understand greedy fuckwits like that anyway. I intend to take advantage of their greed, however, by backing Dundee United to edge what should be a close encounter today. They’re not the best home side in the world but a few factors are turning this game in their favour and I think they’ll just about manage to win today. At odds of 11/8, it’s certainly worth a punt.
Malmo vs BK Hacken – home win with -1.75 handicap at 12/5. This is one of my riskier calls but I like it nonetheless. Malmo have really steadied the ship lately, keeping four clean sheets in a row now, which is primarily why I’m prepared to back them at -1.75 handicap. Let’s face it – Malmo are generally not big goalscorers, hence the risk element. However, they have beaten the handicap in two of their last three games so it is worth a bet as they are definitely better than BK Hacken. However, my bet is largely dependent on Malmo keeping another clean sheet because I can’t see them scoring three goals today. With that in mind, do approach with caution but it could prove to be worthwhile to take the -1.75 handicap at 12/5.
Halmstads vs AIK Solna – away win at 11/8. Backing AIK Solna is always risky business because they do enjoy their 1-0 wins! However, Halmstads are looking ripe for defeat having won just one game from their last five. Admittedly, that win was last match against an out-of-sorts Kalmar but it’s unlikely to be repeated today. There’s no doubt that AIK Solna are the better side here and they’re good on the road too. However, despite their three wins in their last five games, the last thing we want to see is them to fall behind today because they’re not big goalscorers. If they take the lead, I expect them to win. It’s worth a shot at 11/8.
Wohlen vs Lugano – away win at 23/20. Promotion favourites Lugano travel to Wohlen today in the knowledge that they won this fixture last season and boast a better squad. Generally, that’s a pretty damn good foundation for believing an away win is on the cards. Aside from that, Wohlen have already lost their only home game of this season, losing to Wil, a side that will no doubt be in contention with Lugano to be promoted this year. Lugano’s only away game this season was won 5-0 away to Lausanne Sports, a side that I consider to be on a par with Wohlen. Despite the Challenge League season only being a few games old, 23/20 on an away win here looks a good bet.
Besiktas vs Antalyaspor – home win with -1.75 handicap at evens. Besiktas let me down in their opening game away to Istanbul BB but I’m confident the reigning champions won’t let me down tonight. Wantaway striker Bobo is expected to complete his move to Saint-Etienne very soon, leaving the door open for Besiktas to swoop for Tottenham Hotspur misfit Roman Pavlyuchenko. I’m sure the club will be able to settle down a lot more when this particular saga is completed. Today though, they need to register their first three points of the campaign and what better side to do it against than Antalyaspor? This side boasted one of the worst away records in the division last year whereas Besiktas at home were very good with twelve wins from seventeen games. The handicap bet this early in the season is a gamble but one I ultimately expect to pull off because Besiktas are some distance ahead of Antalyaspor in terms of quality. Taking evens for this to happen does look rather inviting indeed!
As ever, any questions/explanations required, feel free to email me at thefootytipster@gmail.com. For the complete picks listing, see below!
Bulgarian A PFG:
Chernomorets Burgas vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv (8) 3-1
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Jablonec vs Banik Ostrava (7) 2-1
Danish Superligaen:
OB Odense vs Midtylland (6) 1-1
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Jaro Pietarsaari vs FC Lahti (6) 1-1
French Ligue 2:
Brest vs Metz (6)
German Bundesliga 2:
Alemannia Aachen vs St.Pauli (8)
Icelandic Landsbankadeild Karla:
Throttur Reykjavik vs Valur Reykjavik (4) 1-1
KR Reykjavik vs Fylkir Reykjavik (8) both sides to score
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs Keflavik (7) 2-1
Norwegian Tippeligaen:
Viking Stavanger vs Molde (6) 2-2
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Vitoria Setubal vs Vitoria Guimaraes (6) 0-1
Russian Division 1:
Volgar Gazprom Astrakhan vs Vityaz Podolsk (5)
Energiya Khabarovsk vs Luch-Energiya Vladivostok (6) at least one red card in this game
Volga Nyzhnyi Novgorod vs Shinnik Yaroslavl’ (7)
KamAZ Nab Chelny vs Baltika Kaliningrad (7)
FK Chita vs FK Nizhnyi Novgorod (6)
Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast vs Salyut Belgorod (5)
Sibir Novosibirsk vs Metallurg Lipetsk (8)
Anzhi Makhachkala vs NoSta Novotroitsk (8)
FK Krasnodor vs Cherno Novorosisk (6)
Scottish Premier League:
Dundee United vs Heart of Midlothian (7) 2-1
Singaporean S-League:
DPMM FC vs Super Reds (7) over 2.5 goals
Young Lions vs Armed Forces (8) 1-3
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Malmo vs BK Hacken (8) -1.75 handicap
Halmstads vs AIK Solna (7) 0-1
Orebro vs Djurgardens (8) 2-1
GAIS Goteborg vs Orgryte (6) 1-1
Swedish Superettan:
Landskrona BoIS vs Vasalunds (7)
Swiss Challenge League:
Wohlen vs Lugano (7)
Turkish Super Lig:
Besiktas vs Antalyaspor (8) -1.75 handicap
Enjoy your free betting tips!