Palmeiras vs Club Nacional de Montevideo
FreeToday’s featured game is in the Copa Libertadores and features Brazilians Palmeiras hosting Uruguayans Club Nacional de Montevideo. The Uruguayans received a bye to this round after their Mexican opponents San Luis (along with fellow Mexican outfit Guadalajara) were thrown out of the competition due to swine flu the issues that currently confront their country. The Brazilians, however, endured a more arduous task of overcoming fellow countrymen Sport Recife, which they managed only on penalties after the score was 1-1 on aggregate. Palmeiras are some people’s favourites to win the tournament this year and I don’t think they’ll have too many problems despatching the Uruguayans over 2 legs. The Brazilians possess a decent home record – 3 home wins from 5 games – but it’s frankly meager in comparison to their opponents’ home form, which currently stands at 4 home wins from 4 games, although they’re actually unbeaten at home in their last 13 games in the Copa Libertadores. Interestingly enough, the Uruguayans are currently unbeaten in the competition, which is an impressive feat. However, they’ve not played a side of real quality (with the exception of an out-of-sorts River Plate in the group stages) yet so they have a mighty test before them tonight. Frankly, I’m happy for the unbeaten record that Club Nacional de Montevideo currently possess because the bookies give you odds of 7/10 for a home win. Let me straighten that out for you – 7/10 for a side to win at home to a side that aren’t as good as they are. In fact, they’re not very close to being as good as their hosts today, either. I’m not being disrespectful to the Uruguayans but let’s face facts – Brazilian and Argentinian sides are the best in South America and Palmeiras is currently one of the best sides in the tournament. I strongly fancy a home win here of convincing style – my call is 3-1, which sets us up for an interesting return leg in Uruguay.
Thursday’s Picks
My tips:
As mentioned already, my favourite bet of the day is to back Palmeiras to beat Club Nacional de Montevideo at 7/10 – good odds, all things considered!
Also, consider backing FH Hafnarfjordur to win at KR Reykjavik. The current champions travel to KR Reykjavik on the back of three straight wins and take on a side that are currently unbeaten. However, just look at the head-to-heads to see why I am so confident – the visitors have won the last seven encounters between these sides regardless of the location, so odds of 5/4 are superb!
Elsewhere, a treble including HJK Helsinki, Inter Turku, and Fjolnir Reykjavik looks favourable. I also like the look (and odds of) Keflavik and Gombak United, should you wish to enlarge that bet somewhat. Also, I’d recommend using Ventspils as a makeweight for whatever bet you have.
As ever, any queries/explanations required, feel free to email me at thefootytipster@gmail.com
Copa Libertadores:
Defensor Sporting vs Estudiantes De La Plata (6) 2-1
Palmeiras vs Club Nacional de Montevideo (8) 3-1
Finnish Veikkausliiga;
HJK Helsinki vs Tampere United (8) 2-1
Inter Turku vs VPS Vaasa (8) 2-0
KuPS Kuopio vs TPS Turku (7) 1-2
Icelandic Landsbankadeild Karla:
Breidablik Kopavogur vs Keflavik (8) 1-2
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs Fylkir Reykjavik (5) 1-1
Fjolnir Reykjavik vs IBV Vestmannaeyjar (8) 2-0
UMF Grindavik vs Throttur Reykjavik (7) 1-1
Fram Reykjavik vs Valur Reykjavik (7) 2-1
KR Reykjavik vs FH Hafnarfjordur (8) 1-2
Irish Premier League:
Galway United vs Derry City (6) 1-1
Latvian Virsliga:
Daugava Riga vs Olimps Riga (4) 1-0
Blazma Rezekne vs Ventspils (9) 1-3
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Kruoja Pakruojis vs Siauliai (7) 1-1
Suduva Marijampole vs Tauras Taurage (9) 3-0
Vetra Vilnius vs Banga Gargzdai (9) 4-1
Ekranas Panevezys vs LKKA Teledema Kaunas (8) 2-0
Norwegian Tippeligaen:
Brann Bergen vs Molde (7) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Singaporean S-League:
Geylang United vs Sengkang Punggol (7) 2-1
Albirex Niigate vs Gombak United (8) 1-3
Swedish Allsvenskan:
AIK Solna vs Hammarby (7) 2-1
Swedish Superettan:
Syrianska Sodertalje vs IFK Norrkoping (7)
Enjoy your free betting tips!