Raphael Wicky
FreeIsn’t it a shame?
Life tends to chew you up and spit you out on various different occasions but there’s not much worse in my eyes than a footballer veering into retirement due to injuries. Raphael Wicky previously emerged as one of Switzerland’s top players but no more, it seems.
Now we all know that there is no place for sentiment in football, but in my opinion, there should be a little room. Is it not such a shame to concede defeat to injury? Well, in any respect I suppose it is but when over something that you are helpless to prevent? It must destroy livelihoods of footballers and even mentalities in the unfortunate emergence of such news. My thoughts go out to this man.
Sunday’s Picks
My tips:
As it’s the week prior to European Champions League/UEFA Cup fixtures, there aren’t too many games I like a lot today. However, as usual, the ones I’d recommend for accumulators/trebles etc. are listed below in no particular order.
Rapid Vienna, Westerlo, Levski Sofia
Lokomotiv Sofia, PFC Cherno More Varna, NK Varteks
Slaven Belupo, Dinamo Zagreb, APEP
Sparta Prague, Brno, Ceske Budejovice
Aalborg, OB Odense, Stade Rennais
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Dynamo Kiev, Metalist Kharkiv
AEK Athens, SSC Napoli, Fiorentina
Catania, AZ Alkmaar, Vitesse Arnhem
AFC Ajax Amterdam, NAC Breda, Braga
Lech Poznan, Legia Warsaw, Steau Bucharest
FC Poli Timisoara, Sevilla CF, Osasuna
Real Sociedad, FC Zurich, Young Boys Bern
Sivasspor
I’d recommend looking at a Bulgarian treble also. A trio of home wins for Lokomotiv Sofia, Levski Sofia and PFC Cherno More Varna should be on the cards and should be good odds.
I also like the idea of a Croatian treble including Dinamo Zagreb, NK Varteks and Slaven Belupo.
Interestingly enough, the Czech Republic also boasts an intriguing treble containing Sparta Prague, Brno and Ceske Budejovice. Eastern Europe is boasting too many interesting trebles for my liking!
For the rest of the picks, see below!
Austrian Bundesliga:
SV Mattersburg vs Rapid Vienna (8) 1-3
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Westerlo vs Mechelen (7) 2-1
Cercle Brugge vs Club Brugge (5) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Bulgarian A PFG:
Lokomotiv Sofia vs PFC Minior Pernik (7) 3-1
Cherno More Varna vs PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad (8) 2-0
Levski Sofia vs Vihren (8) 2-0
Croatian Prva Liga:
Hajduk Split vs Sesvete (9) 4-1
NK Zagreb vs Cibalia (7) 2-1
Slaven Belupo vs Inter Zapresic (9) 3-1
Sibenik vs Rijeka (5) 1-1, red card in this game
NK Varteks vs Zadar (8) 2-0
NK Osijek vs Dinamo Zagreb (7) 1-2
Cypriot Divison A:
APEP vs Atromitos Yeroskipou (8) 1-0
Omonia Nicosia vs AEK Larnaca (8) 2-0
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Brno vs Bohemians Prague (8) 2-0
Ceske Budejovice vs Zlin (7) 1-0
Kladno vs Jablonec (4) 1-1
Teplice vs Viktoria Plzen (5) 1-1
Sigma Olomouc vs Mlada Boleslav (5) 2-2
Viktoria Zizkov vs Sparta Prague (8) 0-2
Danish Superligaen:
AC Horsens vs OB Odense (9) 1-3
Esbjerg vs SonderjyskE (6) 1-1
Aalborg vs Nordsjaelland (8) 3-1
Midtylland vs Brondby (6) 2-1
English FA Cup:
Arsenal vs Burnley (7) 2-1
Everton vs Middlesbrough (8) 2-0
French Ligue 1:
Le Havre vs Sochaux-Montbeliard (6) 1-2
Stade Rennais vs Auxerre (8) 2-1
Saint-Etienne vs FC Nantes (6) 2-2
FYROM Prva Liga:
Milano vs Makedonija GP Skopje (6)
Pelister vs Napredok (6)
Pobeda vs Sileks (5)
Renova vs Horizont Turnovo (7)
German Bundesliga:
Arminia Bielefeld vs Eintracht Frankfurt (6) 1-0
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs VFL Bochum (7) 2-1
Greek Super League:
Thrasivoulos vs Ergotelis (6) 0-1
OFI Crete vs Levadiakos (5) 1-0
Panserraikos vs AEK Athens (7) 1-2
PAOK vs Olympiakos Piraeus (6) 1-1
Xanthi vs Panthrakikos (5) 2-1
Hungarian Soproni Liga:
MTK Budapest vs Vasas Budapest (6) 1-2, at least one red card
Italian Serie A:
AC Milan vs Atalanta Bergamo (4) 1-1, Doni first goal
Bologna vs Sampdoria (6) 1-2, Pazzini to score at any time
Catania vs Siena (7) 2-0
Chievo Verona vs Cagliari (5) 1-1
Fiorentina vs Palermo (7) 2-1
Lecce vs Reggina (6) 0-0
SSC Napoli vs Lazio (8) 3-1
Italian Serie B:
Sassuolo vs Bari (6)
Luxembourgian Division Nationale:
Etzella Ettelbruck vs Hesperange (7)
CS Grevenmacher vs Dudelange (6)
Fola vs Rumelange (6)
Differdange vs Jeunesse Esch (7)
Avenir Beggen vs Sporting Steinfor (4)
Racing FC Union Luxembourg vs Hamm (6)
Kaerjeng vs Progres (8)
Moldovan Divizia Nationala:
Dacia Chisinau vs Iskra-Stal (8)
Dinamo Bender vs CSCA-Rapid (7)
Olimpia Balti vs Tiligul-Tiras (6)
Zimbru Chisinau vs Nistru Otaci (9)
FC Tiraspol vs Sheriff Tiraspol (7)
Dutch Eredivisie:
ADO Den Haag vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam (8) 1-3
NAC Breda vs Feyenoord Rotterdam (6) 2-1
NEC Nijmegen vs AZ Alkmaar (7) 1-2
Roda JC vs FC Utrecht (4) 1-1
Volendam vs Vitesse Arnhem (7) 1-2
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Lech Poznan vs Jagiellonia Bialystok (8) 2-0
Legia Warsaw vs Odra Wodzislaw (8) 2-1
Portuguese Liga:
Academica de Coimbra vs Trofense (6) 1-0
Vitora Guimaraes vs Belenenses (6) 1-1
Estrela da Amadora vs Braga (7) 1-2
Naval vs SL Benfica (5) 1-1
Romanian Liga:
FC Brasov vs Steau Bucharest (7) 1-2
Arges Pitesti vs Unirea Urziceni (6) 0-1
Pandurii vs FC Poli Timisoara (7) 1-2
Slovakian Corgon Liga:
Tatran Presov vs Slovan Bratislava (8) 1-3
Spanish Primera Liga:
Recreativo de Huelva vs Real Valladolid (6) 1-1
Deportivo La Coruna vs Racing Club de Santander (5) 2-2
Real Mallorca vs Real Betis (7) 2-1
Numancia vs Valencia CF (6) 1-2
Osasuna vs Sporting Club de Gijon (8) 2-0
Sevilla CF vs Almeria (7) 2-1
Getafe vs Malaga (5) 2-2
Spanish Segunda Liga:
Elche vs Real Murcia (4)
Levante vs Xerez (5)
Real Sociedad vs Sevilla Atletico (9)
Real Zaragoza vs Hercules (7)
Salamanca vs Gimnastic de Tarragona (6)
Swiss Super League:
Luzern vs FC Zurich (8) 0-2
Xamax vs Vaduz (7) 2-1
Young Boys Bern vs Bellinzona (9) 3-0
Turkish Super Lig:
Genclerbirligi vs Ankaragucu (7) 1-1
Kocaelispor vs Eskisehirspor (4) 1-0
Sivasspor vs Ankaraspor (7) 2-1
Kayserispor vs Fenerbahce (6) 1-2
Ukrainian Premier League:
Zorya Lugansk vs Arsenal Kiev (7) 1-0
Lviv vs Metalist Kharkiv (8) 0-2
Dynamo Kiev vs Vorskla (8) 2-0
Enjoy your free betting tips!