River Plate vs Velez Sarsfield
FreeNot a lot takes my fancy today guys, sorry! Mind you, considering it’s a friday, that’s probably a good thing…
Today’s featured game is in the Argentinian Primera Division game between River Plate and Velez Sarsfield. The giants of Argentinian football have been dormant for some years now but are finally start to emerge in a rather late but impressive fashion. Visitors Velez were tipped to replace the likes of River at the top of the tree in Argentina and although they’ve largely succeeded in this quest, they’ve been on a bit of a steady descent this season so look a bit susceptible currently.
Hosts River Plate have struggled in recent years due to a lack of goalscoring. They’ve never really replaced promising Colombian striker Radamel “Falcao” Garcia since his departure to Porto and even their latest prodigy Diego Buonanotte is still out injured for some time after a horrific crash some time ago so River Plate are looking somewhat stale – or at least were looking that way. However, a rather unremarkable but welcome goalless draw at Atletico Tucuman followed by a win at home to in-form Godoy Cruz de Mendoza has lifted River spirits. They put in a good display at Estudiantes last match but lost 1-0 unfortunately. However, River still have momentum to work with and their new manager has got some atmosphere back in the dressing room so I’ve got a fair bit of faith in River at the present time. They’re a good enough side in this division, particularly defensively as they rarely concede more than once, but they’ve not been scoring enough, which is of course a problem. However, River will be well motivated for this game, particularly as they’re hosting a side that are bidding to become bigger than they are, which does tend to rile the bigger side at the time. River have won two out of their last three home games against Velez so they do know how to beat their opponents tonight and I think they’re worth taking with a new manager and some much needed momentum assisting them currently.
However, on its own, that’d wouldn’t generally be enough for me to back them to win. What has swayed me is a poor season from Velez Sarsfield, particularly away from home. The usually compact, composed, and well-organised Velez Sarsfield side poor on the road this season due to a lack of goals being scored – the irony! As a result, Velez have lost four times in seven away games, claiming just one away win all season. Velez don’t concede many goals on the road but a lack of goalscoring potential on the road tends to hamstring their displays enough so for Velez to lose the majority of their away games, which should hurt them tonight. To top that off, Velez aren’t playing well in general of late with their only two wins in their past seven games coming at home against poor opposition. Velez look deflated from poor dislpays at home to title rivals Banfield and Estudiantes De La Plata respectively, failing to find the net in either game despite playing against ten men for the majority of one of those games. Since that time, Velez have lost at a Racing side that are gradually coming into form and have narrowly beaten lowly Tigre at home so Velez are far from convincing currently. Lastly, they’ve just come back from a massively tiring and demoralising trip to Mexico just a few days ago, where they were handsomely beaten 3-0 by an under-strength but determined Guadalajara in the Copa Libertadores. Velez had big Copa Libertadores aspirations this season so this defeat is really going to have hurt them and at such a crucial time too.
Velez are failing to deliver on the road this season and have failed to deliver far too often in recent games in general. They’re looking stretched and are conceding goals far too easily, the kind of side that River Plate wil love to get their teeth into. River are on the rocky road back to form with some gritty displays and frankly I feel that they’ve got enough momentum and steel in their squad to grind out a home win tonight at generous odds of evens.
Verdict: River Plate to win at evens.
Friday’s Picks
My tips:
Gloria Bistrita vs Pandurii Targu Jiu – home win at 5/4.
These two sides are similar in the sense that they’re stubborn home sides. Neither side enjoys scoring or conceding many goals so don’t expect a classic here. However, two games without defeat gives Gloria Bistrita some momentum to take into this game, particularly as one of those games resulted in an epic home win against giants Dinamo Bucharest. A resilient draw at Gaz Metan Medias last match has furthered their push and Gloria Bistrita are already strong at home as just four defeats in fourteen games indicates so I expect them to do well today. Pandurii are a stubborn side too but are notoriously poor on the road with nine defeats in fourteen away games, only conceding seventeen goals (which isn’t particularly bad considering their league placing) but having scored just six goals – the worst goalscoring record away from home in the division by far with an average of less than a goal being scored per every two away games. This record really isn’t good enough so it should come as no surprise to you all that Pandurii are battling relegation this season. Pandurii have lost four out of their six away games since returning from the winter break, drawing with fellow relegation battlers International 0-0 and drawing 1-1 with Otelul Galati in their other two games. The goal scored against Otelul was the only goal that Pandurii have scored in those six away games so it’s easy to see why they’re doing so badly. They’re generally a hard side to break down so approach this one with caution but if Gloria Bistrita break through then this should be a comfortable three points for them given the impotence of Pandurii on the road.
This game is really about who gets the first goal, in my opinion. I don’t feel either side are strong enough to come from behind and win this one as neither score many goals so the first goalscorer in this game should realistically be the winner overall. Whilst the odds on the home win remain above evens, the home win has to be worth a small flutter today.
Verdict: Gloria Bistrita to win at 5/4.
Accumulator fodder:
Rapid Vienna, Anderlecht, Wisla Krakow, CFR Cluj.
Recommended bets:
Wisla Krakow, Anderlecht, CFR Cluj, and River Plate at 8/1.
Argentinian Primera Division:
Gimnasia De La Plata vs Lanus (6) 1-1
Tigre vs Racing Club Avellaneda (5) 0-1
River Plate vs Velez Sarsfield (7) 2-0
Rosario Central vs Godoy Cruz de Mendoza (6) 0-0
Austrian Bundesliga:
Rapid Vienna vs SV Kapfenberg (8) 2-0
Austrian Liga 1:
Lustenau vs Hartberg (6) over 2.5 goals
Salzburg II vs First Vienna (7) over 2.5 goals
Gratkorn vs Dornbirn (7)
Wacker Innsbruck vs St.Polten (7) under 2.5 goals
Admira Wacker vs Austria Vienna II (4)
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Zulte-Waregem vs Anderlecht (8) 1-2
Croatian Prva Liga:
Croatia Sesvete vs NK Zagreb (4) 0-1
Cypriot Division 1:
Ethnikos Achnas vs APOP/Kinyras (6) 1-1
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Slovacko vs Mlada Boleslav (6) 0-0
Danish 1st Division:
Naestved vs Fredericia (5) over 2.5 goals
Vestjaelland vs AC Horsens (6)
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Haka Valkeakoski vs Jaro Pietarsaari (7) 1-1
French Ligue 1:
Auxerre vs Olympique de Marseille (6) 1-1
French Ligue 2:
Clermont Foot vs Bastia (7) under 2.5 goals
Vannes OC vs Dijon FCO (5)
Sedan-Ardennes vs Guingamp (7)
Stade Malherbe de Caen vs Istres (7) under 2.5 goals
Chateauroux vs Le Havre (6)
AC Ajaccio vs Metz (7)
Angers SCO vs Laval (6)
Arles vs Nantes (6) under 2.5 goals
Strasbourg vs Nimes (6)
Brest vs Tours (6)
Hungarian Soproni Liga:
Ferencvaros vs Ujpest (6) 0-0
Irish Premier League:
Bohemians vs UCD (7) 2-0
Bray Wanderers vs Galway United (5) 1-1
Drogheda United vs Dundalk (5) 1-1
St.Patrick’s Athletic vs Shamrock Rovers (6) 1-0
Italian Serie B:
Ancona vs Grosseto (6) both sides to score
Polish Ekstraklasa:
GKS Belchatow vs Cracovia Krakow (4) 1-1
Wisla Krakow vs Korona Kielce (8) -1.75 handicap
Romanian Liga:
Gloria Bistrita vs Pandurii Targu Jiu (7) 1-0
Astra Ploiesti vs CFR Cluj (8) 0-2
Russian Premier League:
Anzhi Makhachkala vs Krylya Sovetov Samara (7) 1-1
Singaporean S-League:
Home United vs Albirex Niigata (6) 2-1
Slovenian Prva Liga:
Drava vs Gorica (5) 1-2
Interblock Ljubljana vs Nafta Lendava (6) 0-1
Celje vs Rudar Velenje (6) over 2.5 goals
Koper vs Maribor (7) 2-1
Domzale vs Olimpija Ljubljana (7) 1-1
Spanish Segunda Liga:
Elche vs Villarreal II (7) over 2.5 goals
Swedish Superettan:
Brage vs Assyriska Sodertalje (6) under 2.5 goals
Ukrainian Premier League:
Vorskla Poltava vs Arsenal Kiev (5) 1-1
Metalurg Donetsk vs Zorya Lugansk (6) 2-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!