Sweden U21 vs Serbia U21
FreeIt was the draw for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League yesterday which naturally threw up some interesting fixtures. I’ve been kind enough to list them below for your viewing pleasure as, needless to say, we’ll be providing full coverage and excellent betting tips to boot:
UEFA Champions League – Preliminaries:
30th June/1st July (return legs to be played on 7th July/8th July):
Sant Julia vs Tre Fori
Hibernians (Malta) vs Mogren
14th/15th July (return legs to be played on 21st July/22nd July):
KF Tirana vs Staebek
WIT Georgia Tbilisi vs Maribor
EB/Streymur vs APOEL Nicosia
FC Copenhagen vs Hibernians/Mogren
Debreceni VSC vs Kalmar
Makedonija GP Skopje vs BATE Borisov
FH Hafnarfjordur vs Aktobe Lento
Pyunik vs Dinamo Zagreb
Ventspils vs Dudelange
Ekranas vs FK Baki
Salzburg vs Bohemians
Zrinjski Mostar vs Slovan Bratislava
Inter Turku vs Sheriff Tiraspol
Rhyl vs Partizan Belgrade
Wisla Krakow vs Levadia Tallinn
Levski Sofia vs Sant Julia/Tre Fori
Maccabi Haifa vs Glentoran
UEFA Europa League:
2nd July (return legs to be played on 9th July):
MTZ-RIPO Minsk vs Sutjeska
FC Lahti vs Dinamo Tirana
Vetra Vilnius vs CS Grevenmacher
Rosenborg BK vs NSI Runavik
Szombathelyi Haladas vs Irtysh Pavlodar
Sligo Rovers vs Vllaznia
Olimpi Rustavi vs B36 Torshavn
Anorthosis Famagusta vs Kaerjeng
Slaven Koprivnica vs Birkirkara
Zimbru Chisinau vs Okzheptes Kokshetau
Lisburn Distillery vs Zestafoni
Helsinborgs vs Mika Yerevan
Valletta vs Keflavik
Dinaburg Daugavpils vs Nomme Kalju
Bucudnost Podgorica vs Polonia Warsaw
Rudar Velenje vs Trans Narva
Motherwell vs Llanelli
Siroki Brijeg vs Banants
Spartak Trnava vs Inter Baki
Dinamo Minsk vs Renova
Randers vs Linfield
Simurq PFC vs Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv
The New Saints vs Fram Reykjavik
There’s some interesting games above if you’re as sad as I am. One game I will be jumping all over is APOEL Nicosia to destroy EB/Streymur providing the bookies make it worthwhile!
Also, there were some further fixtures for the next round of the UEFA Europa League but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Moving onto today’s featured game – Sweden U21 vs Serbia U21. Now when it comes to the average game of football, I can tell you what should happen. Obviously not always what will happen because that would somewhat defeat the point of football in general. My motto is “I’m good – not God”! However, this game is so tight that I’m relatively uncertain which way to go with this game. Sweden U21 are the hosts and will be under pressure to progress. However, their disappointing display against the 10 men of Italy U21 (despite being somewhat unfortunate not to score more) has shown that pressure does hurt them somewhat. They’re facing a compact Serbia U21 side that still haven’t conceded a goal – they just haven’t scored any either. A draw will see the hosts go through and I don’t think they’ll mind too much how they do it – the semi-finals will be deemed a good achievement as their U21 side isn’t rated too highly, which is a shame as they’re rather good. Serbia U21 have to win this game to qualify and I don’t think they’ve got the firepower. They’ve got the ability to keep sides out, to pass the ball around them and make them work but when it comes to goalscoring, their 4-5-1 formation looks vulnerable. They’ve got some fantastic players emerging, as do Sweden U21, so this could turn out to be a very interesting game indeed. However, I think I am going to have to sit with a draw here and call under 2.5 goals at 4/7. The odds aren’t great but that’s because anything else occurring will destroy the universe. I’d even take on a scoreline prediction of 1-1 or 0-0 becaused, when down to the basics – Sweden U21 don’t have to win this game and won’t be bothered and Serbia U21 don’t have the firepower to trouble Sweden U21 efficiently but do have the defence to keep them out for the most part.
Tuesday’s Picks
My tips:
Hardly any games are the reason that there’s hardly any tips, I’m afraid! Those that are available are listed below:
Sweden U21 vs Serbia U21 – draw at 11/5 or under 2.5 goals at 4/7 – see introduction for full details
Italy U21 vs Belarus U21 – Italy U21 to win with -1.5 goal handicap at evens. Italy U21 are already through to the semi-finals but will want to avoid high-flying England U21 and head for marginally weaker Germany U21. Neither side is preferable for them, to be fair, but it’s the lesser of two evils in my opinion. Italy U21 are also too good for Belarus U21. The incisive attacking play from Balotelli and particularly Giovinco will cause them no end of trouble. Belarus U21 have already booked their flights home barring a miracle here. They’re not experienced nor good enough to challenge the Italy U21 squad so this bet looks a very juicy one at evens.
UEFA European U21 Championships:
Sweden U21 vs Serbia U21 (7) 1-1, under 2.5 goals
Italy U21 vs Belarus U21 (9) -1.75 handicap
Norwegian Adeccoligaen:
Notodden vs Nybergsund (7)
Enjoy your free betting tips!