TFT Issue 160!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
GAIS Goteborg vs Orebro – home win at evens.
Today’s featured game is the Allvenskan match between GAIS Goteborg and Orebro.
A few days ago, GAIS Goteborg sold promising midfielder Martensson to FC Utrecht, which will be a blow to them long-term. It’s no surprise that he went to the Netherlands, however – it seems to be a hotbed for emerging Swedish youngsters ala Rasmus Elm and Ola Toivonen, just to name a couple. Nonetheless, GAIS Goteborg still have the facility to attack convincingly because Brazilian star Wanderson is still at the club on loan. He’s way too good for the Allsvenskan and is the predominant reason behind GAIS’ “success” so far this season. Alvaro Santos has contributed and Mervan Celik has been a revelation this season with eight goals in fourteen appearances. Add to that the hard-to-hand attack Omotoyossi, who although is still yet to find his feet at the club, is definitely a good Allsvenskan player as he demonstrated during his time with Helsingborg alongside Henrik Larsson. Ayarna is having a good season and with Bassombeng lining up against his old club today, you have to fancy the hosts to have some inside information about Orebro as well as superior attacking players. GAIS have a lot of work to do in defence but their attack is deadly and that’s what I am relying on here. Boss Axen praised Orebro pre-match, saying that they’re they have better individuals than GAIS Goteborg but aren’t playing better than them as a team due to new faces etc. I think he’s partially right but would add that it doesn’t take more than a couple of players to turn an average Allsvenskan club into a top Allsvenskan club, just to give you an idea of the league.
Visitors Orebro are a side that I like but they’re also a side in disarray right now. I mean, the fact that they’re playing on natural turf today instead of artificial turf is a big enough obstacle already but the sale of key defender Almeback to Club Brugge couldn’t have come at a worse time as Orebro are shipping goals left, right, and centre. To make matters worse for the visitors, key midfielder Bedoya was dismissed during the final minutes of their last match at Elfsborg Boras and subsequently misses this game. That leaves Nordin Gerzic to carry the team and although he did that very well last season, he’s been a bit hit-and-miss this season for Orebro and it has cost them points. Paulinho has not adapted to life in Orebro just yet and with Haddad still struggling for fitness, Orebro’s attacking ability can be described as “limited” here to say the very least. Rama will be a threat; he has been for most of the season so far. Will he be fieled, though? After a 0-0 draw at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina’s FK Sarajevo a few days ago in the UEFA Europa League, chances are high that Orebro could rest players here for the return trip next week.
Statistically speaking, Orebro have failed to score for three games and have conceded six goals along the way. They’ve also conceded a minimum of two goals per each of their last four Allsvenskan games, hence their predicament as they’re not reliably scoring goals. They may well score against a dubious GAIS Goteborg defence today but I must confess that I’ll be surprised if they outscore them. For me, the hosts are worth a punt at evens – they’ve got one of the strongest attacks in the league whilst Wanderson is there.
Team news – GAIS Goteborg miss Spong, Abdulrahman, Jankulovski, Lindberg, and Petterson whereas Orebro miss Bedoya and have doubts over Haddad.
Verdict: GAIS Goteborg to win at evens.
Additional game
Kaposvari Rakoczi vs Ferencvaros – away win with draw no bet at evens.
This is a bit of a funny one, really, as the preview will be very brief. All I can say is that Ferencvaros boss Prukner built this Kaposvar team; he knows everything about it. That gives Ferencvaros a massive advantage here, in my view. Yes, they have a UEFA Europa League return leg tie in Norway to focus upon next week and may rest players here but even so – it’d be surprising to see them losing this one as Prukner is a very good coach and does his job very thoroughly. Additionally, Ferencvaros have signed two of Kaposvar’s best defenders from last season – Gruz and Olah – so the hosts are weakened and the visitors know how to get at their opponents. I’ve taken it with draw no bet cover for insurance purposes but the visitors should be able to edge this one today.
Verdict: Ferencvaros to win with draw no bet at evens.