TFT Issue 190!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Athletic Club de Bilbao vs Rayo Vallecano de Madrid – home win with -1 Asian Handicap at evens.
Today’s featured game is the Primera Liga encounter in northern Spain between Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid.
Bilbao have already seen action in their home game with Trabzonspor in the UEFA Europa League and looked very impressive despite the game ending 0-0. New coach Bielsa is quite clearly keen on making Bilbao attack more than ever and the signing of attacking midfielder Ander Herrera from Real Zaragoza pre-season only backs that claim up. Bilbao now have a very solid attack with infinite options to feed the ball into giant Llorente with wonderkid Muniain on one side and pacey Susaeta on the other whilst Martinez patrols the central midfield area whilst Herrera plays in the hole. Toquero provides the energy alongside Llorente and the full-backs – especially Iraola – love to get forward and help out. Bilbao are a very strong unit and usually score goals for fun. Their defence has looked a little slow pre-season and vulnerable to counter-attacks but all in all, they’ve looked good under Bielsa and I think we’ll see them start their campaign off convincingly. Let’s not forget that they beat every team from below eighth place when facing them at home last season!
Rayo Vallecano’s joy at promotion must have been short-lived because they’re still financially crippled. They’ve made two huge losses pre-season with Sevilla CF poaching star attacker Armenteros and essential midfielder Coke. All Rayo Vallecano have been able to do to improve what is essentially a Segunda Liga side is to loan ex-Liverpool youngster Pacheco from Atletico Madrid and sign ex-Espanyol striker Raul Tamudo – that’s it. I like Tamudo; he’ll give them much-needed experience but they need a lot more than him to do well this season. He won’t be too popular here today, either, as an ex-Real Sociedad striker! Vallecano will be keen to avoid defeat in their opening Primera Liga game but let’s be realistic here – they’re playing at one of the most difficult venues in Spain and face a side that is easily two or three times better than they are. Result? For me, it’s a home win.
I’ve allowed for the possibility of another frustrating day in front of goal for Bilbao by taking the Asian handicap instead of the European handicap but either way, I still expect Bilbao to win this one comfortably today.
Verdict: Athletic Club de Bilbao to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at evens.
Additional games
Dinamo Bucharest vs Otelul Galati – lay Dinamo Bucharest at evens.
Fun, fun, fun! Dinamo Bucharest were inexplicably torn to pieces by average Ukrainian outfit Vorskla Poltava in the UEFA Europa League a few days ago and are subsequently out as a result. What did Dinamo do in response? They decided that the best way forward was to sell the club’s star attacker Torje to Udinese. Oh dear! That basically means that their main attacking threat – well, only consistent attacking threat – is Alexe. Munteanu and Kone provide sporadic threats but Torje was the main man and Alexe was his second-in-command. Niculae and Danciulescu still pose a formidable attack (from a finishing perspective) but I just question where their chances will come from now Torje has gone. Dinamo’s most redeeming feature over the past few years has been their shoddy defence, however, and that is still very much present today. They’ve kept clean sheets against lesser sides in the Liga thus far but against reigning champions Otelul Galati too? I doubt it. The hosts can be a dangerous side but they’re too short here without Torje to bail them out. For me, there’s value in laying Dinamo Bucharest today.
Verdict: Lay Dinamo Bucharest at evens.
Ceske Budejovice vs Jablonec – away win at 9/10.
I think it’s time we finally said goodbye to Ceske Budejovice. They used to be a solid defensive unit at home because they had no firepower so keeping sides out was all they could do. They’ve changed tactics nowadays because they’re not good enough to keep sides out anymore but their new 4-3-3 formation is proving to be somewhat disastrous as they’re no good at either end of the pitch. Four games, four losses, and an average of three goals conceded per game is not good at all, as you all know. Indeed, had Banik Ostrava not played (and lost) more games than them and had Sigma Olomouc not had a points deduction then Ceske Budejovice could well have been bottom of the Gambrinus Liga ahead of this game against title challengers Jablonec. Jablonec have been very impressive this season and have scored seventee goals over their last three games in all competitions, keeping three clean sheets along the way. They’re by far the better side and striker Lafata is arguably the most in-form and dangerous hitman in the Czech Republic right now, a title challenged only by Sparta Prague hitman Kweuke. There’s more than enough cohesion and firepower in this Jablonec squad to guarantee themselves a top-three finish this season whereas the hosts will do well to stay in the division. For me, there’s a big quality mismatch here and now that Ceske Budejovice don’t “park the bus” anymore, I’m more than happy to take Jablonec at very generous odds here.
Verdict: Jablonec to win at 9/10.
Team news
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Club Brugge – Stenman is absent. Vleminckx returns.
Anderlecht – Schollen, Mazuch, Reynaldo, Mbokani, Molins, Vargas, Diogo, Samuel, and Odoi are absent.
Germinal Beerschot – Acosta is absent.
Standard de Liege – Carcela and Tchite are absent.
English Premier League:
Tottenham Hotspur – Modric, Walker, and Jenas return. Adebayor is ineligible.
Manchester City – De Jong is absent. Nasri could debutise.
West Bromwich Albion – Odemwingie is a doubt.
Stoke City – Huth, Woodgate, and Etherington return.
Newcastle United – Ben Arfa, Harper, and Williamson are absent. Barton has been sold.
Fulham – Riise and Davies are absent.
Manchester United – Vidic and Rafael are absent. Fletcher and Ferdinand are doubts.
Arsenal – Wilshere, Song, Gervinho, and Frimpong are absent. Vermaelen is a doubt.
English Championship:
Nottingham Forest – Moussi returns.
West Ham United – Faye, McNaughton, and O’Neil are absent.
Watford – Jenkins, Iwelumo, and Taylor are doubts. Buaben is absent.
Birmingham City – Zigic, Jerome, and King are absent. Ridgewell and Dann return. N’Daw could debutise.
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
FC Honka Espoo – Petrescu may debutise.
IFK Mariehamn – de Abreu, Okodguha, Ingves, and Ekhalie are absent.
RoPS Rovaniemi – Lahtinen, Kononen, and Turpeenniemi return. Huusko may debutise. Isteri has left the club.
VPS Vaasa – Tanska, Heini, Woodbine, Hietaharju, Koskela, and Kokko are absent.
Finnish Ykkonen:
FC Espoo – Heiskanen and Carter are absent.
PS Kemi Kings – Hyvarinen and Louste are absent. Berg and Raiha return.
PoPa Pori – No news.
Jippo Joensuu – Kettunen, Tahvanainen, and Pirinen have left on loan.
German Bundesliga:
Hannover 96 – Andreasen, Carlitos, and Sobiech are absent.
Mainz 05 – Heller and Szalai are absent.
Schalke 04 – Escudero, Metzelder, Kenia, and Kluge are absent.
Borussia Moenchengladbach – Stranzl is absent. Idrissou is a doubt.
Hungarian Soproni Liga:
Debreceni VSC – No absentees. Coulibaly and Varga return.
Ujpest – Vermes, Kiss, Litauszki, Rubus, Remili, Balatji, Zamostny, Feher, and Uveges are absent. Takacs, Egerszegi, Kovacs, Szokol, and Rajczi return.
Vasas Budapest – Mileusnic and Polenyi are absent.
Ferencvaros – No absentees. Rodenbucher has left the club.
Szombathelyi Haladas – Schimmer and Sluka are absent.
Kecskemeti TE – Ebala is absent. Urban may debutise.
Macedonian First League:
Renova Dzepciste – New boss.
Shkendija 79 – Playing at home ground today despite being listed as away. Fierce derby.
Dutch Eredivisie:
De Graafschap – Sreckovic is absent.
ADO Den Haag – N’Toko and Visser are absent.
Feyenoord Rotterdam – Schenkeveld, Ramon Torres, Biseswar, and Swerts are absent.
Heerenveen – Kopic, Roorda, and Gouweleeuw are absent.
Groningen – Van de Laak is absent.
AZ Alkmaar – Didulica and Boymans are absent.
PSV Eindhoven – Bouma, Pieters, and Wuytens are absent.
Excelsior Rotterdam – Fillecia, Lagouireh and Wattamaleo are absent.
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Fredrikstad – Piiroja and Valencia are absent.
Stromsgodset – Hanssen, Stubhaug, Lundebakken, and Rhoden are absent.
Lillestrom – Eziodawe is absent.
Sogndal – Hovland, Kader, and Flo are absent.
Start Kristiansand – Stokkelien, Madsen, Borulfsen, and Oladapo are absent.
Sarpsborg 08 – Roberts, Jusufi, and Henanger are absent. Ron is a doubt.
Viking Stavanger – Ingelsten, Sokolowski, and Saeternes are absent. Danielsen is a doubt.
Stabaek – No absentees.
Aalesund FK – Rorvik, Herrera, Skiri, and Nation are absent.
Molde FK – Stensild and Steen are absent.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Slask Wroclaw – Gikiewicz, Fojut, Kazmierczak, Wolczek, and Lukasiewicz are absent.
Widzew Lodz – Riski, Zigajevs, and Kaniecki are absent. Dudu returns.
Ruch Chorzow – Djokic, Lisowski, and Smektala are absent.
Jagiellonia Bialystok – Grzelak, El Mehdi, Burkhardt, Pejovic, Arzumanjan, and Seratlic are absent.
Polish Liga 1:
Nieciecza – Czerwinski and Mysona are absent.
Pogon Szczecin – Fabiniak is absent.
Kolejarz Stroze – Zarychta is a doubt.
Bogdanka Leczna – Magdon, Ninkovic, Paluchowski, Pesir, and Nakoluma are absent.
Gornik Polkowice – No news.
Piast Gliwice – Paulauskas may debutise. Lisowski and Bzdega are absent.
Romanian Liga:
Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt – No news.
Rapid Bucharest – Pancu, Grigore, Teixeira, and Roman are absent.
Dinamo Bucharest – Diabate, Pulhac, Stoica, and Patrascu are absent. Torje has been sold.
Otelul Galati – Cojoc and Salageanu are absent.
Steaua Bucharest – Nikolic, Martinovici, and Matei are absent. Prepelita is a doubt.
Targu Mures – Vasilache and Didi are absent. Albut may debutise.
Brasov – Ionescu, Machado, and Di Stefano are absent.
Vaslui – Papp, Canu, Gladstone, Balace, and Gerlem are absent. Adailton is a doubt.
Russian Premier League:
Dynamo Moscow – Lomic and Granat are absent.
Spartak Nal’chik – Jovanovic and Berkhamov are absent.
Zenit St.Petersburg – Semak and Bystrov are absent.
FK Krasnodar – Amisulashvili is absent.
Rubin Kazan’ – Carlos Eduardo, Bocchetti, Ryzantsev, Ansaldi, Smith, Kuzmin, and Navas are absent.
Krylya Sovetov Samara – Yakovlev is absent.
Spartak Moscow – No absentees. Bad atmosphere – rumours of Karpin being fired.
CSKA Moscow – Necid and Vasin are absent.
Kuban’ Krasnodar – No absentees.
Lokomotiv Moscow – Amelchenko and Yanbaev are absent.
Scottish Premier League:
Rangers – Wallace, Papac, Barley, Weir, and McCulloch are absent.
Aberdeen – Langfield is absent. Folly is a doubt.
St.Mirren – McGregor, Smith, Barron, Mooy, and Murray are absent.
Celtic – Izaguirre, Rogne, Loovens, and Hooiveld are absent.
Hearts – Kyle and C.Elliot are absent.
Hibernian – Airey, Hart, and Welsh are absent.
Serbian Superliga:
Smederevo – No news.
Red Star Belgrade – No news.
Rad Belgrade – Luka is absent.
Sevojno – No absentees.
Partizan Belgrade – Miljkovic and Anderson return.
OFK Belgrade – Pavlovic, Filipovic, and Rodic are absent.
Slovenian Prva Liga:
Mura 05 – Rep and Dodlek may feature. New boss Simudza.
Domzale – Elsner is absent.
Olimpija Ljubljana – No absentees.
Maribor – No absentees.
Gorica – No absentees.
Nafta Lendava – Lesjak may not feature ahead of potential move to Maribor.
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Gefle – Ohagen, Leino, Tornros, and Hellstrom are absent.
BK Hacken Goteborg – Wahlstrom, Anklev, and Soderberg are absent.
Helsingborg – Bouaouzan, Baffo, Eiswohld, and Ohlander are absent.
Orebro – No news.
AIK Solna – Pavey and Karlsson are absent.
Syrianska Sodertalje – Ozdemirok and Omotoyossi are absent.
GAIS Goteborg – No news.
Mjallby Solvesborg – No news.
Malmo FF – Pekalsi, Andersson, Fernandez, Sudic, and Mutavidic are absent.
Elfsborg Boras – No absentees.