TFT Issue 235!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Sevilla CF vs Racing Santander – home win to nil at 11/10.
Today’s featured game is the Primera Liga encounter between Sevilla CF and Racing Santander.
Sevilla CF claimed a heroic 0-0 draw at Barcelona a few days ago. They defended really, really well in that game, which massively helped, of course. You need luck to escape the Nou Camp with something and they had it with Lionel Messi bottling it near the end of the game, knocking the ball at a comfortable height for Sevilla CF goalkeeper Varas to push away after Sevilla CF had given away a penalty. Varas has been excellent this season and Sevilla’s defence has been good too, which is unusual, but not too surprising with the ever-enthusiastic Marcelino at the helm. Sevilla may have some issues breaking Santander down tonight with tiredness sure to play a part in the game following an exhausting game in Barcelona. They’ve also go to contend with the absence of the suspended Kanoute and the supposedly doubtful Negredo. Nonetheless, there’s enough in their midfield with Rakitic and Jesus Navas to create a goal somewhere, in my view.
I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it again; I think Santander are going down this year. They don’t have the firepower to stay up, basically. They work very hard for one another and no trip to Santander will ever be simple but they lack the quality to survive and they lack the quality in their manager to give them the inspiration that they need. I don’t see their fortunes improving in front of goal today either, not with Sevilla having kept four clean sheets in their last five games. Santander have scored once in their last seven games, which just isn’t good enough, especially as that one goal came at home against newly-promoted Rayo Vallecano de Madrid. Not many sides will destroy Santander this season – that’s just the nature of the team. However, I think we’ll see a lot of sides beating them because they don’t have the attacking prowess with Munitis getting very old nowadays, Stuani and Nahuelpan aren’t doing the business and Cuper is already under great pressure in his new job. Conclusion? Long night ahead for Santander.
The most beautiful part of this tip is Sevilla boss Marcelino. He was a legend at Santander, the only manager to actually make them play good football for years. He was there last season, as you might recall. He knows this Santander side inside out and Sevilla not winning this game with tactical precision would surprise me. Therefore, the home win with draw no bet appeals to me here.
Verdict: Sevilla CF to win to nil at 11/10.
Team news
Italian Serie A:
Juventus – Buffon and Gianccherini are absent. Vidal is a doubt.
Fiorentina – Kroldrup and Montolivo are absent. Cassani and Gilardino are doubts.