TFT Issue 239!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Norwich City vs Blackburn Rovers – home win at evens.
Really, really impressed with Lambert’s work at Norwich. They play good attacking football despite lacking quality players. There’s a great sense of belief and confidence at the club. They’re scoring goals and creating plenty of chances – everything that Blackburn aren’t. The campaigns to get Kean out roll on and it’s no surprise, really – he’s not a particularly good manager, in my view. Blackburn’s focus is silverware this year and they showed that mid-week in the League Cup, which was a hurdle that Norwich didn’t have to face so they’ve had longer to prepare for this game. The visitors are notoriously bad away from Ewood Park and are in a bad run of form. For me, there’s value on the home win here.
Verdict: Norwich City to win at evens.
Additional games
Lokeren vs Kortrijk – home win at 11/10.
Lokeren…at 11/10…to beat a side…that they’re better than? I just don’t get this. Ok, Lokeren haven’t started as well as they’d have liked but they’ve had some tough games, to be fair. They’re a very good attacking side and as much as I respect Kortrijk and the way they relentlessly attack too, they’re still a couple of classes below the likes of Lokeren, especially on the road. I’d have genuinely expected the best odds to be around 10/11 for this game. Admittedly, I’ve not had any team news on this fixture at the present time but I really fancy Lokeren here nontheless.
Verdict: Lokeren to win at 11/10.
IFK Mariehamn vs FC Honka Espoo – away win at 4/5.
It’s quite simple for Honka; win, and be guaranteed European football next season. They were too laid back in their last game and it cost them, ultimately. Fortunately, despite Mariehamn being a nightmare away game, this could prove to be the perfect game for Honka as IFK are missing a lot of important players, including the heartbeat of their midfield – Forsell – and their best striker – Kangaskolkka – not to mention their only good wideman in Okodugha. Honka are a better side than IFK with much more firepower. For me, this has to be an away win at 4/5 in the last game of the season for both clubs.
Verdict: FC Honka Espoo to win at 4/5.
Inter Turku vs JJK Jyvaskyla – lay Inter Turku at 9/10.
Inter are too short here. Good side but question marks are raised against their manager and the control he has over this rapidly declining Inter side. They may have enough firepower to see them into a European place – they only need a draw here, remember – but they don’t have the defence whatsoever. They’ve looked really poor lately, Inter – perhaps a case of burn-out? I don’t know but JJK are more than good enough to capitalise. JJK have a very strong midfield and can do Inter a lot of damage here. Let’s not forget that only a win will do here for JJK, working on the assumption that Honka beat IFK, which they really should. JJK have to go for this and they’re more than capable of matching Inter at the present time so laying the hosts at 9/10 interests me today.
Verdict: Lay Inter Turku at 9/10.
Team news
Australian A-League:
Central Coast Mariners – Wilkinson, Musialik, Hutchinson, and Amini are absent.
Perth Glory – Hughes, Risdon, Sterjovski, Pantelidis, and Berger return. Sikora, Young, Makarounas, and Taggart are absent.
Melbourne Heart – Sarkies, Worm, Babalj, and Kalmar return. Fred, Taseski, Ibrahim, and Zahra are absent. Bolton is a doubt.
Sydney FC – Bridge and Reddy return. Makela, Cole, Norval, and Moriyasu are absent.
Cypriot Division 1:
Olympiakos Nicosia – No absentees.
Omonia Nicosia – Aloneftis and Makrides are absent. Rengifo, Giorgallides, and Efrem return.
Apollon Limassol – Avgousti and Bakoura are absent.
Enosis Neon Paralimni – Faria and Yakubu are absent.
AEK Larnaca – Demetriou is absent. Hofland and de Cler are doubts.
Alki Larnaca – Santa Maria is a doubt.
German Bundesliga:
Nurnberg – Feulner, Nilsson, Pinola, Schafer, and Rakovsky are absent.
Mainz 05 – Gopko, Schonheim, and Szalai are absent.
Hoffenheim – Gulde and Jaissle are absent.
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund – Koch and Owomoyela are absent.
Bayern Munich – Breno, Robben, and Boateng are absent.
Schalke 04 – Fahrmann, Hoogland, Kenia, and Marica are absent.
Hannover 96 – Andreasen, Carlitos, Hauger, Miller, Pinto, and Cherundolo are absent.
Werder Bremen – Ayik, Avdic, Balogun, Boenisch, Borowski, Silvestre, Arnautovic are absent.
VfB Stuttgart – Delpierre, Audel, Pogrebnyak, and Schieber are absent.
VfL Wolfsburg – Kahlenberg is absent.
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
HJK Helsinki – Litmanen will start.
Haka Valkeakoski – Metzger, Salonen, and Weckstrom return.
IFK Mariehamn – Markus Paatelainen, Mikko Paatelainen, Kangaskolkka, Okodugha, and Forsell are absent. Strandvall returns.
FC Honka Espoo – No absentees.
Inter Turku – Osinachi, Parviainen, and Diallo are absent.
JJK Jyvaskyla – No absentees.
Jaro Pietarsaari – Grove and Sara return.
MyPa Anjalankoski – No news.
KuPS Kuopio – Ilo, Ollo, Nissinen, Hynynen, Kaivonurmi, and Nykanen are absent. Nwakaeme returns.
TPS Turku – Lehtovaara is absent. Heinikangas is a doubt.
VPS Vaasa – Tanska and Henriksson are absent. Kokko is a doubt.
RoPS Rovaniemi – Kononen and Muinonen are absent. Tabe is a doubt.
Italian Serie A:
Catania – Llama, Biagianti, and Suazo are absent. Gomez, Ledesma, Capuano, and Alvarez are doubts.
SSC Napoli – Britos, Gargano, and Donadel are absent. Pandev is a doubt.
AS Roma – Totti, Rosi, Lobont, and Kjaer are absent. Pjanic and Cicinho are doubts.
AC Milan – Gattuso, Pato, Flamini, Mexes, Seedorf, and Antonini are absent.
Internazionale – Poli, Coutinho, Ranocchia, Forlan, Viviano, and Samuel are absent. Julio Cesar is a doubt.
Juventus – Giaccherini is absent. Krasic and Buffon are doubts.
Macedonian First League:
Teteks Tetovo – Gjorgjievski is absent. Stojanovski is a doubt.
Metalurg Skopje – No absentees.
Vardar Skopje – Stojakovic, Bojovic, and Gjorgjioski are absent. Liko and Osa are doubts.
11 Oktomvri – Bad atmosphere at club. No absentees.
Bregalnica Stip – No news.
Rabotnicki Skopje – Savic is absent.
Sileks Kratovo – No news.
Napredok – Simjanovski is absent.
Ohrid – No news.
Renova Dzepciste – Manager not available for this game.
Dutch Eredivisie:
Roda JC Kerkrade – Lebedynski, Hempte, Staelens, and Fledderus are absent.
AFC Ajax Amsterdam – Ozbiliz, Silva, Aissati, Vermeer, Sigthorsson, Ebecilio, Sulemajni, El Hadoui, Serero, and Boilesen are absent.
Heerenveen – Kruiswijk and Roorda are absent.
ADO Den Haag – N’Toko and Leeuwin are absent.
Excelsior Rotterdam – Fillecia, Nuytinck, Wattamaleo, Lagouireh, and Djellal are absent.
RKC Waalwijk – No news.
Twente Enschede – Kuiper and Boschker are absent.
PSV Eindhoven – Hutchinson, Pieters, Engelaar, Tyton, and Wuytens are absent.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
GKS Belchatow – Popek and Jarmuz are absent.
Zaglebie Lubin – Pawlowski is absent.
Widzew Lodz – Zigajevs, Broz, Pinheiro, and Dudu are absent.
Cracovia Krakow – Suart, Niedzielan, Szeliga, and Radomski are absent.
Wisla Krakow – Malecki, Melikson, Sobolewski, Bunoza, and Genkov are absent.
Podbeskidzie Bielsko-BIala – Kolodziej and Bak are absent.
Polish Liga 1:
Ruch Radzionkow – Nalepa is absent.
Flota Swinoujscie – Chyla is absent. Opalacz is a doubt.
Olimpia Grudziadz – Franczak, Dziedzic, and Kokoszka are absent.
Dolcan Zabki – Welna, Osolinski, and Chylaszek are absent.
Olimpia Elblag – No news.
Kolejarz Stroze – Cebula is a doubt.
Katowice – No news.
Sandecja Nowy Sacz – Gawecki is absent.
Pogon Szczecin – Lewandowski and Matuszczyk are absent. Andradina, Szalek, and Pietruszka return.
Arka Gdynia – Czoska, Arifovic, and Jarun are absent.
Romanian Liga:
Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt – Vitelaru, Nohai, Chiacu, and Garcia are absent.
Vointa Sibiu – Matei, Majer, Cigan, Bunea, Dalbea, and Popa are absent.
Universitatea Cluj – Achim and Bazzi are absent.
Dinamo Bucharest – Moti, Rus, Kone, Stoica, and Alexe are doubts.
Russian Premier League:
FK Krasnodar – No absentees.
Kuban’ Krasnodar – No absentees.
Spartak Moscow – Welliton, Jeannot, Kozlov, Rojo, and De Zeeuw are absent.
Lokomotiv Moscow – Tarasov, Odzoev, and Burlak are absent.
Scottish Premier League:
Aberdeen – Folly and Jack are absent. Pawlett is a doubt.
Rangers – Ness and Bartley are absent. Perry is a doubt.
Celtic – Loovens, Commons, Izaguirre, Brown, and Bangura are absent.
Hibernian – Towell is absent. O’Connor and Murray are doubts.
Dunfermline Athletic – Phinn, Barrowman, Hardie, Rutkiewicz, and Bell are absent.
Dundee United – Dillon, Swanson, and Severin are absent.
Hearts – C.Elliot, Kyle, Glen, and Santana are absent.
Kilmarnock – Bell is absent.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle – Hayes, Jones, and Doran are absent.
Motherwell – McHugh, Hollis, and Saunders are absent.
St.Johnstone – Parkin and Davidson are absent.
St.Mirren – Murray, Mooy, and McGregor are absent.
Serbian Superliga:
Novi Pazar – Ostojic, Babic, Markovic, and Lotinica are absent.
Radnicki 1923 – No news.
OFK Belgrade – No absentees.
Borac Cacak – No absentees.
Jagodina – Arsenijevic is a doubt.
BSK Borca – No news.
Partizan Belgrade – Tomic is a doubt.
Smederevo – No news.