TFT Issue 240!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Ermis vs AEL Limassol – away win at 3/4.
Today’s featured game is the Cypriot Division 1 game between Ermis and AEL Limassol.
With five defeats from seven games, Ermis are rightfully bottom of the table and things appear to be going from bad to worse for them. They are not scoring goals – period – and thus any goals that they concede tend to be rather terminal. You can look at the statistic which shows they’ve only lost one home game this season or you can look at it in the way it should be looked at – they’ve not had any particularly hard games yet and the one that was a bit of a challenge was their sole loss. Invincible isn’t doing the business for today’s hosts so it’s fallen to Gonzalez to deliver. The return of Serjao is a boost and they may improve their goalscoring record as a result but there’s just not enough in this team to concern me when playing good sides.
Happily, AEL Limassol are what I would call a good side. I think it’s fair to say that they’ve not shown their true potential yet as they still have some teething issues with their new players but they’ve looked strong despite that. I mean, look at their tremendous statistics thus far – six games, six clean sheets, five wins, one draw. They’ve played the best side in Cyprus along the way – APOEL Nicosia – and beaten them away from home. They’ve beaten bitter rivals Apollon Limassol away from home too, not to mention a very able Anorthosis Famagusta side. With their defence looking as strong as it is, it’s almost impossible for me to imagine Ermis scoring against AEL LImassol today. The other side of the coin is as to whether AEL Limassol can score or not here. They’ve scored against harder sides than Ermis, to be fair, and with Cafu/Henrique/Carlitos in their ranks, there’s definitely goals there.
For me, there’s a bit of a gulf here. If it was mid-season then the -1 Asian Handicap would appeal to me but I’ll avoid the handicap as AEL are still growing as a team. The away win is priced rather generously today though, and thus I am very interested in it!
Verdict: AEL Limassol to win at 3/4.
Additional game
Anagennisi Deryneia vs Aris Limassol – away win with draw no bet at 7/5.
The hosts for this game are no mugs but at the same time, they’re not great either. Visitors Aris, on the other hand, have performed really well in the vast majority of their games and their form has duly picked up lately as a result. It began with a well-earned 2-2 draw at giants Anorthosis Famagusta despite having just ten men on the field and they followed it up with a resounding 3-0 win against Ermis. Confidence is high in the Aris camp and why not? They’re playing with great spirit and they’re playing good football too so I fancy them to cause problems today. Anagennisi have pulled off a few decent results themselves this season but the status quo is that they’re below average and them not scoring in two out of their last three games reflects that. They can capitulate at the back a little too easily for my liking and although they can nick the odd goal, they’re just not a side that I fear.
This is a tight game, make no mistake here. However, Aris losing it would surprise me – they just look much better all over the park than their hosts do. Therefore, taking the away win with draw no bet interests me today.
Verdict: Aris Limassol to win with draw no bet at 7/5.
Team news
Australian A-League:
Gold Coast United – Brillante, Rozic, and Broadfoot are absent. Yosief, Bevan, Severino, and Anderson return.
Newcastle Jets – Calvano, Jeffers, and Culina are absent. Wheelhouse and Virgili return.
Wellington Phoenix – Pantelis, Muscat, Pavlovic, and Lia are absent. Ifill is doubt. Brown returns.
Melbourne Victory – Franjic and Velaphi are absent. Celeski and Leijer areubts.
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Sint-Truiden – Christ, Andrade, Deferm, Schoofs, Volders, and Euvrard are absent.
Standard de Liege – Felipe and Belhocine are absent.
Anderlecht – Biglia, Mazuch, Mbokani, Molins, and Vargas are absent.
Lierse SK – Ayew, Bidaoui, Thompson, Elgabas, and Vandooren are absent.
Cypriot Division 1:
Anagennisi Deryneia – Giannakou and Pindonis are absent. Tofas is a doubt.
Aris Limassol – Komboyo and Grouic are absent.
Ermis – Moustakas is absent.
AEL Limassol – Onuachi is absent. Bebe is a doubt.
German Bundesliga:
Kaiserslautern – Derstroff and Simunek are absent.
Koln – Andrezinho, Chihi, Geromel, McKenna, Novakovic, and Petit are absent.
Augsburg – Ndjeng, Bah, de Jong, Nebel, S.Hain, and Thurk are absent.
Hamburger SV – Arslan, Castelen, Ilicevic, Stepanek, and Tavares are absent.
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Suduva Marijampole – No news.
Atlantas – Goalkeeper is 48-year old president of the club! (I was expecting a tighter game than it’s going to be now!)
Tauras Taurage – No news.
Dainava – Cibulskis is absent.
Siauliai – Da Silva is absent.
FBK Kaunas – No news.
Banga Gargzdai – No news.
Mazeikiai – Shyray, Pirkavec, Lendel, and Chechekenko have left the club.
Kruoja Pakruojis – Pihotskij is absent. Matsionas is a doubt.
Klaipeda – Zakgos and Javisovas are absent.
Zalgiris Vilnius – Matulevicius is absent.
Ekranas Panevezys – No news.
Italian Serie A:
Atalanta Bergamo – Brighi, Doni, Ferreira Pinto, Manfredini, and Raimondi are absent. Cigarini is a doubt.
Bologna – Cruz and Diamanti are absent. Antonsson, Crespo, and Pasi are doubts.
Cagliari – Astori, Conti, El-Kabir, and Eriksson are absent.
Cesena – Colucci, Martinho, and Mutu are absent.
Chievo Verona – Luciano, Morero, and Sardo are absent.
Fiorentina – Behrami, Gulan, and Kroldrup are absent. Cassani is a doubt.
Genoa – Kaladze, Ze Eduardo, and Caracciolo are absent. Jankovic is a doubt.
Lazio – Blava, Gonzalez, Matuzalem, and Mauri are absent.
Lecce – Di Michele, Diamoutene, Ferrario, and Julio Sergio are absent. Obodo and Giacomazzi are doubts.
Novara – Lisuzzo, Pinardi, and Ujkani are absent. Porcari, Giorgi, and Ludi are doubts.
Palermo – Di Matteo, Budan, and Pinilla are absent.
Parma – Floccari is absent. Blasi and Jardid are doubts.
Siena – Angella, Pegolo, and Terzi are absent. Vergassola and Troianiello are doubts.
Udinese – Barreto, Coda, Pasquale, and Ferronetti are absent.
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Lillestrom – Eziodawe, Sundgot, and Sigurdarsson are absent.
Aalesund FK – Herrera, Myklebust, and Skiri are absent.
Molde FK – Stensli, Steen, Gatt, and Vesthaug are absent. Eikrem and Rindaroy are doubts.
Stromsgodset – Madsen, Aunan, and Elabdellaoui are absent.
Sarpsborg 08 – Jusufi, Eyede, and Ron are absent.
Viking Stavanger – Ingelsten and Gyan are absent. Landu Landu, Berisha, and Olsen are doubts.
Sogndal – Roed, Rudolfsen, Hansen, and Solheim are absent.
Stabaek – Berkoltz and Hedenstad are absent.
Odd Grenland Skien – Andersson is absent.
Start Kristansand – Hoff and Milicevic are absent.
Rosenborg BK – Jamtfall and Goa are absent. Wangberg, Ronning, Dockal, Prica, Svensson, and Midtsjo return.
Brann Bergen – Kalvernes and Korcskmar are absent.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Korona Kielce – Kuzera and Kaczmarek are absent.
LKS Lodz – Kujawa, Szczot, Golanski, and Klepczarek are absent.
Lech Poznan – Arboleda, Kikut, Injac are absent.
Legia Warsaw – Hubnik, Kosecki, Astiz, and Gorsk are absent.
Polish Liga 1:
Nieciecza – Mysona is absent.
Bogdanka Leczna – Pielorz, Pesir, and Benevente are absent.
Zawisza Bydgoszcz – Hrymowicz is absent.
Piast Gliwice – Podgorski is absent.
Russian Premier League:
Tom’ Tomsk – Tigorev is absent.
Dinamo Moscow – Voronin is absent.
Krylya Sovetov Samara – Djordjevic is absent.
Terek Grozny – Utsiev, Katz, and Gvazava are absent.