TFT Issue 242!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Esbjerg vs Fredericia – home win with -1 Asian Handicap at 4/5.
Today’s featured game is the Danish Division 1 game between Esbjerg and Fredericia.
As arguably the best side in the division, it’s no great surprise to any follower of Danish football that Esbjerg are top of the division right now. They were relegated from the Superligaen with a great deal of quality in their ranks. Nine wins in twelve games suggests that promotion is very possible and I wouldn’t disagree with that – not with Lange in lethal form! The experience of Demba-Nyren and skill of Smarason provide great assets to this Esbjerg team that frankly is too good to be in this division. Esbjerg have a great midfield and although they could perhaps do with another “proper” striker, I still rate this side very highly at this level and their form so far this season would suggest that my faith is not misplaced.
However, Esbjerg haven’t beaten the -1 Asian Handicap often at home this season, usually due to conceding the odd stupid goal or not scoring enough goals. Maybe that will be the case today – football can be a strange game, after all. However, I feel that Esbjerg have a very good chance because they’re facing Fredericia, who are still overrated by the bookies for their excellent season last time around. Fredericia still have some good players like Christiansen and Luth but they’re not a goalscoring side, which was what initally endeared them to the Danish public in the first place. Defensively, Fredericia are a lot tighter than they used to be but they’re not scoring many goals nowadays and that is going against them. I mean, one goal scoring in their last three away games just isn’t good enough, irrespective of the fact that they didn’t lose any of those three games – they’re facing one of the best sides in the division and they’ll have to do very well here to avoid conceding, which is something that I just don’t think that they’re good enough to do.
As long as Esbjerg approach this game with the appropriate motivation then they should at the very least win the game. The handicap would be a bonus and it interests me today because the price is generous when you compare the quality of the two sides. I do like the insurance side of it, though, as Esbjerg really should at the very least win this game. As one of the best sides in the division, taking Esbjerg with a -1 Asian Handicap interests me at 4/5, especially against an overrated Fredericia.
Verdict: Esbjerg to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 4/5.
Team news
Australian A-League:
Wellington Phoenix – Sigmund, Ifill, Pantelis, Pavlovic, and Lia are absent. Muscan returns.
Central Coast Mariners – Musialik is a doubt. Wilkinson and Amni return.
Adelaide United – Djite is a doubt.
Melbourne Heart – Taseski, Ibrahim, and Zahra are absent. Fred is a doubt. Madaschi returns.
Bulgarian A PFG:
Minior Pernik – Trayanov returns.
Kaliakra – No absentees.
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Hradec Kralove – No absentees.
Jablonec – Haurdic, Krajcik, Kocourek, and Zabojnik are absent. Lafata is a doubt.
Dutch Eredivisie:
VVV Venlo – Emenike, Gentenaar, de Regt, and Leemans are absent.
Excelsior Rotterdam – Fileccia, Oost, Djellal, and Wattamaleo are absent.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala – Malinowski is a doubt. Rogalski returns.
Gornik Zabrze – Marciniak is absent.
Polonia Warsaw – Bruno is a doubt. Wszolek returns.
Lech Poznan – Arboleda and Kikut are absent. Caution – don’t bet on this game. Bakero of Lech Poznan used to be in charge of Polonia Warsaw and Zielinski of Polonia Warsaw used to be in charge of Lech Poznan!