TFT Issue 29!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game:
Zenit St.Petersburg vs Young Boys Bern
Today’s featured game is the UEFA Europa League encounter in Russia between Zenit St.Petersburg and Swiss side Young Boys Bern. The Swiss outfit won the first leg 2-1 thanks to a last-minute goal against Zenit’s ten men and thus bring the advantage into this game, which they’re really going to need if they intend on progressing.
Zenit have been strong in this tournament already and for me, they’re going to win it. They’ve got a lot of class and ability, not to mention a good and experienced manager, and all of the above does count for a lot. They’ve already won three home games in the UEFA Europa League this season, beating the -1.5 goal handicap in each game despite facing sides of a similar ability level to Young Boys Bern i.e. AEK Athens, Hajduk Split, and even Anderlecht, who I personally think are better than Young Boys Bern, as irrelevant as that may be. All that is letting Zenit down currently is competitive match practice but as we all know – that comes with time. Zenit do miss some big players for this game, unfortunately – defender Hubocan, striker Kerzhakov, winger Bystrov, and they also have doubts over another striker – Bukharov. However, in my view, Zenit can cope with those absences in this game as long as the excellent Danny is pulling the strings with Zyrianov and Shirokov in midfield and Lazovic in attack then I feel Zenit have more than enough to win this game against a side that they’re frankly a lot better than.
Young Boys Bern won the first game 2-1, as I mentioned earlier. It was a good result for them and demonstrates their resilience rather well. However, they’re not a goalscoring side in general and suffer an awful lot away from home as they don’t play on their beloved artificial turf, something which hinders them a lot domestically, let alone in Europe! They’ve lost all three UEFA Europa League away games this season without scoring a single goal, losing by two goals or more in two of those games. The signing of Swedish playmaker Alexander Farnerud was a good move for the Swiss outfit (although he can’t play today) who will undoubtedly look to increase their midfield dominance in games because their defence is vulnerable and their attack is either too inexperienced or simply not good enough. For me, Young Boys Bern are not in a position to take a credible result from Petrovsky – the hosts are too strong and too superior.
The weather in Eastern Europe at the moment is fucking freezing, to be blunt! The Swiss side are no strangers to cold weather themsevles but they’ve got a very tough game with a superior side today so I don’t think that battling the cold weather persistently too will help them here at all.
Yes, Zenit are missing players but their depth is good; they should have enough to win this game, and to win it comfortably too. The odds look rather generous for a Zenit -1.5 bet as they’re still the leading side in the tournament, in my opinion, so backing Zenit to win by two goals or more looks a good bet to me today.
Team news – Zenit St.Petersburg miss Hubocan, Kerzhakov, Bystrov, and Lombaerts whilst having doubts over Bukharov whereas Young Boys Bern miss Farnerud, Nef, Benito, and Dussin.
Verdict: Zenit St.Petersburg to beat the -1.5 goal handicap at 10/11.