TFT Issue 3279!

Free

Bankers

General Information

We aim to give you the best possible information before each game. However, the moment the game starts, anything can happen, ranging from red cards to snow storms to pitch invasions. We can only prepare you for so much; it's up to you to learn how to develop yourself as to know when to jump ship if things aren't going as they should.

Pay attention to the odds provided for each tip. Be aware that the longer the odds are, the less chance there is of it coming in. Don't lean toward backing the bankers containing teams you've heard of or selections at longer odds because you trust the team more or if you see the pound signs flashing before your eyes. Sometimes bankers won't win, try to use the previews to steer you toward the right selection to make rather than taking the quick/lazy way.

Please understand that every single tip has the capacity to win, push, or lose. We aim to find good value bets (probability vs odds) as our focal area.

Banker

Juventus vs Dinamo Kiev

KO: (UK time)

Juventus are now in a position where they actually struggle to win without Ronaldo. That’s something they need to address rather rapidly as he’s not going to be around forever. I thought they were quite lucky to beat Ferencvaros in their last UEFA Champions League home game, and I think that Dinamo Kiev will put them through the wringer tonight too. The visitors are without lots of players, but even in that situation against Barcelona CF, they certainly didn’t disgrace themselves. I expect the Italian heavyweights to find a way to win this game, but doing so convincingly seems beyond them right now.

Verdict: Juventus to win at 1/4.

Featured game

Gorica vs Slaven Koprivnica

KO: (UK time)

When these two Croatian Prva Liga outfits last locked horns, Gorica were the winners. It was a tough game, but one that Gorica always seemed capable of winning. I say that because, despite being without some key players in that match, they still dealt with Slaven Koprivnica’s superior possession by taking their chances better. 

Now the two teams meet again, this time at the SRC Velika Gorica. Gorica are in a better place now than they were then, not missing any players at all, and having gained a lot in cohesion. They’re not even struggling with rust now, having played a number of matches since the Covid-19 break. Indeed, Slaven Koprivnica’s best hope is that, for some random reason, Gorica simply don’t show up – and that seems a long shot to me. They have their faults, Gorica, but motivation is not one of them. I think the visitors are in trouble here, and that’s without going through the problems they’ve got.

With Gorica, you have to appreciate that there are numerous routes to goal. They’re as good from set pieces as they are from open play. They’ve got a mental steel that allows them to come from behind without being fazed. They’re still able to play without the weight of expectation because of the competitive nature of the Prva Liga this season. Factor in that they’ve got good players like Lovric and Hamad, and I don’t have a reason to doubt Gorica, at least not in a home game versus Slaven Koprivnica. Everything favours the hosts here, and based on the dropping odds, I’m not the only one to know it.

I do like Slaven Koprivnica, for what it’s worth. They’ve played with tremendous energy and attacking conviction this season. They’ve been a lot of fun to watch because of it. However, they’re not particularly efficient, either not converting chances well enough, or not defending well enough. Of late, their problem has been that their goals have dried up. There are numerous speculations in the Croatian media as to why that is. The most plausible one to me is that the absence of Barcelic-Grgic has removed the slickness of their passing in the final third, and he’s still out tonight too. He has been immaculate this season, the midfielder, and I would find it very coincidental if the team just so happened to stop scoring whilst he was out.

And no, I’m not counting their win against Sibenik in this equation – every team in Croatia should beat Sibenik right now. You have to keep in mind that Slaven Koprivnica actually have good finishers in their squad, especially veteran Bosnian Krstanovic. He can still bully most centre-backs at this level with his brawn and his experience. The problem is that they’re not creating chances well enough right now, and that attack is not the kind that can make things happen by themselves. Good teams have not struggled to contain them lately; I don’t see Gorica being any different.

I would add that Gorica have more of a penchant for leaking silly goals than any of the other teams Slaven Koprivnica have fucked up against recently, and that makes me lean more toward overs than the odds suggest I should. However, in terms of balance, consistency, and form, I cannot possibly overlook odds of evens on Gorica winning this fixture. Whether it happens or not, it’s simply the right call to make, and the price is far more generous than it should be for what is essentially quality vs effort.

Verdict: Gorica to win at evens.

Additional games

Luzern vs FC Sion

KO: (UK time)

I have to believe that Luzern can win this game. They aren’t going to get a better opportunity than this to do so, anyway. FC Sion are considered to be the bigger and better team in Switzerland, but it’s been quite some years since they were actually able to prove that they’re worth anything. They’re the biggest circus in the country, truth be told, and have come far closer to relegation than European football over the past couple of years.

Neither side is particularly good, but then again, you could make that argument for pretty much all of Swiss football right now. FC Basel have been in decline for three years. Young Boys Bern have been regressing ever since Seoane took over. St. Gallen lost a lot of their best players pre-season. There’s just not a lot in it, and I wish I could say it was because Swiss football is on the rise, but it’s not – it’s because teams are getting worse. It’s at times like these where Luzern’s decision years ago to stop spending big bucks on player wages looks like a real stroke of genius because there’s no adjustment period for them whereas a lot of their contemporaries have found life harder.

Indeed, it’s left them in such a healthy position that they managed to make some seriously good signings in 2020, Luzern, bringing ex-FC Thun striker Sorgic home, as well as managing to attract Austrian creator Schaub, the brilliant dribbler that is Tasar, and even their very own former wonderkid Ugrinic. I may have my concerns about Luzern’s defence, which is standard nowadays, but this attack of theirs has an awful lot of potential, and it’s only improving as the weeks go by. I firmly believe that Luzern are good enough to get a European place by the end of the current campaign, assuming they can keep hold of the afore-mentioned. They’ve got some really hard-working fellas on their books, and now they’ve got the quality in the final third, things should improve for them.

FC Sion have defended pretty well under Grosso, but it’s not aided them on the ol’ winning front, which is what lunatic owner Constantin really wanted to see. I’m sure Grosso will be sacked sooner rather than later, such is the way of FC Sion. It cannot be considered a surprise that their players have stopped playing like they give a fuck, really. This club is directionless, and has been for a lot of years now. They’re a bunch of soulless mercenaries that have some talent but generally don’t show it on the pitch other than in individual format.

They made big losses pre-season when Kasami moved to FC Basel and Toma moved to Racing Genk, leaving them with just one good midfielder – Grgic. To their credit, they actually did the right thing for a change, FC Sion, bringing in veteran battler Serey Die to steady the ship. His fellow countryman Doumbia, a brilliant goal-scorer at this level, also joined. They’ve recently added winger Tosetti too, who although hasn’t been at his best for a year or so, is still very much a proven creator at Super League level. Factor in their rapid, tricky Brazilians, and you’ve got what should be very capable threats, albeit with some integrating to do.

However, the actuality of FC Sion is that they’re not convincing. The movement is – sometimes – but the finishing and the togetherness just isn’t there. Doumbia is yet to bag his first goal for his new club, and won’t be doing so in 2020 as he’s suffered a pretty bad injury – and he’s by far their best finisher, comically. Luan joins him on the sidelines today too. FC Sion have more problems than they can handle, to be frank. They may have a greater pedigree than their hosts, but they’re not in any kind of position to show it right now.

Therefore, I’ve got to back underrated Luzern to win this one at 9/10.

Verdict: Luzern to win at 9/10.

Team news

Note

All of the information in this section is listed to the best of our knowledge, and we use local sources for as many areas as we can.

UEFA Champions League:

FK Krasnodar – Stotsky and Vihena are absent. Safonov and Petrov are doubts.
Stade Rennais – Aguerd, Guirassy, Martin, Rugani, and Terrier are absent. Gomis and Maoaussa are doubts.
Istanbul BB – Crivelli, Topal, and Caicara are absent.
RB Leipzig – Hartmann, Heinrichs, Hwang, Klostermann, Laimer, Novoa, and Schreiber are absent.
Sevilla CF – Acuna, Escudero, and Suso are absent. Ocampos and de Jong are doubts.
Chelsea – Chilwell is a doubt.
Club Brugge – Mitrovic and Rits are absent. Deli is a doubt.
Zenit St. Petersburg – Dzyuba, Karavaev, and Lovren are absent. Wendel, Douglas, Odzoev, and Krugovoy are doubts.
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund – Meunier, Schmelzer, and Reinier are absent.
SS Lazio – Muriqi and Escalante are absent.
Juventus – Chiellini is absent. Buffon and Demiral are doubts.
Dinamo Kiev – Besiedlin, Burda, Bukalsky, Duelund, Kostevych, Rustyn, and Tymchyk are absent. Andriyevski, Nescheret, Rodrigues, Shabanov, and Sydorchuk are doubts.
Ferencvaros – No absentees.
Barcelona CF – Araujo, Coutinho, Messi, Fati, Umtiti, Rafinha, Pique, and ter Stegen are absent.
Manchester United – Jones, Shaw, and Tuanzebe are absent. Lingard, Bailly, Martial, McTominay, Pogba, Telles, and de Gea are doubts.
Paris Saint-Germain – Kehrer, Sarabia, Icardi, Draxler, and Bernat are absent. Kurzawa is a doubt.

Belgian Eerste Klasse:

Sporting Charleroi – Flanagan is absent. Bruno, Goranov, Diandy, and Teodorczyk are doubts.
Waasland-Beveren – Vieira and Efford are absent. De Mey and van de Wiel are doubts.

Brazilian Serie A:

Fortaleza – Carvalho, Dias, Paulao, and Quintero are absent.
Corinthians – Mantuan, Avelar, Jemerson, Ramiro, Ruan, Santos, and Vital are absent. 

Croatian Prva Liga:

Gorica – No absentees.
Slaven Koprivnica – Barcelic-Grgic and Brkovic are absent.

Italian Serie B:

Monza – No absentees.
Vicenza – Ierardi and Scoppa are absent. 

Norwegian Eliteserien:

Viking Stavanger – Hove is absent.
Brann Bergen – Pedersen, Ahamada, and Pettersen are absent.
Haugesund – Stolas is absent.
Mjondalen – Brochmann and Diomande are absent.
Sarpsborg 08 – Horn and Lindseth are absent.
Kristiansund – Bye, Psyche, and Moumbagna are absent.
Aalesund FK – Agdestein is absent.
Sandefjord – Herraiz, Kralj, and Singh are absent.
Start Kristiansand – H. Gjesdal is absent.
Bodo/Glimt – No absentees.
Stabaek – J. Moe is absent.
Valerenga Oslo – No absentees.

Swiss Super League:

Lausanne Sport – Getaz, Koura, J. Monteiro, Falk, and Schmidt are absent.
Vaduz – No absentees.
Luzern – Binous, Burch, Grether, and Ndenge are absent. Schurpf, Emini, and Alabi are doubts.
FC Sion – Hoarau, Andersson, Luan, and Kabashi are absent.
Servette – R. Alves, Henchoz, Sasso, and Antunes are absent. Mendy is a doubt.
FC Zurich – Britto and Janjicic are absent. 

Remaining thoughts

Note

The "remaining thoughts" section is there to be a rough guide in case you want to get involved in games we haven't tipped. It is not there to tell anybody to back specific scorelines, or to guarantee that "2-2" games will go over 2.5 goals, for example. Ian lists what he believes to be the most likely outcome, and this is based on his assessment as to which way each game will develop. However, a "remaining thoughts" game listed with a 2-2 scoreline may have only just edged out a 0-0 scoreline in terms of probability because each game can develop in different ways.

UEFA Champions League:

FK Krasnodar vs Stade Rennais (5) 2-1
Istanbul BB vs RB Leipzig (6) 0-1
Sevilla CF vs Chelsea (6) 0-0
Club Brugge vs Zenit St. Petersburg (5) 2-1
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs SS Lazio (4) 1-2
Juventus vs Dinamo Kiev (7) 2-1
Ferencvaros vs Barcelona CF (4) 1-1
Manchester United vs Paris Saint-Germain (5) 1-0

Copa Libertadores:

Club Nacional de Montevideo vs Independiente del Valle (6) 2-0
Palmeiras vs Delfin (7) 2-0
Internacional vs Boca Juniors (5) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Jorge Wilstermann vs Libertad Asuncion (5) 2-1

Copa Sudamericana:

Atletico Lanus vs Bolivar La Paz (6) 1-0
Sport Huancayo vs Coquimbo Unido (6) 2-0
Independiente vs Fenix (6) 2-1, at least one red card in this game

Belgian Eerste Klasse:

Sporting Charleroi vs Waasland-Beveren (6) 2-1

Brazilian Serie A:

Fortaleza vs Corinthians (5) 1-1

Bulgarian A PFG:

Slavia Sofia vs Botev Plovdiv (6) 1-1
Levski Sofia vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv (5) 1-0

Croatian Prva Liga:

Gorica vs Slaven Koprivnica (6) 2-1

Estonian Meistriliiga:

FCI Levadia Tallinn vs Flora Tallinn (5) 1-2, at least one red card in this game

Italian Serie B:

Monza vs Vicenza (5) 1-0

Norwegian Eliteserien:

Viking Stavanger vs Brann Bergen (5) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Haugesund vs Mjondalen (5) 2-2
Sarpsborg 08 vs Kristiansund (6) 2-1
Aalesund FK vs Sandefjord (4) 2-1
Start Kristiansand vs Bodo/Glimt (6) over 2.5 goals
Stabaek vs Valerenga Oslo (5) 1-1

Swiss Super League:

Lausanne Sport vs Vaduz (4) 2-2
Luzern vs FC Sion (6) 2-1
Servette vs FC Zurich (6) 1-0

Want to read more?

The Footy Tipster logo

Sign up to our email newsletter to receive free tips

We will send our latest tips straight to your email inbox. We typically send 5 free tips per week.

Get free tips