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.
KO: (UK time)
They look better placed to beat teams that ‘park the bus’ against them now, Atletico Madrid. I still think they’re far from perfect, and my view has not changed on Simeone needing to leave if this team is to reach the next level. Nonetheless, beating Elche at home with most players available really should happen. I expect it to be in typically narrow Atletico Madrid fashion though.
Verdict: Atletico Madrid to win at 1/5.
KO: (UK time)
The quality gap should be too big here, really. The weather in Croatia right now is far from ideal, which is why they stop playing at the start of December each year, so I would not roll with any handicaps. Nonetheless, I do expect NK Osijek to have too much quality here so I trust in the home win.
Verdict: NK Osijek to win at 9/50.
KO: (UK time)
There’s been a bit more resolve about RB Leipzig lately, and I like that. They may not always play pretty football, but they do grind rather well. Whichever option they choose, beating hapless Koln at home should not be a challenge for the home team. I expect a home win.
Verdict: RB Leipzig to win at 3/10.
KO: (UK time)
With no European football to distract them, Dinamo Zagreb can name a full-strength team here. That basically means that they’ll beat Varazdin, unless there are any ‘arrangements’ behind the scenes. Dinamo Zagreb are certainly not above doing such but there tends to be some reasoning for it, and I don’t know what that would be here. Ergo, I trust in the home win for the reigning Prva Liga champions.
Verdict: Dinamo Zagreb to win at 7/50.
KO: (UK time)
The quality gap is simply too big here, and that should reflect in the result now that Ferencvaros don’t have any bigger fish to fry. Home win.
Verdict: Ferencvaros to win at 4/25.
KO: (UK time)
You know you’re going to get a game when you go to Waalwijk. This team will always work hard, and always stay true to their Dutch roots of trying to attack and score goals. I think that gutsy approach can see them trouble PSV Eindhoven tonight. However, with the quality in the final third on the visitors’ books, I can only see this game going in one direction. Away win.
Verdict: PSV Eindhoven to win at 3/10.
KO: (UK time)
Few Czech teams are playing with more consistency than Ceske Budejovice right now, which is why I’m struggling to oppose them. On paper, they’re not all that much to look at, and the absence of emerging Ukrainaian star defender Talovierov (suspended after a red card in Olomouc) makes it very unlikely that they’ll record a positive result today. However, nothing seems to faze this team, you know? Mentally, they’ve been exemplary over the past few months, always giving their best, and never surrendering. This is no longer a team to take lightly, to be frank.
Boss Horejs has every reason to feel proud of his team, especially when you consider the players they lost pre-season. Their relative ‘success’ has happened without Dutch striker van Buren even bagging a goal yet! They’ve basically set their stall out as a team that is going to be very hard to beat, Ceske Budejovice – and they’ve succeeded. Little looked less realistic than that when they started their campaign off with an absolutely pounding against Slavia Prague – in their own backyard, too! Mentallyl though, this team has come on leaps and bounds, and I like that about them.
The only team to keep Ceske Budejovice out over the past three months or so was, rather curiously, Viktoria Plzen, who pay very little attention to defending anyway. Everybody else has failed though. Ceske Budejovice always find a way to hurt teams thanks to Meszaros and especially Brandner, the latter of which is in the form of his life. They’ve got a lot of speed, Ceske Budejovice, and never seem to run out of energy. They may not keep many clean sheets, but they almost always score, and that makes them annoying. I’m confident that they’ll be annoying against Baumit Jablonec today too.
The bookies aren’t wrong to make Baumit Jablonec stone cold favourites; they’re comfortably better than their opponents. However, since their return to the top flight, Ceske Budejovice have not lost against Baumit Jablonec, and based on what I’ve seen from both teams this season, I would not be surprised if they got a positive result today. The absence of their best defender coupled with the superiority of their hosts puts me off actually backing it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they managed it.
Baumit Jablonec have got some terrific players on their books now. Honestly, this is probably the best Baumit Jablonec side I’ve seen since the Lafata days! I’m just a bit wary of them because of their inconsistency though. I knew they’d have a slow-ish start because of their new faces, but until recently, it was like they hadn’t gelled. Now, with four wins from five, things are back to looking rosy for Baumit Jablonec, rather ironically just before the winter break kicks in. I guess you could surmise it by saying that I still need some convincing before I trust this immensely talented team to do what they should in most games.
Defensively, Baumit Jablonec are still a bit of a mess, and that cannot be considered a surprise. This is a team that still needs veteran ex-defender Hubschmann on the park in order to have some kind of defensive composure. Luckily for Baumit Jablonec, their attack is superb. Pilar and Jovovic are terrific creators at this level, if you can keep them fit, and I am a big fan of their attacking options too. Chramosta hasn’t played so much this season because of Schranz’s emergence (at Ceske Budejovice, no less!) but is still a good forward, and you always know what you’ll get with Dolezal too. With such options in their squad, and Zeleny’s ability from set pieces, Baumit Jablonec will seldom leave a game without scoring. It’s the conceding bit that they need to work on.
Baumit Jablonec scoring today has to be a given. Ceske Budejovice look rocky at the back for obvious reasons, and their hosts are lethal in the final third. I believe the visitors can at least score here though, whether they get something from the game or not. Therefore, I’m on both teams to score at 9/10.
Verdict: Both teams to score at 9/10.
KO: (UK time)
New manager or not, I do not fancy Hapoel Kfar Saba’s chances here! Well, I say ‘new’ – it’s Gazal that is temporarily at the helm after the sacking of Turgeman. Warranted? I’m not sure I could get on board with that. I don’t feel like the Ligat Ha’al has really settled down yet, you know? When you see Maccabi Tel-Aviv leaking goals like they have been, and Maccabi Petah Tikva playing as well as they are, you know that there is a lot more alignment to come, shall we say. Sacking a manager at this stage when they’re no better or worse than those around them seems a bizarre call from Hapoel Kfar Saba.
Losing at home against MS Ashdod wasn’t very pleasant, admittedly. That’s the nature of the division though; most teams in it can beat one another. This is not a particularly good team. In fact, I would argue that it’s one of the bottom five teams in the division on paper. With that in mind, being in the bottom five surely can’t be that much of a surprise, you know? What was Turgeman supposed to do at the club, really? He’d only been in charge since February! As I said, it was a very strange move on their part.
A few players have stood out for Hapoel Kfar Saba this season but for different reasons. Take Fadida, for example. He played brilliantly for a few games, got sent off against Maccabi Netanya, and has barely been seen since. Zimbabwe midfielder Kizito has stood out the most with his goal-scoring and general control of games. Reichert has stood out too, although mostly because he’s going to completely annihilate his cards tally from the last two seasons. The rest have just done what was expected of them, and subsequently Hapoel Kfar Saba have achieved inconsistent results. Nothing surprising there, I’m afraid!
By contrast, Hapoel Haifa are in a great place right now, and folks are beginning to see it. They might not understand, but the form guide finally supports what I’ve been telling you all along – this is a good team that only needed a couple of tweaks to prove it again. Those ‘tweaks’ came in the form of Barsky and Maman in midfield, and that’s transformed Hapoel Haifa into a far more effective team. No, I absolutely would not trust this team to keep a clean sheet right now, but I do trust them to outscore teams whilst they’re playing as well as they are.
Maman and Barsky have been excellent, which goes without saying. I also like how inspired dribbler Zamir has been of late too. Between them, it doesn’t matter who is up front; they’re going to be on the receiving end of chances. That’s how Hapoel Haifa are scoring goals at the moment. They’re playing with such fire and intensity that literally the only way to stop them is to score more goals because they’re almost guaranteed to score at least one or two themselves. Tactically, they may not do much differently to most Ligat Ha’al clubs but they’re a lot more effective doing it, and against an unsettled Hapoel Kfar Saba, I have to believe that’ll bring a home win.
Therefore, I’m on Hapoel Haifa to win this game.
Verdict: Hapoel Haifa to win at 6/5.
KO: (UK time)
Quite how there’s such an important game at this stage of the season, I don’t know – but it is. Arminia Bielefeld don’t score enough goals, and it would be that way even if main striker Voglsammer wasn’t injured. This level is a bit beyond them in terms of quality, although they’ve applied themselves very well tactically. Schalke 04 piled pressure on themselves with their infamous video, which basically said that they needed nine points from their next three games. Well, they lost against SC Freiburg, and drew with ten-man Augsburg, so it’s safe to say that it’s not gone to plan for them.
Who can be surprised, though? You know, when I listen to commentators on Schalke 04 games, it’s as though they genuinely think that this is just a phase, and that Schalke 04 will simply turn things around at some stage – no! Absolutely not! This has been coming for a lot of years now, and Schalke 04 have done nothing to attempt to prevent it, laying the blame at the manager’s door every single time. Time for a reality check, folks – you’re not good enough to play at this level any more. That’s the truth. It’s not by accident that they’ve failed to win every Bundesliga game they’ve participated in since January, you know? They’ve not been ‘unlucky’ – they’ve been atrocious!
You can pick any area you want to, and I can tell you why Schalke 04 have done it badly over the past three years. Transfers, managerial appointments, tactics, treatment of existing personnel – everything. You know how bad it’s now gotten? Schalke 04 fans were overjoyed to recently discover that their ex-manager, Tedesco, has announced he will leave Spartak Moscow at the end of the Russian Premier League campaign, and they’re hoping he’ll come back to the club that sacked him. They’re a disaster, honestly.
The cherry on the cake was what they did yesterday, of course. What do Schalke 04 always do when they panic? Yes, that’s right – bring Huub Stevens back! And yes, he’s in charge now instead of Baum, who was sacked. Again, the manager always gets the chop here even though they’re working with a below average squad, for the most part. Stevens has not been a good manager for a lot of years. I appreciate he’s a legend for the club but his appointment is one borne out of sheer desperation. I think the bounce that it would have once caused has worn rather thin because of the amount of times they’ve done this. Honestly, nothing is going to convince me that they’re capable of winning this game today. They’re not strong enough mentally, and they’re not good enough physically. Barring a Harit masterclass, they’re in trouble – and I say that despite knowing that Arminia Bielefeld will not threaten much themselves.
They’re easily frustrated, Schalke 04, and Arminia Bielefeld have frustrated teams rather well this season. Their lack of a goal threat has still led to them losing more than they’ve deserved to, but that’s football – a very uncharitable sport. Even when they’ve scored, I’ve generally found them to be rather fortunate and/or opportunistic goals. The only one of them to consistently show their quality in the final third is Japanese creator Doan; he’s been excellent. The rest work hard, and stay organised, but there’s no real goal threat there. They need a proper flair player before I even consider backing them to win matches.
Still, I like Arminia Bielefeld more than I like Schalke 04 right now. I at least know what the newly-promoted team are attempting to do, and I know that they’re working as best they can within their means. They’re in the position they’re in now because they’ve performed well above and beyond what they should have been able to. Even being in the Bundesliga is a massive success in itself for Arminia Bielefeld. It’s Schalke 04 who should be ashamed of themselves, really. I don’t doubt the identity and belief of Arminia Bielefeld, but Schalke 04? There’s nothing to know or like about them any longer. They’re going to get relegated, whether it’s this season or the next, and they’ll lose Harit, Serdar, and Kabak when they do – and then it’s game over for a while.
As far as I am concerned, the visitors are more likely to edge this one than their hosts are. I wouldn’t want to actually back either team to do it because of how horrible they both are in the final third, but it’s still something that I believe to be true. Arminia Bielefeld do at least create chances, after all. From a betting perspective, the most logical thing to do in this game – which neither can afford to lose – is to back under 2.5 goals. Both struggle like crazy in the final third, and both would sit on it if they took the lead – or rather, attempt to. Therefore, backing under 2.5 goals is precisely what I intend to do here.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 4/5.
KO: (UK time)
It’s a good time to oppose Aarau. I’ve actually been encouraged by their mental strength of late. They really have recorded some impressive results, all things considered. They’ve been missing a number of players, some of which are very important, so full credit must go to Aarau. I’m sure they’ll give FC Thun a good game today too.
However, FC Thun look too much for them, and so they should, considering that they’ve only just been relegated. I’ll freely admit that I was surprised by their lacklustre displays at the start of the season as passion is the name of the game at this club – and always has been. They’ve sorted themselves out now though, FC Thun. They’ve found a new front man in Kyeremateng too, who has been excellent as their new Munsy. They’ve even done well without him recently, which tells you how far they’ve come. Pleasingly, the German is expected to make his return today though, albeit most likely from the bench.
FC Thun are back to their best, basically. When they’re at their best, they’re harassing teams, never stopping running with the ball, creating chances, and scoring goals. Most Super League teams found that hard to deal with when they were in the division above, let alone the teams in the Challenge League now. They’ve had to change a lot, FC Thun, but the changes they’ve made now look positive. I also have to applaud the club for the way they’ve conducted themselves with regard to the manager. They didn’t sack Schneider after they were relegated on his watch; they stuck with him to show the faith. He continued to flounder, even at Challenge League level though, and that’s when they parted ways with him, back in October. Bernegger has done very well since coming in as boss too.
Furthermore, let’s appreciate that FC Thun sold a lot of good players early in this campaign, not pre-season. They’ve also been without Castroman for the entire campaign, who is arguably their best creator. They’ve faced adversity, the Bernese club, and beaten it. They look good, and I would not bet against them taking one of the promotion spots. This is a very confident, industrious team with a lot to offer. I believe they’ll show that against Aarau today too.
The home team are still without a lot of their rotation players, as I said earlier in the preview. They’re basically without their entire defence at the moment, barring Giger and Bergsma. Star attacker Gashi is still out too, and will be for a while yet. Those absentees don’t make Aarau shit, but it does make it easier for good teams to beat them – if they apply themselves correctly. SC Kriens didn’t, and Stade Lausanne-Ouchy did do it – but only for seventy minutes. Where those teams failed, I believe FC Thun will succeed tonight. They won’t get a better opportunity than this to win at Brugglifeld.
They need to be wary of Aarau’s midfield, though. That’s the key here. Zverotic is still a beast, Rruhdani and Aratore are still very hard to handle, Jackle and Spadanuda are very experienced, and young attacker Stojilkovic has impressed over the past month too. There’s plenty of reason for them to be optimistic for the future at Aarau. The only real negative for them is that the one season they finally get their shit together is the one when most other teams do too! Still, that’s their own fault as well – they’ve had ample opportunities to get promoted over the past couple of years and not taken them, so there’s no sympathy from me.
I do like Aarau, and it’s nice to see them heading in the right direction. I just think it’s a bad time for them to be playing a good team like FC Thun, home or away. Therefore, I’m on the away win with draw no bet cover at 83/100.
Verdict: FC Thun to win with draw no bet at 83/100.
KO: (UK time)
Well, this should be a fun game, shouldn’t it? Both teams have mostly been excellent this season but lately there have been traces of the older, more complacent Maccabi Haifa creeping in. Take the 1-0 win against Hapoel Tel-Aviv, for example. They were horrendous for the last thirty minutes of that game. A better team would scored at least once against them, if not more. Maccabi Petah Tikva can be that team.
However, don’t let that distract you from the fact that Maccabi Haifa have a very dangerous attack right now. As much as I despise their general complacency, I do respect how dangerous they are. Despite playing without Wildschut for a lot of this season, and without Donyoh having adapted properly yet, they’ve scored a lot of goals, Maccabi Haifa. Rukavytsya is somehow better than ever, Chery has been immaculate, and Jose Rodriguez has looked very tidy too. Haziza has been contributing a lot too. Ashkenazi has dropped off and nobody has noticed; that’s how well Maccabi Haifa have done.
In terms of depth, they’re really quite poor this season, Maccabi Haifa. Injuries will cripple them at some stage – but not yet. For now, Maccabi Haifa are healthy, happy, and scoring goals for fun. Their defence is a bit suspect, largely because of a lack of protection, and they’re going to struggle even more today with Mabouka out, who has been a regular in their defence for a long time now. They’re simply not industrious enough to stop teams scoring against them, Maccabi Haifa, but you could make the argument that they shouldn’t have to, not with the firepower they now have. Time will tell which argument is correct. For now, Maccabi Haifa are the team to beat – and yet ironically, they don’t make it hard for teams to exploit their weaknesses. Fun times are ahead!
What is ahead for Maccabi Petah Tikva, though? They may have only just returned to the Ligat Ha’al, but by no means are they ‘new’ to this level. They’ve made intelligent signings pre-season, and have benefited from such. I’m a particularly big fan of Panamanian striker Arroyo. He’s not the best finisher but he’s big, he’s powerful, and he’s annoying to play against. Because of him, Baribo and Abada have thrived since he joined. Both are currently on three goals apiece, and more will follow if they can keep integrating the big man.
There’s a tidy balance to their midfield too, with a couple of very silky passers, good wide players, and responsible defensive midfielders that won’t take any shit. The only real weak spot of this team is that the defence is quite slow. Getting at that defence is hard though; most teams have failed to do that this season. Those that have, however, have not struggled to score goals. I don’t believe Maccabi Haifa will struggle either. Maccabi Petah Tikva have done enough in attack to deserve respect today though, and I think they’ll give their opponents a good game here.
I’m not going to back a winner, but backing over 2.5 goals at 4/5 suits me just fine.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals at 4/5.
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.
Austrian Bundesliga:
Hartberg – No absentees.
SCR Altach – Anderson is absent.
Sturm Graz – Geyrhofer and Trummer are absent.
St. Polten – No absentees.
Admira Wacker – Babuscu, Kadlec, and Petlach are absent.
Rapid Vienna – Dibon, Ljubicic, Schobesberger, and Velimirovic are absent.
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Zulte-Waregem – de Bock, Dompe, Saisalo, van Hecke, and Zarandia are absent.
Sint-Truiden – Asamoah is absent. Van Dessel is a doubt.
Racing Genk – Cuesta ia absent.
Kortrijk – Badammosi, D’Haene, Rougeaux, and Sainsbury are absent. Shamsudin is a doubt.
Brazilian Serie A:
Sport Recife – Hernane and dos Santos Pereira are absent.
Gremio – Alisson, Everton, Isaque, Leonardo, Maicon, and Miranda are absent.
Coritiba – Cerutti is absent. Patrick and Sarrafiore are doubts.
Botafogo – Angulo, Barros, Fernandez, Kelvin, Santos, and Saulo are absent.
Internacional – Boschilia, Guerrero, Johnny, and Saravia are absent.
Palmeiras – Hinestroza, Luan, Melo, Ribeiro Silva, Pedro Henrique, Prado, Praxedes, and Vega are absent.
Croatian Prva Liga:
NK Osijek – Majstorovic and Grezda are absent. Pilj and Ndockyt are doubts.
Sibenik – Pandza and Vukorepa are absent.
Dinamo Zagreb – Moharami is absent.
Varazdin – Danicic, Urata, and Peco are absent.
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Marila Pribram – Cortez, Kingue, and Soldat are absent. Klescik is a doubt.
Karvina – No absentees.
Baumit Jablonec – Kratochvil and Kubista are doubts.
Ceske Budejovice – Sulc and Talovierov are absent. Ledecky and Meszaros are doubts.
Slovan Liberec – Matousek and Tijani are doubts.
Mlada Boleslav – Masek and Mazuch are absent. Matejovsky is a doubt.
English Premier League:
Crystal Palace – Benteke and Ferguson are absent. Sakho is a doubt.
Liverpool – Jota, Gomez, van Dijk, and Alcantara are absent. Matip is a doubt.
Southampton – No absentees.
Manchester City – Garcia and Zinchenko are absent.
Everton – Allan is absent. Rodriguez and Coleman are doubts.
Arsenal – Gabriel, Partey, and Xhaka are absent.
Newcastle United – Five players absent due to Covid-19, but no names given.
Fulham – Decordova-Reid is a doubt.
French Ligue 1:
Metz – Cabit, N’Doram, Pajot, Niane, and Udol are absent.
Racing Club Lens – Traore is absent.
Olympique de Marseille – Gueye and Sanson are absent.
Stade de Reims – Donis is absent.
OGC Nice – Danilo, Dante, Dolberg, Lees Melou, Maolida, Racine, and Schneiderlin are absent.
Olympique Lyonnais – Mendes is absent.
German Bundesliga:
RB Leipzig – Hartmann, Henrichs, Hwang, Klostermann, Laimer, Novoa, Schreiber, and Samardzic are absent. Nkunku is a doubt.
Koln – Arokodare, Castrop, Clemens, Czichos, Hoger, Kainz, Queiros, Krahl, Lemperle, Sorensen, and Voloder are absent. Hector is a doubt.
Borussia Moenchengladbach – Bensebaini, Beyer, Hofmann, K. Kurt, Musel, Olschowsky, Quizera, and Reitz are absent. Neuhaus returns. Herrmann is a doubt.
TSG Hoffenheim – Beier, Bicakcic, Bogarde, Brenet, Bruun Larsen, B. Hubner, Kaderabek, Klauss, Klein, Philipp, and Stafylidis are absent. Posch and Grillitsch return.
Schalke 04 – Bentaleb, Ibisevic, Paciencia, Ronnow, and Uth are absent. Huub Stevens takes control…again.
Arminia Bielefeld – Laursen, Maier, Niemann, Nilsson, Pieper, Rehnen, Voglsammer are absent. Prietl is a doubt.
Mainz 05 – Bell, Hanin, Liesegang, Mustapha, Mwene, Oztunali, and Szalai are absent.
Werder Bremen – Selke, Rashica, Kauper, Fullkrug, and dos Santos Haesler are absent.
Augsburg – Gotze, Hahn, Jensen, Moravek,, and Sarenren Bazee are absent. Niederlechner returns. Iago and Pedersen are doubts.
Eintracht Frankfurt – Abraham, Ache, Brugger, Cavar, Fahrnberger, Makanda, and Willems are absent. N’Dicka is a doubt.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen – Aranguiz, Arias, Palacios, and Paulinho are absent. L. Bender and S. Bender are doubts.
Bayern Munich – Arp, R. Hoffmann, Martinez, Nianzou, and Zirkzee are absent. Goretzka is a doubt. Kimmich is a major doubt.
German Bundesliga 2:
Osnabruck – Ajdini, Auge, Bapoh, and Heider are absent.
Paderborn 07 – Antwi-Adjei, Huth, Justvan, Schonlau, and Thalhammer are absent.
Eintracht Braunschweig – Bar, Burger, Kessel, Kijewski, Klass, and Wiese are absent.
Greuther Furth – Berggreen and Schaffran are absent.
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Haifa – Agadah, Ghanem, Buric, Nahamias, and Stein are absent. Capiloto returns.
Hapoel Kfar Saba – Boss Turgeman sacked; interim boss is Gazal.
Hapoel Hadera – Flukcenko is absent.
MS Ashdod – Mishpati, Bagayoko, Bardea, and Meir are absent. Gerafi is a doubt.
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv – dos Santos, Zenati, and Zrihen are absent. Mazor returns.
Maccabi Netanya – A. Cohen, Ashkenazi, Sehovic, and Keller are absent.
Maccabi Petah Tikva – Ronen, Sarsour, and Hadida are absent.
Maccabi Haifa – Gershon, Wildschut, Nahmani, and Mabuka are absent.
Italian Serie A:
ACF Fiorentina – No absentees.
Hellas Verona – Kalinic, Barak, Vieira, Benassi, and Favilli are absent. Di Carmine and Ceccherini are doubts.
Sampdoria – Bereszynski and Thorsby are absent. Gabbiadini is a doubt.
Crotone – Rispoli, Cigarini, and Benali are absent.
Parma – Grassi and Nicolussi Caviglia are absent. Pezzella, Scozzarella, Laurini, and Mihaila are doubts.
Juventus – Demiral and Arthur are doubts.
Italian Serie B:
Brescia – van de Looi, Donnarumma, Semprini, Cistana, and Fridjonsson are absent.
Reggiana – Espeche, Kargbo, and Lunetta are absent.
Chievo Verona – No news.
Empoli – Terzic, Bandinelli, and Zappella are absent.
Cremonese – Strizzolo, Schirone, Deli, Girelli, Fornasier, Ravanelli, and Crescenzi are absent.
Cosenza – Sueva is absent.
Vicenza – Ierardi, Vandeputte, Nalini, and Pontisso are absent.
Ascoli – Brosco, Lico, Ghazoini, Kragl, Canigiano, and Malle are absent.
Lecce – Borbei, Gallo, Dermaku, Rodriguez, Dubickas, Lo Faso, and Pierno are absent.
Pisa – Varnier and Mazzitelli are absent.
Reggina – Charpentier, Faty, Vasic, Rossi, Denis, Situm, Cionek, and Bellomo are absent.
Cittadella – Bassano, Ghiringhelli, Maniero, and Plechero are absent.
Pescara – Busellato, Drudi, Masciangelo, Balzano, and Asencio are absent.
Monza – Balotelli, D’Errico, Paletta, and Finotto are absent.
Venezia – No news.
SPAL – Strefazza Rebelato, Dickmann, Okoli, Ranieri, and Cotali are absent.
Dutch Eredivisie:
Sparta Rotterdam – Coremans is absent,
FC Groningen – de Cruz, Gudmundsson, Robben, El Hankouri, and Suslov are absent.
VVV Venlo – van Dijck is absent.
FC Twente Enschede – van Leeuwen is absent.
RKC Waalwijk – Efmorfidis, El Haddouti, and Sow are absent.
PSV Eindhoven – Obispo, Zahavi, Gutierrez, van Ginkel, Romero, Ledezma, and Thomas are absent.
FC Utrecht – Maher, Bergstrom, Guwara, Paes, and Gustafson are absent.
Fortuna Sittard – Smeets, Rota, El Ablak, Moutoussamy, and Flemming are basent.
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Odd – No absentees.
Stromsgodset – Mendy and Parr are absent.
Bodo/Glimt – No absentees.
Viking Stavanger – Hove is absent.
Molde FK – Haraldseid and Hestad are absent. Haugen is a doubt.
Sarpsborg 08 – Horn, Lindseth, and Thomassen are absent.
Portuguese Liga 1:
Maritimo Funchal – Milson is absent. Africo and Macedo are doubts.
Belenenses – Varela is absent. Kau is a doubt.
Tondela – Sousa is absent.
Moreirense – Pedro and Amador are absent. Lucas Rodrigues and Mane are doubts.
Sporting Clube de Portugal – Cabral and Ristovski are absent.
Farense – Mancha is absent. Cesar, Djalma, and Pinto are doubts.
Spanish Primera Liga:
Atletico Madrid – Gimenez and Herrera are absent. Costa is a doubt.
Elche – Carrillo and Sanchez are absent.
Barcelona CF – Fati, Pique, and Roberto are absent. Dembele is a doubt.
Valencia CF – Cillessen, Gameiro, Gomez, Guillamon Sanmartin, and Lato are absent.
Levante CF – Campana and Doukoure are absent.
Real Sociedad – Januzaj, Illarramendi, Guridi, Moya, Sangalli, Silva, and Sola are absent.
CA Osasuna – Barja, Chimy Avila, Perez, and Torro are absent.
Villarreal CF – Coquelin, A. Moreno, and Pedraza are absent.
Sevilla CF – Munir, Escudero, Navas, and Vaclik are absent.
Real Valladolid – Janko and Kiko are absent.
Swiss Super League:
Young Boys Bern – Spielmann, Lauper, Lustenberger, Petignat, and Sierro are absent. Mambimbi and Nsame are doubts.
Lugano – Guidotti is absent. Covilo is a doubt.
FC Basel – Xhaka, Jorge, and Stocker are absent.
St. Gallen – Abaz, F. Alves, N. Luchiger, and Gonzalez are absent. Stergiou is a doubt.
Swiss Challenge League:
Aarau – Hajdari, Peralta, Qollaku, Thaler, Verboom, Gashi, and Schindelholz are absent. Thiesson is a doubt.
FC Thun – Castroman is absent. Sutter and Kyeremateng are doubts.
Turkish Super Lig:
Goztepe – Paluli, Gassama, Binici, and Nukan are absent.
Hatayspor – Karadeniz is absent.
Trabzonspor – Kavrazli, Omur, Ekuban, and Trondsen are absent.
Rizespor – Remy is absent.
Yeni Malatyaspor – Lukoki is absent.
Kasimpasa – Kurukalip and Gohou are absent.
Gazisehir Gaziantep – Morais is absent.
Fenerbahce – Valencia, Samatta, Lemos, and Perotti are absent.
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.
Austrian Bundesliga:
Hartberg vs SCR Altach (5) 1-1
Sturm Graz vs St. Polten (6) 1-0
Admira Wacker vs Rapid Vienna (5) 2-1
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Zulte-Waregem vs Sint-Truiden (6) over 2.5 goals
Racing Genk vs Kortrijk (6) 2-1
Brazilian Serie A:
Sport Recife vs Gremio (5) 0-0
Coritiba vs Botafogo (5) 1-0
Internacional vs Palmeiras (5) 1-2
Bulgarian A PFG:
Beroe vs Montana (6) 1-0
Croatian Prva Liga:
NK Osijek vs Sibenik (7) 1-0
Dinamo Zagreb vs Varazdin (9) 2-0
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Marila Pribram vs Karvina (5) 1-2
Baumit Jablonec vs Ceske Budejovice (6) 2-1
Slovan Liberec vs Mlada Boleslav (5) 2-2
English Premier League:
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool (5) 2-1
Southampton vs Manchester City (5) 1-1
Everton vs Arsenal (5) 1-1
Newcastle United vs Fulham (6) 1-0
French Ligue 1:
Metz vs Racing Club Lens (5) 1-2
Olympique de Marseille vs Stade de Reims (6) 1-0
OGC Nice vs Olympique Lyonnais (6) 0-2
German Bundesliga:
RB Leipzig vs Koln (7) 2-0
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs TSG Hoffenheim (6) over 2.5 goals
Schalke 04 vs Arminia Bielefeld (6) 0-0
Mainz 05 vs Werder Bremen (5) 2-2
Augsburg vs Eintracht Frankfurt (5) 2-1
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich (5) 2-1
German Bundesliga 2:
Osnabruck vs Paderborn 07 (5) 2-2
Eintracht Braunschweig vs Greuther Furth (6) 0-1
Hungarian Liga 1:
MTK Budapest vs Paksi SE (4) 1-2
Diosgyori VTK vs Zalaegerszegi TE (5) 2-1
Ferencvaros vs Budafoki MTE (7) 2-0
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Haifa vs Hapoel Kfar Saba (6) 2-1
Hapoel Hadera vs MS Ashdod (5) 2-1
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv vs Maccabi Netanya (5) 1-2
Maccabi Petah Tikva vs Maccabi Haifa (6) 1-2
Italian Serie A:
ACF Fiorentina vs Hellas Verona (5) 1-1
Sampdoria vs Crotone (5) 1-1
Parma vs Juventus (5) 1-2
Italian Serie B:
Brescia vs Reggiana (6) over 2.5 goals
Chievo Verona vs Empoli (6) 1-0
Cremonese vs Cosenza (5) 2-2
Vicenza vs Ascoli (4) 1-1
Lecce vs Pisa (6) 2-0
Reggina vs Cittadella (5) 1-2
Pescara vs Monza (5) 1-1
Venezia vs SPAL (5) 0-1
Dutch Eredivisie:
Sparta Rotterdam vs FC Groningen (5) 2-1
VVV Venlo vs FC Twente Enschede (5) 1-2
RKC Waalwijk vs PSV Eindhoven (7) 1-2
FC Utrecht vs Fortuna Sittard (7) 2-1
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Odd vs Stromsgodset (5) 1-2
Bodo/Glimt vs Viking Stavanger (6) over 2.5 goals
Molde FK vs Sarpsborg 08 (5) 2-1
Portuguese Liga 1:
Maritimo Funchal vs Belenenses (6) 1-0
Tondela vs Moreirense (6) 1-0
Sporting Clube de Portugal vs Farense (5) 2-1
Portuguese Liga 2:
Cova de Piedade vs Penafiel (6) 0-1
Academico Viseu vs Chaves (5) 0-1
Varzim vs Feirense (5) 2-1
Spanish Primera Liga:
Atletico Madrid vs Elche (7) 1-0
Barcelona CF vs Valencia CF (6) 2-1
Levante CF vs Real Sociedad (6) 1-1
CA Osasuna vs Villarreal CF (5) 1-2
Sevilla CF vs Real Valladolid (6) 1-0
Swiss Super League:
Young Boys Bern vs Lugano (5) 1-1
FC Basel vs St. Gallen (6) 1-1
Swiss Challenge League:
Aarau vs FC Thun (5) 1-2
Turkish Super Lig:
Goztepe vs Hatayspor (5) 2-1
Trabzonspor vs Rizespor (5) 1-0, at least one red card in this game
Yeni Malatyaspor vs Kasimpasa (5) 1-2
Gazisehir Gaziantep vs Fenerbahce (5) 1-1
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