TFT Issue 334!
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Featured game
Norwich City vs Wigan Athletic – home win at 5/6.
Today’s featured game is the English Premier League game between newly-promoted Norwich City and Championship-bound Wigan Athletic.
As much as I would love for Wigan to stay in the Premier League, it’s just not going to happen. They simply don’t have enough quality to make it through each game, in all honesty. They either defend well and don’t score at all or they attack, score goals, and then concede more than they’ve scored. They have some good players in their midst but I think that they’ve finally ran out of options and that should be illustrated rather well at the end of today’s game.
Every time I watch Norwich at home, they’re absolutely excellent. Their determination, committment, and effectiveness is quite simply oustanding and I can’t name a game this season where they’ve not outplayed their opponent at Carrow Road. My beloved Manchester United won 1-2 at Norwich recently and despite controlling certain periods of the game, Norwich still outplayed us and deserved something from the game. Only a cutting edge in front of goal won the game for United and it’s been a similar story whenever Norwich haven’t managed what they should have done at home.
Norwich have a terrific man-motivator in Lambert and his players always give their utmost for him. They attack with intelligence and with pace, always playing to the strengths of their strikers whilst using their physical presence to intimidate their opponents. Norwich are a very hard side to stop and I just don’t see Wigan having anything even remotely close to being able to stop Norwich today. Wigan can occasionally produce an inspired defensive display but they need three points so a draw just isn’t enough nowadays. At some point, Wigan need to push on and attack and if they’re not already losing by that point then I expect them to lose via counter-attacks from a very able and consistent Norwich side. Either way, the home win appeals to me massively at 5/6.
Verdict: Norwich City to win at 5/6.
Additional games
Catania vs Fiorentina – home win at 6/5.
I think betting against Fiorentina when they’re the away side is rapidly becoming one of my favourite pasttimes. They’re so consistently bad away from home that it’s hard to do anything but take the home win!
Happily, they’re facing one of my favoured Italian sides Catania today and I know how good Catania can be at home. They’re proud, tenacious, effective, and occasionally vicious and they always make their presence felt in Sicily. Few sides manage to score against Catania on their home turf so any goals scored by the hosts tend to be rather settling ones. Scoring without Maxi Lopez was always going to be a bit of a chellenge for the Sicilians but the Argentinian trio of Gomez, Bergessio, and Barrientos are good enough to make it happen and I think they will today. Catania have much more cohesion and determination than Fiorentina and that’s been enough to undo La Viola away from home innumerate times this season so I expect the same to happen again today. Serbian starlet Nastasic has become a regular fixture in defence for Fiorentina but he won’t be playing today, which is a substantial blow. Even worse news for Fiorentina is that Montenegro star Jovetic won’t be playing either, which removes the link between midfield and Amauri, which basically leaves the big man up front on his own. Montolivo can make things happen sometimes but will he be able to without Behrami’s pace in midfield alongside him? The Swiss midfielder also misses out, you see. Fiorentina miss too many regulars and are horribly ineffectual on the road so how they’ll get something here is beyond me. For me, the home win is well worth a bet at 6/5.
Verdict: Catania to win at 6/5.
Diosgyori VTK vs Fehervar – home win with draw no bet at 8/5.
Approach this one with caution as it’s based more on my thought process rather than something I can actually substantiate. Diosgyori have lots of nutcase fans and always work hard at home to appease them. They’re a nightmare to play away from home, especially for a big side like Fehervar, as the hosts are always extra motivated. They’ve got a really good side this year with plenty of flair and cohesion and I’d give them a shout against anyone at home. Fehervar have disappointed with Sousa’s possession game proving to be rather hit-and-miss. Star striker Alves has left the club and although Sousa has signed replacements, I don’t see any of them being able to provide what he did in their 4-5-1. If he changes it to a 4-4-2 then things should progress well for them but he just won’t. Therefore, I don’t see the determined hosts losing this one and taking them to win with draw no bet at such long odds really appeals to me today.
Verdict: Diosgyori VTK to win with draw no bet at 8/5.
CSKA Sofia vs Kaliakra – under 3 goals at 11/10.
Bulgaria looks interesting today and this is one of two games that I’ve decided to preview. CSKA sold most of their good players over the transfer window, which included Romanian attacker Zicu. They’re now somewhat more average than they were earlier this season and they’ve decided to take another backward step by appointing former manager Mladenov as boss…again! Yes, it’s now his third spell in charge of CSKA and with limited resources in his current squad, I can’t see CSKA blowing Kaliakra away here, although I do fully expect them to win. Kaliakra are a bit shit, to be honest, and two of their players can’t play as they are on loan from CSKA. Kaliakra will “park the bus” and with no Zicu nor other recognisably good playmakers in their ranks, I don’t see CSKA running riot here. For me, taking under 3 goals looks appealing at 11/10 today.
Verdict: Under 3 goals at 11/10.
Montana vs Levski Sofia – home win with +1.5 handicap at 11/10.
And here’s the other Bulgarian game that interests me today! Levski are obviously a better side than Montana; you don’t need me to tell you that. However, Levski are horribly short considering how ineffectual they are on the road with their usual 4-5-1. They’ve still got good enough players to win games like this and I’d be lying if I said that I expected anything but an away win from this game. However, big Dembele has never been replaced properly as a target man and the departure of Dutch forward Ars indicated that Levski are still looking for a suitable replacement. Levski have never been particularly assure defensively; they’ve always excelled in attack. That’s not how it’s gone for most of this season in the A PFG, however, and I don’t think they’re in for an easy game here. What will help Levski is that Montana are an attacking side by nature and they should give Levski a good game here by attacking and I wouldn’t bet against them scoring either. Levski should have ample opportunities to win the game but are they going to convince here? Are they going to take all their chances? They’ve looked rusty lately and never convince me fully on the road so I have to give Montana a +1.5 handicap whilst the odds are as generous as 11/10!
Verdict: Montana to win with +1.5 handicap at 11/10.
Team news
Australian A-League:
Brisbane Roar – Nichols is absent. Henrique is a doubt.
Adelaide United – McKain and Usucar return. Barbiero, Silevski, and Izzo are absent.
Perth Glory – Miller and Smeltz return. Coyne, Neville, Berger, and Sikora are absent.
Central Coast Mariners – Bojic returns.
Bulgarian A PFG:
CSKA Sofia – New boss Mladenov returns for his third reign at the club. Bolado, Anise, Stoyanov, Yanchev, and Trifonov are absent.
Kaliakra – Sedula and Philipov are absent.
Slavia Sofia – Dimitrov and Akioshi are absent.
Minior Pernik – Tom and Trayanov return.
Montana – Boris may debutise.
Levski Sofia – Calvo returns. Greene and Mladenov are absent.
Cypriot Division 1:
Apollon Limassol – Hemdani, Kolar, Stavrou, Lopes, and Merkis are absent. Paolo returns.
Aris Limassol – Kombio is absent.
AEK Larnaca – Pintado, Da Silva, Linssen, Hofland, Fortin, and Skopelitis are absent. Garcia is a big doubt.
Anorthosis Famagusta – Roncatto, Konstantinou, and Marangos are absent.
Ethnikos Achnas – Elia and Nouredinoski are absent. Ignatov is a doubt.
Alki Larnaca – Stylianou, Dobrasinovic, Bakal, and Bartze are absent. Fousco and Aspas are doubts. Santa Maria returns.
Olympiakos Nicosia – No absentees.
AEL Limassol – Enrique, Bebe, Souza, and Parpas are absent.
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Viktoria Plzen – Kolar and Prochazka are absent. Cisovsky is a doubt.
Sigma Olomouc – Klesnil is absent.
Hradec Kralove – Klapka, Rezek, and Fiser are absent.
Duka Prague – Siml is absent.
Slavia Prague – Frejlach, Pospech, Simecek, and Kores are absent. Petrak is a doubt. Coach Straka has resigned.
Jablonec – Kocourek, Vukovic, Pavlik, Novak, and Kopic are absent.
German Bundesliga:
Werder Bremen – Hunt, Borowski, Naldo, and Arnautovic are absent.
Hannover 96 – Miller, Schulz, Andreasen, and Schmiedebach are absent.
Schalke 04 – Faehrmann, Unnerstall, Hoewedes, and Papadopoulos are absent.
Hamburger SV – Mickel, Aogo, Jarolim, and Guerrero are absent.
Greek Super League:
Kerkyra – Boukouvalas and Labropoulos are absent.
Xanthi – Marcelinho, Souanis, and Bertos are absent.
PAS Giannina – Tzanis, Skoufalis, Tapasis, Ionannidis, and Oikonomou are absent.
Levadiakos – Napoleoni, Lisgaras, Favali, and Popovic are absent.
Olympiakos Piraeus – Fuster, Papadopoulos, Feysa, and Carol are absent.
Aris Salonika – Kaznaferis and Micel are absent.
Panaitolikos – Etzegele, Blazic, and Koutramanos are absent.
Ergotelis – Fragoulakis, Leal, and Romano are absent. Coach unhappy with players and has promised changes.
AEK Athens – No absentees.
Panathinaikos – Leto, Boumsong, and Petropoulos are absent. Simao, Totse, and Cleiton are doubts.
Hungarian Soproni Liga:
Pecsi MFC – Horvath and Bajzat are absent.
Ferencvaros – No news.
Diosgyori VTK – Budovinsky, Igor Gal, and Takacs are absent.
Fehervar – No news.
Italian Serie A:
Atalanta Bergamo – Capelli, Lucchini, Marilungo, Stendardo, and Tiribocchi are absent. Carmona is a doubt.
Bologna – Cruz, Loria, Gimenez, and Perez are absent. Morleo and Acqufresca are doubts.
Catania – Almiron, Biagianti, Campagnolo, Potenza are absent.
Cesena – Guana, Iaquinta, Mutu, Parolo, Pudil, Von Bergen, and Comotto are absent. Djokovic and Santana are doubts.
Fiorentina – Behrami, Jovetic, Kroldrup, and Nastasic are absent.
Genoa – Birsa and Granqvist are absent. Sculli, Palacio, Bovo, and Antonelli are doubts.
Juventus – Barzagli, Bonucci, and Chiellini are absent.
Lazio – Biava, Brocchi, Cana, Konko, Lulic, Makinwa, Radu, Rocchi, Scaloni, Stankevicius, and Zauri are absent.
Lecce – Cuadrado, Delvecchio, Di Michele, Falcone, Grossmuller, Julio Sergio, Miglionico, Ofere, and Tomovic are absent. Oddo, Bertolacci, Bojinov, and Miglionico are doubts.
AC Milan – Boateng, Cassano, Flamini, Gattuso, Lopez, Merkel, Mexes, Nesta, Pato, Seedorf, and Strasser are absent.
Novara – Caracciolo and Ludi are absent. Fontana, Garcia, Jensen, Marianini, and Ujkani are doubts.
Parma – Morrone is absent. Galloppa, Palladino, Gobbi, and Floccari are doubts.
Siena – Bolzoni, Brkic, D’Agostino, and Gonzalez are absent.
Udinese – Abdi, Badu, and Isla are absent. Basta is a doubt.
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Maccabi Tel-Aviv – Dahan, Pavicevic, and Medunjanin are absent.
Hapoel Haifa – Avidor is absent.
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Dainava – Rinaldo Jordao de Paula Neto may debutise. Bujinicki returns. Game played in Marijampole.
Vilnius – No news.
Suduva Marijampole – Thompson may debutise.
Ekranas Panevezys – No absentees. Played a lot on natural turf lately but this game is played on artificial turf.
Macedonian First League:
Vardar Skopje – Grozdanski has left. Game played at neutral venue.
Teteks Tetovo – No absentees.
Metalurg Skopje – Ilijoski has left. Nestorovski and Dimoski may debutise.
Sileks Kratovo – No absentees.
Breglanica Stip – No absentees.
Shkendija 79 – Hasani, Kurtisi, Huseini, and Mustafi have left.
Napredok – No absentees.
Rabotnicki Skopje – New boss Pevnik.
Ohrid – Ten players have left – no names given.
Renova Dzepciste – No news.
Dutch Eredivisie:
NAC Breda – Van Fessem and Gudelj are absent.
PSV Eindhoven – Tamata and Engelaar are absent. Strootman is a doubt.
NEC Nijmegen – Van Eijden is absent.
Twente Enschede – Rendla, Landzaat, Teixeira, Tiendalli, Verhoek, and Janssen are absent.
Feyenoord Rotterdam – Fernandez, Torres, Ramsteijn are absent. Cisse is a doubt.
FC Utrecht – Mulenga, de Kogel, Nilsson, and van Dijk are absent.
AFC Ajax Amsterdam – van der Wiel, Sigthorsson, Sulejmani, and Boilesen are absent.
RKC Waalwijk – Sno and ten Voorde are absent.
De Graafschap – Frankel, van de Pavert, Evers, and Rose are absent.
AZ Alkmaar – Benschop, Johansson, Viergever, Beerens, and Martens are absent.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Widzew Lodz – Ben Radhia and Bieniuk are big doubts. Emerson Carvalho and Alex Bruno may debutise.
GKS Belchatow – Wronski is absent. Nowak is a doubt.
Slask Wroclaw – Stevanovic is a doubt. Diaz returns.
Korona Kielce – Kielb and Lisowski are absent. Golanski is a doubt.
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Beira-Mar – Cintra, Moreira, Coelho, Douglas, Lopes, and Serginho are absent. Sitta is a doubt. Dudu and Dias return.
Gil Vicente – Batista, Narbosa, Sandro, and Aranyes are absent. Caicara, Murta, and Halisson return.
Olhanense – Anderson, Araujo, Vinha, Piloto, Luis Filipe, and Micael are absent. Pinto and Duarte return.
CD Nacional de Madeira – Juliano, Valverde, Madrid, Skolnik, Keita, and Edgar Costa are absent. Igor, Stojanovic, Todorovic, and Peknik return.
Rio Ave – No absentees.
Vitoria Setubal – Suswan and Silva are absent. Ney and Goncalves return.
Pacos de Ferreira – No absentees.
SL Benfica – Garay, Emerson, and Djalo are absent. Aimar returns.
Sporting Clube de Lisboa – Onyewu, Neto, Carillo, Insua, Rodriguez, and Rinaudo are absent. Jeffren returns.
Vitoria Guimaraes – Mendes, El Adoua, Joao Paulo, and Freire are absent.
Romanian Liga:
Rapid Bucharest – Pancu, Grigore, and Pavlovic are absent.
Petrolul Ploiesti – Zimmerman, Buleica, Voican, and Surugiu are absent.
Sportul Studentesc – S.Stancu, Curelea, and Varga are absent.
FC Brasov – Brudo Madeira are absent.
Targu Mures – Vasilache, D.Matei, Topic, and Paduretu are absent.
Vointa Sibiu – Majer, Sg.Bar, and Grigore are absent.
Russian Premier League:
Zenit St.Petersburg – Danny and Anyukov are absent.
Kuban’ Krasnodar – No news.
Rostov-na-Donu – Radic and Smolnikov are absent.
Krylya Sovetov Samara – Grigoryan and Kornilenko are absent.
Rubin Kazan’ – Ansaldi, A.Eremenko, Carlos Eduardo, Sharonov, Navas, and Bocchetti are absent.
Lokomotiv Moscow – Tigorev and Ibricic are absent.
Spanish Primera Liga:
Atletico Madrid – Luis Filipe, Antonio Lopez, and Diego are absent. Silvio, Tiago, and Arda Turan are doubts.
Granada – Benitez, Siqueira, Jara, Yebda, Roberto, Diakhate, and Fran Rico are absent. Martins and Jaime are doubts.
Espanyol – Forlin, Weiss, Alvarez, Mattionni, Marquez, and Pandiani are absent. Thievy is a doubt.
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid – Diego Costa and Dani Pacheco are absent.
Valencia CF – Canales and Pereira are absent.
Real Mallorca – Tissone, Pina, Joao Victor, Zuiverloon, Bigas, and Kevin are absent. Cendros returns.
Racing Santander – Toni is absent. Alvaro Cervera’s first game in charge.
Barcelona – Pique, Fontas, Abidal, Thiago, Afellay, Villa, and Sanchez are absent. Puyol and Pedro are doubts.
Osasuna – Timor, Ricardo, Lolo, Ibra, Lekic, Masoud, Sola, Calleja, Satrustegui, and Echaide are absent.
Athletic Club de Bilbao – Ocio, Castillo, Gurpegi are absent. Amorebieta is a doubt.
Spanish Segunda Liga:
Elche – Flano, Palanca, and Rodas are absent.
Real Valladolid – Nafti, Manucho, and Nauzet are absent.
Alcoyano – Remon, Torro, Rojas, Morcillo, Maestro, Fabiani, and Garcia are absent.
Cartagena – No absentees.
Turkish Super Lig:
Karabukspor – Sammy is absent.
Antalyaspor – Tita and Ali Turan are absent.
Manisaspor – No absentees.
Mersin Idmanyurdu – Cagdas Atan is absent.
Samsunspor – Saffet, Selim, and Murat Yildrim are absent.
Gaziantepspor – Kerim Zengin is absent.
Orduspor – No absentees.
Besiktas JK – Bebe, Hilbert, and Tanju are absent.
Eskisehirspor – Sezgin Coskun and Ivesa are absent.
Bursaspor – No absentees.