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
Viktoria Plzen vs Zlin
KO: (UK time)
After Plzen have had their worst campaign in many years, they finally appear to have figured out that not winning games = no European football. Subsequently, they’re back to their best, powering past teams with energy and goal-scoring. I would never trust this team to keep a clean sheet, but I do trust them when they’re focused. Mentally, they’re a very tough team, and with the quality they’ve got, beating a somewhat complacent Zlin at home should not be a big ask.
Verdict: Viktoria Plzen to win at 33/100.
Banker
HB Torshavn vs IF
KO: (UK time)
The quality gap really should be too big here. HB got back to their best last time out, and IF are still a very top-heavy team, which seldom works out well against the top teams in the Faroe Islands. Home win.
Verdict: HB Torshavn to win at 1/10.
Featured game
Grasshopper Zurich vs St. Gallen
KO: (UK time)
When I settled down to watch Young Boys Bern face St. Gallen in the most recent Schweizer Pokal round, I was expecting another comfortable win. It’s not that Young Boys Bern are that good, per se, but more that the rest of Switzerland is pretty poor right now – and none are in their league. Therefore, when I saw Young Boys Bern make every conceivable mistake, and St. Gallen score a lot of their chances, I was very surprised. Football can do that sometimes though, can’t it?
That result in itself made this competition incredibly interesting this season though. FC Basel were smashed by Winterthur, Young Boys Bern humped by St. Gallen – this trophy really is anyone’s now! Well, perhaps not anyone’s – I mean, I like what SC Kriens have done in 2021 but it’ll take more than luck for them to oust most teams left in this competition, let alone slick Servette! You know, I asked Bet365 for odds on Luzern to win this competition a couple of months ago, and they came back and said they were unable to provide any. Given that I am writing this preview prior to yesterday’s Lugano vs Luzern match, that incident could either look very lucky or very unlucky! I fancied them though, that’s for sure.
There’s no reason to believe that either of today’s opponents can’t win it either. Grasshopper Zurich are the most decorated club in Swiss football history, and St. Gallen are finally finishing off the chances that they squandered far too readily earlier in their Super League campaign. It promises to be an enthralling game, that’s for sure. St. Gallen are obviously the better team right now but Grasshopper Zurich are no run-of-the-mill Challenge League outfit. View them like you would Hamburger SV in Germany i.e. equipped with a squad that’s too good for the division they’re in.
The reason they are in the Challenge League, however, is that they’re bottlers, and that’s especially true at this stage of the season. I’ve seen this team succumb to defeat at home against Winterthur and Neuchatel Xamax lately, meaning that promotion is anything but guaranteed. Promotion is the name of the game, though – they want to be back amongst the top teams in the country; back where they belong. I can’t help but wonder if they’ll rest players here ahead of the match against FC Wil three days from now, you know. I know they’ve got a big enough squad to cope with fixture congestion but what they don’t have is enough experience and composure in situations like these so I think they have to consider forsaking the Schweizer Pokal in favour of their league commitments.
Even if they don’t though, this mini-Portuguese experiment has not worked as well as I thought it might. That might have something to do with the mentality of the players, but for me they’re just a bit too pedestrian – a little bit like FC Sion. A team that gets at them, and gets into their faces is one that irks them. That’s not too problematic in the Challenge League because they’re so good that they don’t even have to play well in order to win. Against a good Super League outfit, though? I can see it being a problem.
St. Gallen have faced Young Boys Bern in three out of their last five matches in all competitions, and have performed well in each of them. They’ve not been defending well enough overall, but their displays in general have been encouraging. For me, the main thing is that they’re finding the back of the net more regularly now, something which they’ve done really badly this season. Losing Itten was painful, and losing Demirovic at the same time was a complete kick in the balls. They acted accordingly, signing Kamberi up front – but that didn’t work out either.
Over time though, and the emergence of young Austrian forward Adamu, St. Gallen have improved. They now appear to use Duah as an auxiliary striker, which has worked out surprisingly well for them. Quintilla is scoring less goals because he’s now classified as a human being, so it was important that someone stepped up – and that someone was Duah. Whilst mentioning Quintilla, he should be back from suspension today, which is helpful as he’s a very classy player. Ultimately, St. Gallen are a lot more confident in the final third. I like how they’re moving the ball out of defence at the moment, and the fact that their midfielders are turning on the ball more often. They look more dangerous, to put it simply, and that’s all I need from them in order to back them to win matches.
Therefore, despite the potential for an upset, I think the away win is a good pick here.
Verdict: St. Gallen to win at 61/50.
Additional games
Adelaide United vs Macarthur FC
KO: (UK time)
Watching Macarthur FC against Brisbane Roar last time out was like rolling the clock back two months. One match without a flying Susaeta, and suddenly everything is incredibly passive. They were going sideways or backwards almost every single time, almost never got in behind defenders, and didn’t really ask any questions of Roar. The only reason they pulled a goal back at the end was because Roar – who had found the game very easy – made a mistake near the end, which Rose punished them for. Truth be told, if Roar had wanted it enough, they could have gone and scored a couple more because Macarthur FC were there for the taking.
Susaeta is supposed to be back today, but I am not convinced. As I’ve said before, Australian clubs often say that they’re back about a week or two before they actually are, and given how much injuries have blighted Susaeta’s career, it would surprise me if he returned in the city of churches today – well, unless he’s named as a substitute. Assuming that’s correct, Franjic’s continued absence at right-back is going to make this team really predictable once again. It’s sad, in a way, because the Sydney outfit had just figured out their style, and were playing some really good stuff. Now they look a couple of players short when trying to prise defences open.
I mean, prising open an Adelaide defence bereft of both Lopez and Jakobsen here should not be regarded as too challenging a task, generally speaking. However, even The Reds know how to sit back and simply mark players, which is all it takes to deal with Macarthur FC when they’re lacking that touch of flair, or spontaneity. I could be wrong, and the away team could suddenly roar back into life today – but I doubt it. A lot of the pieces fit rather well here but without that something special in the final third, they tend to need an error from their opponents in order to score – and Adelaide United don’t look all that charitable right now.
Well, other than suspended midfielder d’Arrigo, of course. His stupidity should have cost Adelaide the game against Western Sydney Wanderers, getting sent off for two silly challenges. However, Adelaide are in a very good head space right now, and played with a great deal of boldness and effectiveness, and arguably should have won. Furthermore, they chanced upon a very suspect Western Sydney Wanderers, who looked awfully lethargic and like they’d never seen one another before. I was really impressed at how Adelaide handled the ten men situation though. They caused their opponents far more problems than they were caused themselves during that period, which is very impressive, even if they only ended up drawing the game.
You know who stood out for me in that game? Young Cavallo, who was usually found in something of a left-back role. He was absolutely everywhere in that game, ensuring that Goodwin had the appropriate level of support, and that Adelaide had two wide threats on each side of the pitch. It helps keep opponents guessing as to what to expect, and such energy levels are infectious. They really have been applying themselves well lately, Adelaide, only outran by the Mariners, who are very fit this season.
I also think Adelaide deserve credit for doing what they’ve done without some seriously important players. I mean, Delianov was supposed to be their number one this season, and he was, generally doing very well. He got injured, Gauci came in, and he’s been superb too. Lopez and Timoftheou were brought in to add experience and composure to their defence but both have had injury problems, and the latter still isn’t great with his positioning. Mohamed Toure up front was look brilliant before his hamstring injury; he’s been out for a while now. Fellow striker Juric, brought in to be their main man, has spent a lot of time on the sidelines this season. Essentially, they’ve had to rely on a lot of kids to help Adelaide out, and yet they’re still gunning for the title. It’s really impressive stuff from Veart and his kids, honestly.
Even with a number of regulars out, I find myself trusting Adelaide a lot right now, mostly because of what they’ve done. I also think that their natural energy and speed against what has become a very passive Macarthur FC should really lead to a home win today, hence the pick.
Verdict: Adelaide United to win at 29/20.
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: Bv09 Borussia Dortmund – Moukoko, Raschl, Sancho, Schmelzer, Unbehaun, Witsel, and Zagadou are absent. Reus and Hummels are slight doubts. Manchester City – Aguero and Laporte are doubts. Liverpool – Gomez, Henderson, Kelleher, Matip, Origi, and van Dijk are absent. Jones is a doubt. Real Madrid – Ramos, Varane, Lucas Vazquez, and Hazard are absent. Carvajal and Valverde are doubts.
Australian A-League: Adelaide United – Delianov, d’Arrigo, Smith, Konstandopoulos, Mohamed Toure, Lopez, and Jakobsen are absent. Macarthur FC – Franjic is absent. Susaeta returns.
Czechia Liga 1: Viktoria Plzen – Hejda, Kayamba, and Kopic are absent. Bucha is a doubt. Zlin – No absentees. Baumit Jablonec – Haitl, Li. Holik, and Martinec are doubts. Sparta Prague – Kozak and Julis are absent. Karabec and Stetina are doubts.
German Bundesliga 2: VfL Osnabruck – Amenyido and Klaas are absent. Jahn Regensburg – Nachreiner is 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:
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs Manchester City (6) over 2.5 goals Liverpool vs Real Madrid (4) 1-1
Copa Libertadores: Gremio vs Independiente del Valle (7) 2-0 Atletico Nacional de Medellin vs Libertad Asuncion (6) 2-0
Copa Sudamericana: Fenix vs Torque (5) 1-0
Recopa Sudamericana: Palmeiras vs Defensa y Justicia (6) 1-0
Australian A-League: Adelaide United vs Macarthur FC (6) 2-1
Bulgarian Cup: Ludogorets Razgrad vs CSKA Sofia (5) 1-0, at least one red card in this game
Croatian Cup: Istra 1961 vs Rijeka (6) 1-2, at least one red card in this game
Czechia Liga 1: Viktoria Plzen vs Zlin (7) 2-1 Baumit Jablonec vs Sparta Prague (5) 1-1
Faroese Betrideildin: NSI Runavik vs B36 Torshavn (5) 2-1 HB Torshavn vs IF (7) over 2.5 goals EB/Streymur vs B68 Toftir (5) 2-2 TB vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur (5) 1-1 Vikingur Gota vs KI (5) 1-2
German Bundesliga 2: VfL Osnabruck vs Jahn Regensburg (5) 0-0
Swiss Schweizer Pokal: SC Kriens vs Servette (6) 0-1 Grasshopper Zurich vs St. Gallen (6) 1-2
