TFT Issue 3423!

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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

Newcastle Jets vs Sydney FC

KO: (UK time)

I wondered if Sydney might come unstuck in the derby – and they did. They weren’t bad enough to deserve to lose, but they’ve simply not learnt from their mistakes all season long, which is not creating enough chances, and being far too arrogant. They’re still a very good team though, even with midfield controller Brattan out, and I think folks are underestimating just how bad the Jets are right now. The home team can barely string passes together, let alone create a chance, or control a match. Therefore, despite my relative disdain for the visitors, I really don’t see them screwing this slam dunk of a fixture up.

Verdict: Sydney FC to win with draw no bet at 13/50.

Banker

Viktoria Plzen vs Marila Pribram 

KO: (UK time)

Even at the ever-unpredictable business end of the season, anything but a home win for a vastly superior Plzen against a consistently poor Pribram would be a big surprise today. 

Verdict: Viktoria Plzen to win at 4/25.

Banker

NSI Runavik vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur

KO: (UK time)

The quality gap should be way too big here, folks. The visitors have done some good things in the transfer market since being promoted, but still aren’t near the level of NSI Runavik. The home team have plenty of match-winners, and have shaken off most of their rust. It’s got to be a home win.

Verdict: NSI Runavik to win at 1/10.

Banker

Hatayspor vs Denizlispor 

KO: (UK time)

You only have to look at Fatih Karagumruk to see how badly a lack of motivation can affect Super Lig teams. The same is going to happen to doomed Denizlispor too. It’ll be interesting to see how Hatayspor handle being such heavy favourites, but the attacking quality they’ve shown this season should really ensure that there’s a home win here.

Verdict: Hatayspor to win at 2/5.

Featured game

Greuther Furth vs Karlsruher SC

KO: (UK time)

As we enter the twilight of the season, it becomes harder and harder to find good value picks that can be trusted. You’ve all seen plenty of weird results lately, I’m sure – I know I have. Therefore, it makes sense to scrutinise each pick I give even more than usual, which is why there’s just the one value pick today.

Today’s game is in the German Bundesliga 2 encounter between Greuther Furth and Karlsruher SC. The home team’s still pushing for promotion whereas the season is already over for Karlsruher SC, which anyone who has watched them over the past few weeks will tell you. In theory, it should be a straightforward enough encounter for Greuther Furth, who appear to have now overcome their fatigue of three or four weeks ago.

Of course, there aren’t any easy games. Greuther Furth’s best defender Mavraj is injured again, and they have found it easier to concede whilst he’s been out. Most teams at this stage of the season have something to play for, though – that makes games naturally harder anyway. That’s not the case today, though, which is why I think the home team will have an easier time than usual.

A win for Holstein Kiel last night – who are now a solitary point behind Greuther Furth with a game in hand – makes winning this match all the more important for the hosts. Luckily, they’ve got experienced, Bundesliga level forwards, and some seriously talented creators on their books. I always find Greuther Furth to be a step ahead of most Bundesliga 2 teams when it comes to tactics, and now with a number of match-winners on their books, I find it easier to trust them. This is a good team that is playing well, and one that has everything in their favour here. 

Even with star striker Hofmann back amongst the goals for Karlsruher SC, they’re still not performing well enough. It’s partially a lack of motivation, and partially because they’re knackered, having played nine of the same eleven for most of the season. Normally they’re a real tough cookie because they operate splendidly as a collective, good at both ends of the pitch. This fatigue has made them ineffectual though, especially in the final third. Only Fortuna have been charitable enough to let them in lately, and I doubt Greuther Furth will be as generous today.

Karlsruher SC have consistently caused Greuther Furth problems in recent campaigns so I’m glad they’ve got nothing left to play for. I still don’t expect them to roll over and die today, but I do think that they’ll be beaten by a more motivated and more flexible team. Additionally, their hosts have had a full week off to prepare for this match whereas Karlsruher SC are playing in their third match in nine days. The handicap may be a shade bold, admittedly, but that’s why the insurance is there.

Ultimately, I believe there’s value to be found in backing Greuther Furth to beat the -1 Asian Handicap, hence the tip.

Verdict: Greuther Furth to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 49/50.

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.

Australian A-League:

Newcastle Jets – Abimanyu, Kantarovski, and Yengi are absent. Najjarine, O’Toole, O’Donovan return. O’Doherty may debutise.
Sydney FC – Zullo, Zuvela, Heward-Belle, Le Fondre, Brattan, and Nieuwenhof are absent.
Western Sydney Wanderers Janjetovic is absent. McGowan and Muller return.
Western United – Risdon and Markovic are absent. Sanchez and Pasquali return.

Austrian Bundesliga:

Hartberg – Lema is absent.
SV Ried – No absentees.
SCR Altach Schreiner is absent. Obasi is a doubt.
Austria Vienna – Schosswendter is a doubt.
Admira Wacker Babuscu, Kadlec, Rath, and Tomic are absent.
St. Polten – Asadi and Tursch are absent. 

Belgian Eerste Klasse:

Standard de Liege – Bokadi, M. Carcela-Gonzalez, Cimirot, Henkinet, Siquet, and Vanheusden are absent. Oulare is a doubt.
AA Gent – Fortuna is absent. Chakvetadze and Niangbo are doubts.

Belgian Eerste Klasse Promotion/Relegation Play-Off:

Waasland-Beveren – Leuko and Verstraete are absent. Bastians, de Mey, Pejcic, van de Wiel, and Weigel are doubts.
RFC Seraing – Cisse, Gueye, and Pierrot are absent.

Croatian Prva Liga:

Varazdin – Celic is absent. Boban, Tkalcic, Novoselec, and Memija are doubts.
Hajduk Split – Nejamsic, Jradi, Dimitrov, Mujakic, and Caktas are absent. Umut is a doubt.

Czechia Liga 1:

Zlin – Vrastil is absent.
Opava – Brezina, Cvancara, Holik, Pikul, Tiehi, and Zidek are absent.
Viktoria Plzen – Bucha, Mihalik, and Mika are absent.
Marila Pribram – Kvida and Rzek are absent. Cmiljanovic, Lalkovic, and Lanka are doubts.
Zbrojovka Brno – Cermak, Krystufek, Rusek, Sural, and Vanek are absent.
Mlada Boleslav – Divis, Graiciar, Jirasek, Masek, Pech, and Matejovsky are absent. Takacs is a doubt.
Bohemians 1905 – Bartek, Hulka, Pokorny, Ugwu, Vacek, and Vales are absent. Schumacher, Vanicek, Kostl, and Jindrisek are doubts.
Slovan Liberec – Sadilek is absent.

English Premier League:

Leeds United – Costa and Forshaw are absent. Raphinha and Phillips are doubts.
Tottenham Hotspur – Davies is absent.
Sheffield United – McBurnie, Sharp, and O’Connell are absent. Ampadu is a doubt.
Crystal Palace – Ferguson, McArthur, Sakho, and Wickham are absent. Tomkins and Zaha are doubts.
Manchester City – Stones is absent.
Chelsea – Kovacic is absent.
Liverpool – Gomez, Henderson, Kelleher, Origi, Matip, and van Dijk are absent.
Southampton – Bertrand, Minamino, and Smallbone are absent. Obafemi, Ings, and Romeu are doubts. 

French Ligue 1:

FC Nantes Atlantique – Castellatto and Traore are absent.
Girondins de Bordeaux – Bakwa, Koscielny, and Otavio are absent.
Olympique Lyonnais – Bard, Caqueret, de Sciglio, Marcelo, and Slimani are absent.
Lorient – Ilori, Fontaine, Delaplace, Boisgard, Laporte, and Saunier are absent.

German Bundesliga:

Bv09 Borussia Dortmund – Bellingham, Morey, Moukoko, Raschl, Schmelzer, Unbehaun, Witsel, and Zagadou are absent. Reyna and Haaland are doubts.
RB Leipzig – Hartmann, Novoa, Samardzic, and Szoboszlai are absent. Adams and Nkunku are doubts.
TSG Hoffenheim – Beier, Bicakcic, Brenet, Dabbur, Geiger, B. Hubner, Klein, Nordtveit, Philipp, Richards, and Stafylidis are absent.
Schalke 04 – Aydin, Bentaleb, Boujellab, Mi. Langer, Ludewig, Mascarell, Mendyl, Nastasic, Sane, Skrzybski, Stambouli, Thiaw, and William are absent.
VfL Wolfsburg – Bialek, Kasten, Klinger, Lang, and Steffen are absent. Otavio is a doubt.
Union Berlin – Awoniyi, Becker, Dajaku, Kemlein, Teuchert, and Ujah are absent. Kruse is a doubt. Promel returns.
Werder Bremen Gruev, Plogmann, Toprak, and Woltemade are absent. Friedl, Mbom, and Osako are doubts.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen – Alario, Arias, Baumgartlinger, L. Bender, Gedikli, and Fosu-Mensah are absent. S. Bender returns.
Bayern Munich – Arp, Choupo-Moting, Costa, and Tolisso are absent.
Borussia Moenchengladbach – Doucoure, Kurt, Olschowsky, Musel, Quizera, and Scally are absent. Stindl is a doubt.

German Bundesliga 2:

Fortuna Dusseldorf – Gorka, Gul, Hoffmann, Mitryushkin, Peterson, Piedl, Sobottka, and Touglo are absent.
Eintracht Braunschweig – Behrendt, Kijewski, and Schwenk are absent.
Greuther Furth – Kehr and Mavraj are absent.
Karlsruher SC – Carlson, Choi, and Hanek are absent.
Würzburger Kickers – Ewerton, Hansen, and Hemmerich are absent.
VfL Osnabruck – Bapoh, Grot, Br. Henning, and N. Schmidt are absent.

Israeli Ligat Ha’al:

Ironi Kiryat Shmona – Brownies absent. Morgan is a doubt. Touray returns.
Maccabi Petah Tikva – Lupeta and Ronen are absent.
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv – Niron, Zrihen, Levi, and Zanti are absent.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv Leidner, Azaria, and Gottlieb are absent. Altman returns. Rotation likely.
Beitar Jerusalem – Atar, Ohana, Vered, Vlijter, Adi, and Verdasca are absent.
Bnei Sakhnin – Kandil, Kayal, Fallach, and Velasquez are absent. Spendlhofer is a doubt.
Hapoel Haifa – Zamir and Maman are absent.
Hapoel Kfar Saba – No news.

Italian Serie A:

Udinese – Jajalo, Nestorovski, Braaf, Deulofeu, and Pussetto are absent. Llorente is a doubt.
Bologna – Dominguez, Medel, Santander, and Hickey are absent.
Spezia – Nzola is absent. Sena is a doubt.
SSC Napoli – Koulibaly, Lobotka, Ghoulam, and Maksimovic are absent.
Internazionale – Vidal and Kolarov are doubts.
Sampdoria – No absentees.
ACF Fiorentina – Igor and Valero are absent.
SS Lazio – Fares and Escalanate are absent. Caicedo is a doubt.

Dutch Eredivisie:

FC Twente Enschede Pierie and Cerny are absent.
Heracles Almelo – Breukers and Biljeveld are absent.
SC Heerenveen – J. Veerman, Bochniewicz, and Kongolo are absent.
FC Utrecht – Mahi is absent.
AZ Alkmaar – de Wit, Hatzdiakos, and Koopmeiners are absent.
Fortuna Sittard – Tirpan is absent.
VVV Venlo – Janssen, Shabani, Dekker, and Machach are absent.
RKC Waalwijk – Wouters and El Haddouti are absent.

Russian Premier League:

FK Ufa – Dzantiev and Krotov are absent.
Zenit St. Petersburg – Lovren, Kuzyayev, Rakitskiy, and Wendel are absent.
Lokomotiv Moscow – Krychowiak and Lysov are absent.
Dinamo Moscow – No absentees.
Arsenal Tula – No absentees.
Rubin Kazan – Kvaratskhelia, Saito, and Samoshnikov are absent.
CSKA Moscow Fernandes, Magnusson, Zaynutdinov, and Nababkin are absent.
FK Krasnodar – Cabella and Ramirez are asbent.

Spanish Primera Liga:

Deportivo Alaves – Burgui, Cordoba, Ely, and Lopez are absent.
Levante – Radoja and Vukcevic are absent.
Barcelona Braithwaite is absent. Fati and Coutinho are doubts.
Atletico Madrid – Lodi is absent.
Cadiz – Alex, Cala, Quezada, and Sanchez are absent.
Huesca – Insua, Ontiveros, Pulido, Seoane, and Valera are absent.
Athletic Club – Yuri, Capa, D. Garcia, R. Garcia, Lekue, Martinez, Muniain, Nolaskoian, and Zarraga are absent.
CA Osasuna – Calleri, Oier, and Ruben are absent. 

Swedish Allsvenskan:

Hammarby – Paulinho and Widgren are absent.
Sirius – No absentees.
IFK Goteborg – Karlsson-Lagemyr, J. Johansson, and C. Johansson are absent.
BK Hacken Goteborg – Irandust, Tuominen, and Abrahamsson are absent.
Elfsborg Boras – Okumu, R. Alm, and Bernhardsson are absent.
Kalmar FF – No absentees.
Orebro Karjalainen is absent.
Halmstad – Ofosu-Ayeh is absent.

Swiss Super League:

Lugano – Bottani, Guidotti, Kecskes, and Maric are absent. Abubakar is a doubt.
Vaduz – Wieser is absent. Sutter is a doubt. Coulibaly has left.
Young Boys Bern – Garcia, Elia, Lustenberger, Maier, and Petignat are absent. Sierro is a doubt.
FC Basel – Jorge, Frei, Padula, and Xhaka are absent. Klose and Abrashi are doubts. 

Swiss Challenge League:

FC Schaffhausen – Maouche, Paulinho, and Sarr are absent. Krasniqi is a doubt.
Aarau – Schindelholz, Jackle, Almeida, Thaler, Peralta, and Qollaku are absent.

Turkish Super Lig:

Ankaragucu – Borven is absent. Badjie and Akdag are doubts.
Fenerbahce – Ciftpinar, Perrotti, Bayindir, Sangare, and Aziz are absent.
BB Erzurumspor – Ackah, El Kabir, Darri, Aatif, da Costa, Gomes, and Novikovas are absent.
Kasimpasa – Jeanvier, Erdogan, Hodzic, Kara, and Koita are absent. Tosic is a doubt.
Galatasaray – Omar and Etebo are absent. Onyekuru, Yedlin, and Linnes are doubts.
Besiktas JK – Douglas, Ozyakup, Hasic, Tosun, and Aboubakar are absent. Tore and Nkoudou are doubts.
Goztepe – Mihojevic and Megreyi are absent. Zulj, Burekovic, and N’Diaye are doubts.
Konyaspor – Hadziahmetovic, Uludag, Bircan, Anicic, and Milosevic are absent. Eduok is a doubt.
Hatayspor – Boyar, Ilgaz, and Ornek are absent. Kone is a doubt.
Denizlispor – Fabiano, Bakalorz, Yasin, and Aktas are absent. Altintas, Gonen, Yilmaz, and Ozdemir are doubts.
Faith Karagumruk – Kurucuk, Erdem, and Kablan are absent. Sobiech, Durmaz, Hedenstad, and Arveladze are doubts.
Genclerbirligi – Lima and Candeias are absent. Toure and Ayite are doubts.
Kayserispor – Uzun, Fernandes, Campanharo, Kanga, Sapunaru, and Lopes are absent. Alibec, Lung, and Maglica are doubts.
Gazisehir Gaziantep – Kana-Biyik, Vetrih, and Akbaba are absent. Felipe and Basakicoglu are doubts.
Rizespor – Fernando, Gorgen, Pehlivan, Boldrin, Baiano, and Donsah are absent. Remy, Sabo, and Durak are doubts.
Yeni Malatyaspor – Chebake is a doubt.
Sivasspor – Rybalka, Appindangoye, and Yatabare are absent.
Istanbul BB – Caicara and Giuliano are absent. Kaldirim, Sertel, Ponck, Epureanu, Gulbrandsen, and Rafael are doubts.
Trabzonspor – Ozdemir, Parmak, Trondsen, Malli, and Hugo are absent. Ie is a doubt.
Antalyaspor – Sinik and Drole are absent. Ozturk, Gurler, and Albayrak are doubts.

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.

Australian A-League:

Newcastle Jets vs Sydney FC (7) 0-1
Western Sydney Wanderers vs Western United (5) 2-2

Austrian Bundesliga:

Hartberg vs SV Ried (5) 2-1
SCR Altach vs Austria Vienna (6) 1-2
Admira Wacker vs St. Polten (5) 1-1

Belgian Eerste Klasse:

Standard de Liege vs AA Gent (4) 1-2

Belgian Eerste Klasse Promotion/Relegation Play-Off:

Waasland-Beveren vs RFC Seraing (5) over 2.5 goals

Croatian Prva Liga:

Varazdin vs Hajduk Split (7) 1-2

Czechia Liga 1:

Zlin vs Opava (6) 2-1
Viktoria Plzen vs Marila Pribram (8) over 2.5 goals
Zbrojovka Brno vs Mlada Boleslav (5) 1-2
Bohemians 1905 vs Slovan Liberec (6) 1-1

English Premier League:

Leeds United vs Tottenham Hotspur (5) 1-2
Sheffield United vs Crystal Palace (6) 0-1
Manchester City vs Chelsea (6) 2-1
Liverpool vs Southampton (6) 2-1

Estonian Meistriliiga:

Vaprus Parnu vs Tulevik (5) 1-1
Flora Tallinn vs Legion (7) 2-1
Tammeka vs Kuressaare (6) 2-1
Trans Narva vs Nomme Kalju (6) 0-1

Faroese Betrideildin:

NSI Runavik vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur (7) over 2.5 goals

Finnish Suomen Cup:

HJK vs KuPS (5) 1-1

French Ligue 1:

FC Nantes Atlantique vs Girondins de Bordeaux (5) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Olympique Lyonnais vs Lorient (7) over 2.5 goals

German Bundesliga:

Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig (6) 2-1
TSG Hoffenheim vs Schalke 04 (4) 2-2
VfL Wolfsburg vs Union Berlin (5) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Werder Bremen vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen (5) 1-1
Bayern Munich vs Borussia Moenchengladbach (6) over 2.5 goals

German Bundesliga 2:

Fortuna Dusseldorf vs Eintracht Braunschweig (6) 1-0
Greuther Furth vs Karlsruher SC (6) 2-0
Würzburger Kickers vs VfL Osnabruck (6) over 2.5 goals

Hungarian Liga 1:

Budapest Honved vs Ferencvaros (6) 1-2
Ujpest vs Zalaegerszegi TE (5) 1-1

Icelandic Pepsideild:

IA vs Vikingur Reykjavik (6) 1-2
Leiknir Reykjavik vs Breidablik Kopavogur (7) 0-2
HK vs Fylkir Reykjavik (5) 1-1

Israeli Ligat Ha’al:

Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Maccabi Petah Tikva (5) 1-1
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5) 0-0
Beitar Jerusalem vs Bnei Sakhnin (5) 1-2, at least one red card in this game
Hapoel Haifa vs Hapoel Kfar Saba (4) 1-2

Italian Serie A:

Udinese vs Bologna (6) 1-1
Spezia vs SSC Napoli (5) 2-2
Internazionale vs Sampdoria (6) 2-1
ACF Fiorentina vs SS Lazio (6) over 2.5 goals

Lithuanian A Lyga:

Hegelmann Litauen vs Zalgiris Vilnius (6) 0-1
Dziugas Tesliai vs Dainava (5) 2-1

Dutch Eredivisie:

FC Twente Enschede vs Heracles Almelo (5) 2-2, at least one red card in this game
SC Heerenveen vs FC Utrecht (5) 1-2
AZ Alkmaar vs Fortuna Sittard (7) 2-1
VVV Venlo vs RKC Waalwijk (5) 0-1

Portuguese Liga 2:

Feirense vs UD Oliveirense (6) over 2.5 goals
SL Benfica II vs Sporting Covilha (5) 2-1
Mafra vs Academica de Coimbra (5) 0-1
Estoril vs Chaves (5) 1-1

Romanian Liga 1:

Gaz Metan Medias vs Astra Giurgiu (5) 1-2
Dinamo Bucharest vs Hermannstadt (5) 1-0

Russian Premier League:

FK Ufa vs Zenit St. Petersburg (5) 1-1
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Dinamo Moscow (6) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Arsenal Tula vs Rubin Kazan (5) 1-0
CSKA Moscow vs FK Krasnodar (4) 1-2

Spanish Primera Liga:

Deportivo Alaves vs Levante (5) 2-1
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid (5) 0-1
Cadiz vs Huesca (5) 2-1
Athletic Club vs CA Osasuna (4) 0-1, at least one red card in this game

Swedish Allsvenskan:

Hammarby vs Sirius (7) over 2.5 goals
IFK Goteborg vs BK Hacken Goteborg (5) 2-2, at least one red card in this game
Elfsborg Boras vs Kalmar FF (6) 2-1
Orebro vs Halmstad (5) 0-1

Swiss Super League:

Lugano vs Vaduz (5) 1-2
Young Boys Bern vs FC Basel (5) over 2.5 goals, at least one red card in this game

Swiss Challenge League:

FC Schaffhausen vs Aarau (5) 1-1

Turkish Super Lig:

Ankaragucu vs Fenerbahce (6) over 2.5 goals
BB Erzurumspor vs Kasimpasa (5) 2-1
Galatasaray vs Besiktas JK (5) 0-0, at least one red card in this game
Goztepe vs Konyaspor (5) 1-0
Hatayspor vs Denizlispor (7) 2-0
Faith Karagumruk vs Genclerbirligi (5) 1-2
Kayserispor vs Gazisehir Gaziantep (6) 2-1
Rizespor vs Yeni Malatyaspor (5) 2-2
Sivasspor vs Istanbul BB (5) 2-1
Trabzonspor vs Antalyaspor (5) 1-1

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