TFT Issue 343!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Volyn Lutsk vs Shakhtar Donetsk – home win with +1.5 Asian Handicap at 11/10.
Today’s featured game is the Ukrainian Premier League game between battlers Volyn Lutsk and giants Shakhtar Donetsk.
On paper, Shakhtar would win this game on every day of the year. You really don’t need me to tell you that! However, as we all know, that is not always the solely relevant point for games such as this and subsequently I think Shakthtar may struggle here more than most realise.
Volyn’s home record this season is far from flattering but don’t let that fool you; they’re real battlers. Additionally, the pitch in Lutsk is just horrible. Any side that scores goals in this game against the hosts has to play very well or find the hosts in a very generous mood. The Ukrainian winter hasn’t aided the pitch, either! The bad point regarding Volyn is that they’re not a particularly good side, unfortunately. They rely excessively on Brazilian hotshot Maicon, hence them drafting in the likes of Romanchuk and Kravchenko on loan. A few of them were signed on loan from Dnipro in a hope to boost the quality of the hosts but it’s a bit of a long shot – we’ll just have to see how they fare. However, Romanchuk was a good signing for them – it lends their defence an experience and quality that they didn’t previously have. Additionally, he now joins Gerasymuk in the Volyn ranks and as two former Dynamo Kiev academy boys, this game should mean quite a lot to them here. Dynamo Kiev tend to breed loyal players and thus I think the additional motivation and quality in the Volyn squad should help them do well in this difficult game, not to mention the fact that every side is more motivated against the bigger opponents.
I was unfortunate enough to watch this fixture last season and it took a very late goal for Shakhtar to win the game 0-1. It wasn’t that they played particularly badly but Volyn are one of those sides that you have to work hard against and if there’s one thing that Shakhtar are guilty of, it’s sometimes not putting in the work ethic required to break down sides like Volyn. A combination of that and a bad pitch made that game very hard for Shakhtar and the 0-1 was probably just about deserved but it would have been a draw on another day.
Times have changed since then, of course. Shakhtar are still imperious in the Ukrainian Premier League with their magnificent players but rumour has it that even Rinat Akhmetov has discovered a bottom to his pockets following the continued economic crisis, hence Shakhtar having an unproductive transfer window, hence the resigned return of Brazilian misfit Ilsinho.
Shakhtar play the best football in the league but they need a good pitch to play on and you will rarely find that in places like Lutsk or Odessa, for example. They’re not great at adapting their game, Shakhtar, because they don’t tend to have a “Plan B” – they’re very much like Arsenal in the English Premier League in that respect.
If Shakhtar were as good defensively as Dynamo Kiev then I’d be less inclined to take this bet because it’s a difficult thing to do, to score against Dynamo. To score against Shakhtar, though – that’s not as hard as it could or should be. The continued absence of defensive wall Chygrynskyi through injury is a thorn in the Shakhtar defence and the absence of a recognisable holding midfielder is a big problem. How did a side that once boasted Tymoschuk and Lewandowski now find themselves so lightweight in front of their back four? Either way, it can cost them and with Maicon having a good season for the hosts, I wouldn’t be surprised if Volyn scored here.
I do expect Shakhtar to win this game as I expect them to win most Premier League games. However, I think the odds are masking what I would describe as a potential banana skin for the visitors. For me, there’s value in giving Volyn a +1.5 head start at 11/10.
Verdict: Volyn Lutsk to win with a +1.5 handicap at 11/10.
Team news
Cypriot Division 1:
APOEL Nicosia – No absentees.
Omonia Nicosia – Aguiar and Fredy Do Santos are absent.
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Marila Pribram – Tarczal, Hejda, and Divisek are absent.
Dukla Prague – Siml is absent.
Finnish Liiga Cup:
TPS Turku – Okaru is a doubt. Game played outoors.
MyPa Anjalankoski – No absentees.
Dutch Eredivisie:
Excelsior Rotterdam – Schenkeveld, Nuytinck, van Steensel, de Vries, Eekman, and Vincken are absent.
Groningen – Enevoldsen, Kieftenbeld, van de Laak, Kwakman, Ivens, and Johansson are absent.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Jagiellonia Bialystok – Tyminski is absent.
Widzew Lodz – Bieniuk, Ben Radhia, Kaczmarek, and Pinheiro are absent.
Cracovia Krakow – Gasinski has been sent to their youth team for not following the club’s medical advice regarding an injury. Radomski and Suvorov return.
Gornik Zabrze – Jonczyk is absent. Przybylski, L.Skoruski, and Kwiek return. Nakoluma is a doubt.
Polish Liga 1:
Piast Gliwice – Cuerda, Kedziora, Buryan, and Zganiacz are absent.
Warta Poznan – Sobieraj and Jasinski are absent.
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Olhanense – Wilson Eduardo, Caue, Andre Pinto, Nuno Piloto, Mexer, and Andre Micael are absent. Mateus and Luis Filipe return.
SL Benfica – Djalo, Garay, and Bruno Cesar are absent. Emerson and Rodrigo return.