TFT Issue 393!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
AIK Solna vs Djurgarden – both sides to score at 10/11.
Today’s featured game is the Stockholm derby between AIK Solna and Djurgarden. These two sides are polar opposites in many ways so we should be in for a fascinating game!
AIK are drab, dull, and uninteresting as a football side. However, they’re a very efficient side with their 1-0 wins and let’s be realistic here – they’ve got more points playing their boring football than a superior IFK Goteborg have by playing their attacking football so I won’t slate AIK excessively here.
AIK have a couple of players out for this game in defender Milosevic and goalkeeper Turina. Neither are irreplaceable but it does upset the solidarity in the AIK defence and I think that can be exploited here. More importantly, Milosevic’s absence dramatically reduces the chances of AIK scoring a volley from the half-way – I bet that’s a blow for them! Generally speaking, AIK need a bit of assistance to score goals as only Danielsson and Celso Borges provide any attacking threat on a regular basis. Mutumba and Lalawele can all cause problems but it’s a bit hit-and-miss with them. Defensive errors are welcomed by AIK because if they get that goal then they’re usually very hard to dislodge.
That said, this game is a derby and Djurgarden will be up for it. Well, to be honest, they’ve looked massively up for all of their games this season and that’s impressed me. Defensively, they’re still a bit calamitous, especially with the goalkeeping situation having not really improved despite samba goalkeeper Touray having left. Indeed, with Jensen and Vaiho both struggling in the number one jersey this season, you have to wonder if there’s some kind of curse on the Djurgarden number one position!
Still, it’s not Djurgarden’s defensive frailties that interest me – it’s their attacking ability. Previously, Djurgarden had failed to score as many as they should because of a lack of finesse in the final third. Happily, that’s no longer a problem with English hitman Keene breathing life into their attack in a big way. He’s scored from distance, makes good runs, and is a constant threat. Not only does this make him dangerous but it opens up space that the likes of Ricardo Santos can operate in. I mean, Djurgarden already possess a very good midfield with Hamalainen and Sjolund threatening most of the time and there’s a lot of pace in the team too, which makes them even more dangerous. I won’t lie to you, guys – even in the games that they’ve lost, Djurgarden have really impressed me this season. They might be a bit of a joke defensively but their heads don’t drop if they fall behind; they remain focused and usually do enough to salvage something from the game. Tactically speaking, I can’t say it’s a very smart way for them to approach a game because it’s not. However, having the right mentality is already having won half of the battle, especially in a derby, so I’ll give Djurgarden their due respect today.
As far as the 1×2 market goes, I wouldn’t touch this game whatsoever. AIK are better at controlling games but Djurgarden are better at scoring goals. Part of me says that AIK’s lack of firepower should mean that they’re never as short as 10/11 to win a game in the Allsvenskan but another part of me forces me to remember just how horrendous Djurgarden’s defending was when they shipped four goals at Mjallby Solvesborg.
However, I do like the propsect of taking both sides to score here, ironically. AIK tend to hold leads but I’m just not sure how their defence will handle the pace and movement of Djurgarden’s attack. I think we’re in for an interesting game here and taking both sides to score at 10/11 appeals to me a lot more than it probably should today!
Verdict: Both sides to score at 10/11.
Notes
I’ve had information (not sure how reliable!) that Siena will be fielding a B/C team against Napoli this weekend so it may be worth getting heavily involved on Napoli winning that game if you feel inclined!
Team news
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Kuressaare – No absentees.
Tammeka – No absentees.
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Bnei Sakhnin – Elkayam is absent. Financial problems at club.
MS Ashdod – Kola is unlikely to feature.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv – Igiebor is absent. Yadin, Kende, and Oremus are expected to be rested.
Maccabi Netanya – Mugrabi and Nahum are doubts. Saba returns.
Beitar Jerusalem – Cohen is absent.
Hapoel Haifa – Dankovic and Khatib return.
Ironi Ramat Hasharon – Nusbaum and Lypenia are absent. Lavi returns.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva – Illuz is absent.
Hapoel Acre – No absentees.
Maccabi Petah Tikva – Ganon, Uzan, Golan, and Ben-Haim are absent.
Hapoel Petah Tikva – Asus is absent.
Hapoel Rishon Lezion – Cohen is absent.
Romanian Liga:
Universitatea Cluj – Matache, Grecu, and S.Achim are absent.
CFR Cluj – No absentees.
Russian Premier League:
CSKA Moscow – Berzeutskiy, Ignashevich, Dzagoev, Honda, and Gonzalez are absent.
Kuban’ Krasnodar – Ionov, Traore, Kozlov, and Kulyk are absent.
Swedish Allsvenskan:
AIK Solna – Turina and Milosevic are absent. Danielsson is a doubt.
Djurgarden – No absentees.