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.
KO: (UK time)
I don’t see Twente repeating their mistakes of last time out in Rotterdam. They dominated Excelsior then without taking their chances. A repeat display at home against a leaky Cambuur defence should only produce one outcome, really – Twente don’t surrender leads very often at all.
Verdict: FC Twente Enschede to win at 1/4.
KO: (UK time)
Although I’m hardly blown away by Ajax at the moment, I think they’ll have enough to beat Fortuna, especially at home. The visitors don’t contain teams well enough, and they’re just not effective enough in the final third. I envision a tighter game than the odds suggest, but I also expect Ajax to do enough to win in the capital.
Verdict: AFC Ajax Amsterdam to win at 13/100.
KO: (UK time)
The title dream isn’t entirely dead for Besiktas JK yet but they must keep winning. They’re in a good place right now, they’re playing at home, and they’re hosting hapless Giresunspor. The quality gap in the Super Lig nowadays isn’t much to speak of, but Besiktas JK should be able to win this one, really.
Verdict: Besiktas JK to win at 2/5.
KO: (UK time)
The fact that Feyenoord are at the top of the Eredivisie speaks volumes for how much the standard has dropped this season. Still, they’re at the top, and they’ll fight to stay there. They always have a bit of an edge at de Kuip anyway, but with things going their way and the fact that they’re hosting an inferior RKC side – well, I can only see a home win. Don’t be surprised if it’s tight, though – Feyenoord aren’t that good in situations like these, and RKC certainly aren’t that bad.
Verdict: Feyenoord Rotterdam to win at 17/100.
KO: (UK time)
Victory are priced too short to win this game. I didn’t have any luck in the A-League yesterday but if things go as they should here, Glory will get at least something. I know I’m supposed to fear Victory following recent positive results but I don’t. I won’t knock a team for winning in New Zealand, for example, but they had to ride their luck in that game, just as they have in all of their games. They simply don’t dominate teams under Popovic.
I would also point out that this is Victory’s third game in a week. They may not be the most energetic of teams, but they’ll be feeling it. They’re fighting to get Geria fit, and have blagged his presence in the squad for two match days now because he’s not right; Nigro has had to fill in. Marchan can’t get in the team, which means they’re not controlling games as well. They’ve had to switch to a 4-4-2 to stop Fornaroli from getting too isolated in a system that doesn’t contain a single playmaker due to the injuries to Brimmer and Nani respectively.
It’s simply a very predictable and average Victory side, at least in terms of performances. I still like what they have to offer in terms of potential, but the reality isn’t impressive. I thought they were especially disappointing in the midweek derby. I mean, they knew they were losing 1-0 – the game started from minute 21 because of the abandoned game in December. However, they played as if it were 0-0, waiting for City to come at them and make mistakes. They only tried to change it toward the end, and by then it was 2-0. Again, they’re just too predictable, Victory.
Glory aren’t perfect, but they’ve improved a lot over the past month or two, at least in terms of displays. Losing Khelifi kicked them in the balls; they still don’t have a replacement for him, given Zadkovich’s reluctance to try proven Burke-Gilroy out. Still, I like how they function in the final third. Taggart is a brilliant striker, and the mobility and creativity of Amini, Jelacic, McEneff, and Ryan Williams makes his job a lot easier. McEneff is injured again now, but Bodnar is an able deputy.
It’s worth noting how well they do from left wing-back too. Clisby is an excellent player, but I’ve also become a big fan of Dowse from the bench – they always seem to score when he comes on because of his pinpoint crossing. If the rumour mill is correct about him signing for the Jets next season is correct, then Glory have made a mess of things. They’ve got good options to call upon though, the visitors – I like that.
Glory play like their manager did when he was a player; intelligent and industrious. They’ll still concede the odd goal but mentally they’re incredibly strong, and they give each team one hell of a game. They’re lethal in the final third, they cover more ground than most, and they play without fear. Victory may have the edge in terms of personnel, but Glory are more effective and trustworthy. I can see them getting a positive result in Melbourne here.
Verdict: Perth Glory to win with a +0.5 Asian Handicap at 23/25.
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:
Melbourne Victory – Bozinovski, Nani, and Brimmer are absent. Geria is a doubt.
Perth Glory – David Williams, Koutroumbis, Khelifi, Sardinero, Jones, and McEneff are absent.
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg – Fernando, Guindo, Omoregie, Sucic, and Tijani are absent.
Austria Vienna – El Sheiwi, Huskovic, Raguz, and Wustinger are absent. Galvao is a doubt.
Rapid Vienna – Hofmann and Kuhn are absent.
Austria Klagenfurt – No absentees.
LASK – Anselm, Boller, Goiginger, Letard, and Wiesinger are absent.
Sturm Graz – Jantscher, Wels, and Wuthrich are absent.
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
RSC Anderlecht – Sardella, Trebel, and Verschaeren are absent.
Westerlo – Daci, Bernat, and Mineiro are absent.
Antwerp – Engels, Gerkens, Haroun, Miyoshi, Valencia, and Verhulst are absent. Janssen is a doubt.
Cercle Brugge – David, Miangue, and Utkus are absent.
Standard de Liege – Dewaele, Hautekiet, and Ngoy are absent.
Racing Genk – Arokodare is absent.
Sint-Truiden – Leistner and Steppe are absent.
KV Oostende – Dwomoh, Katelaris, and Musayev are absent.
Bulgarian A PFG:
Hebar 1918 – No news.
Cherno More Varna – Sula returns.
Spartak Varna – Mario returns.
Beroe – No news.
Slavia Sofia – No news.
CSKA Sofia – Turitsov and Tufegzdic are absent. New owners – Iliev & Ganchev,
Czechia Liga 1:
Ceske Budejovice – Kralik is absent.
Teplice – Knapik and Yasser Nour are absent.
Mlada Boleslav – Ekpai, Skoda, Suchomel, and Tomic are absent.
Slavia Prague – Ogbu and Olayinka are absent. Boril, Hromada, and Provod are doubts.
Sigma Olomouc – Matousek, Fortelny, Benes, Prichystal, Rusek, Spacil, and Vrstail are absent.
Bohemians 1905 – Petrak and Shejbal are absent. Cermak and Puskac are doubts.
Pardubice – Huf, Mares, Nita, and Solil are absent. Cerny is a doubt.
Sparta Prague – Celustka, Jankto, Mejdr, Pesek, and Sadilek are absent. Minchev and Pavelka are doubts.
Danish Superligaen:
Viborg – Ndione is a doubt.
AGF – Hvidt is absent. Duin, Kristensen, and Lund are doubts.
English Premier League:
Leeds United – Adams, Dallas, Forshaw, and Wober are absent.
Crystal Palace – Zaha and Guaita are absent. Ferguson and Richards are doubts.
Liverpool – Ramsay, Keita, and Bajcetic are absent. Diaz is a doubt.
Arsenal – Nketiah, Elneny, and Tomiyasu are absent. Saliba is a doubt.
French Ligue 1:
Olympique Lyonnais – Gusto and Sarr are absent.
Stade Rennais – Assignon, Terrier, Truffert, and Xeka are absent.
AC Ajaccio – Belaili, Hamouma, Cimignani, and Youssouf are absent.
AJ Auxerre – Owusu, Pellenard, and Ruiz-Atil are absent.
Montpellier HSC – Bertaud, Esteve, Kouyate, Makouana, and Maouassa are absent.
Toulouse – Healey is absent.
Stade de Reims – Holm and Lopy are absent.
Stade Brestois – Herelle and Remy are absent.
Troyes – Tardieu and Ripart are absent.
Clermont Foot 38 – Andric, Massolin, and Zeffane are absent.
FC Nantes Atlantique – Merlin, Hadjam, and Traore are absent. Descamps is a doubt.
AS Monaco – Aguilar, Boadu, Embolo, and Sarr are absent. Diatta is a doubt.
Lorient – Innocent, Abergel, Kalulu, Laporte, and Mvogo are absent.
Olympique de Marseille – Ruiz, Harit, and Ounahi are absent. Sanchez is a doubt.
German Bundesliga:
Borussia Moenchengladbach – Borges Sanches, Doucoure, Italiano, Jantschke, and Kone are absent. Hofmann is a doubt. Weigl returns.
VfL Wolfsburg – Baku, Klinger, L. Nmecha, Schulze, and Wimmer are absent.
VfL Bochum – Gamboa, Grave, and M. Tolba are absent.
VfB Stuttgart – Aidonis, Kuol, Schock, and Ulrich are absent.
TSG Hoffenheim – Bruun Larsen, Che, Dabbur, Eduardo Quaresma, Noll, and Pentke are absent. Skov is a doubt.
Schalke 04 – Cisse, Heekeren, Ivan, Polter, Mi. Langer, Kolodziejczak, Sane, Schell, Topp, van den Berg, and Uronen are absent. Jenz, Karaman, and Ouwejan return.
German Bundesliga 2:
Arminia Bielefeld – No absentees.
Fortuna Dusseldorf – Fernandes Neto, Hendrix, and Hennings are absent.
Darmstadt 98 – Holland and Ronstadt are absent.
Paderborn 07 – Heuer, Pieringer, and Ma. Schuster are absent.
Hansa Rostock – Ananou, Korber, Breier, Litka, Verhoek are absent.
Holstein Kiel – Bartels, Dahne, Ignjovski, Pichler, and Schreiber are absent.
SV Sandhausen – Esswein, Framberger, D. Kinsombi, and Zenga are absent.
Greuther Furth – No absentees.
Jahn Regensburg – Owusu and Schonfelder are absent.
Magdeburg – Schuler, A. Muller, Piccini, Rieckmann, Kath, Halbouni, Castaignos, and Franzke are absent.
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Twente Enschede – Hilgers, Ugalde, Kjolo, Sadilek, and Stein are absent.
Cambuur Leeuwarden – van der Meer is absent.
FC Emmen – Kieftenbeld, Hardeveld, Guclu, and Mendes are absent.
NEC – Roefs, Verdonck, and DeWolf are absent.
AFC Ajax Amsterdam – Kaplan is absent.
Fortuna Sittard – No absentees.
Feyenoord Rotterdam – Timber and Bijlow are absent.
RKC Waalwijk – No absentees.
Portuguese Liga 1:
Casa Pia – Leo Natel is absent.
Sporting Clube de Portugal – Braganca, Cabral, Paulinho, and Bellerin are absent.
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Valladolid – Anuar, Machis, and Olaza are absent.
Real Mallorca – Augustinsson, Baba, Copete, Gonzalez, and Luna are absent. Nastasic is a doubt.
Real Betis Balompie – Canales, Fekir, and Sabaly are absent. Cruz and Ruiz are doubts.
Cadiz – Cala, Carcelen, Escalante, Garrido, Ledesma, Ocampo, and Zaldua are absent.
Almeria – Toure and Akieme are absent.
Valencia – Domenech is absent. Nico is a doubt.
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid – No absentees.
Atletico Madrid – Depay and Mandava are absent. Correa and Reguilon are doubts.
Swedish Allsvenskan:
BK Hacken Goteborg – Tebo, Trpchevski, Turgott, Youssef, and Sana are absent. Si. Gustafsson and Sonko are doubts.
Hammarby – Collander and Trawally are absent. Nalic and Mikkelsen are doubts.
Sirius – Mitov Nilsson and Karlsson-Lagemyr are absent. Omarsson and Kouakou are doubts.
Djurgarden – Kack and Odhiambo are absent.
Kalmar FF – Gojani and Karlsson are absent.
IFK Goteborg – Svensson is absent. Trondsen and Dahlberg are doubts.
Turkish Super Lig:
Sivasspor – Ciftci, Djerlek, and Angielski are absent.
Istanbul Basaksehir – Okaka and Ie are doubts. Aleksic, Figueiredo, Karzev, and Ozil are absent.
Besiktas JK – Souza, Rosier, Sanuc, N’Koudou, Alli, and Hutchinson are absent.
Giresunspor – Serginho is absent.
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:
Melbourne Victory vs Perth Glory (4) 1-2
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg vs Austria Vienna (7) over 2.5 goals
Rapid Vienna vs Austria Klagenfurt (6) 2-0
LASK vs Sturm Graz (5) 1-1
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
RSC Anderlecht vs Westerlo (6) 1-0
Antwerp vs Cercle Brugge (6) 2-1
Standard de Liege vs Racing Genk (5) 1-1
Sint-Truiden vs KV Oostende (4) 2-2
Bulgarian A PFG:
Hebar 1918 vs Cherno More Varna (6) 0-1
Spartak Varna vs Beroe (5) 1-1
Slavia Sofia vs CSKA Sofia (6) 1-2
Czechia Liga 1:
Ceske Budejovice vs Teplice (5) 1-0
Mlada Boleslav vs Slavia Prague (6) over 2.5 goals
Sigma Olomouc vs Bohemians 1905 (5) 1-1
Pardubice vs Sparta Prague (6) 0-2
Danish Superligaen:
Viborg vs AGF (5) 1-1
English Premier League:
Leeds United vs Crystal Palace (5) 2-1
Liverpool vs Arsenal (5) 1-2
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Nomme Kalju vs Flora Paide (4) 1-1
Tallinna Kalev vs FCI Levadia Tallinn (6) 0-2
French Ligue 1:
Olympique Lyonnais vs Stade Rennais (5) 2-1
AC Ajaccio vs AJ Auxerre (5) 1-0
Montpellier HSC vs Toulouse (6) 1-0, at least one red card in this game
Stade de Reims vs Stade Brestois (6) 2-0
Troyes vs Clermont Foot 38 (5) 0-0
FC Nantes Atlantique vs AS Monaco (6) 1-1
Lorient vs Olympique de Marseille (5) 2-2
German Bundesliga:
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs VfL Wolfsburg (5) 1-1
VfL Bochum vs VfB Stuttgart (5) 1-1
TSG Hoffenheim vs Schalke 04 (6) 2-1
German Bundesliga 2:
Arminia Bielefeld vs Fortuna Dusseldorf (4) 2-2
Darmstadt 98 vs Paderborn 07 (5) 2-1
Hansa Rostock vs Holstein Kiel (4) 1-2, at least one red card in this game
SV Sandhausen vs Greuther Furth (5) 2-2
Jahn Regensburg vs Magdeburg (5) 1-0
Hungarian Liga 1:
Vasas Budapest vs Budapest Honved (6) 1-0
Zalaegerszegi TE vs Varda SE (5) 1-2
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Hegelmann Litauen vs Riteriai (5) 2-1
Dziugas Telsiai vs Suduva Marijampole (6) 0-2
Banga Gargzdai vs Kauno Zalgiris (6) 1-2
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Twente Enschede vs Cambuur Leeuwarden (7) 2-0
FC Emmen vs NEC (6) 0-0
AFC Ajax Amsterdam vs Fortuna Sittard (7) over 2.5 goals
Feyenoord Rotterdam vs RKC Waalwijk (7) 1-0
Portuguese Liga 1:
Casa Pia vs Sporting Clube de Portugal (6) 1-2
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Valladolid vs Real Mallorca (4) 2-2
Real Betis Balompie vs Cadiz (6) 2-1
Almeria vs Valencia (5) 2-1
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid vs Atletico Madrid (5) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Swedish Allsvenskan:
BK Hacken Goteborg vs Hammarby (5) 2-2
Sirius vs Djurgarden (6) 0-1
Kalmar FF vs IFK Goteborg (5) 1-1
Turkish Super Lig:
Sivasspor vs Istanbul Basaksehir (6) 1-1
Besiktas JK vs Giresunspor (7) 2-0
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