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KO: (UK time)
With local rivals Sparta Prague actually presenting some kind of title fight this season, it’s imperative that Slavia Prague keep winning. That shouldn’t be a tall order for them, especially not whilst hosting Hradec Kralove, who no longer have anything left to play for.
Verdict: Slavia Prague to win at 13/100.
KO: (UK time)
The quality gap should be too big here. Teplice may have special powers of survival when it comes to home matches, but they tend to be consistently poor away from home, and Plzen are one of the best teams in the country on their day. For me, it’s a home win.
Verdict: Viktoria Plzen to win at 11/50.
KO: (UK time)
Full preview below.
Verdict: Bayern Munich to win at 11/100.
KO: (UK time)
I may not be blown away by the current HB side but they should be good enough to beat lowly 07 Vestur Sorvagur, home or away. The geographical challenges of away games in the Faroe Islands are known to me but even so, anything other than a HB win would surprise me.
Verdict: HB Torshavn to win at 3/10.
KO: (UK time)
With SL Benfica slightly buckling under pressure of late, it’s imperative that FC Porto keep the heat turned up. That means winning this game. Boavista’s recent displays have been impressive though, and they’ll be tough to overcome. At a loaded Dragao though, I trust FC Porto to do enough, especially as Boavista are all but guaranteed safety from relegation now.
Verdict: FC Porto to win at 9/50.
KO: (UK time)
I’m expecting a dreadful match here, to be completely frank. Alright, FC Zurich tend to play better at home but they’ve been utterly atrocious in two of their last three matches, going down without so much as a whimper against both Servette and Luzern respectively. They look more measured on their own patch, at least – they control games better, defend more compactly, and so on. They really shouldn’t fail to beat FC Sion here. However, this is a pressure cooker match in the relegation battle, and that makes the 1×2 market unappealing to me.
FC Sion may be crap, but they have improved of late. I wouldn’t say that their displays have improved under Bettoni, and their style certainly hasn’t changed, but they have taken their chances surprisingly well for a team that has, more often than not, been denied the services of a striker in 2023. They’ve reverted to being an overly defensive team now because Bettoni, like all the managers before him, has realised that they just don’t have the work-rate nor variety to play in any other manner than to frustrate, and then counter.
Both of these two teams are decidedly cautious nowadays, and they’re both quite good at it, given the correct circumstances. Omeragic and Katic hold things together well at the back for the home team, their midfield is physical and combative, and their attack is now quite varied too with boss Henriksen no longer exclusively relying on a target man. This is a solid enough FC Zurich team, in other words, and one that should absolutely not be seriously considered as relegation fodder – but they’re still in that battle, and that means being ultra cautious because losing this game would be fatal for them.
The same can be said for FC Sion too, of course. They’d fancy their chances of picking up more points than FC Winterthur as the season progresses but they’ve diced with relegation for a few years now, and this might be the year that they finally go down if they’re not careful. Let’s face it – mentally, they’re a weak team. They don’t create enough. They’ve had to call up youngster Zagre to play up front because Balotelli is always out, and there is nobody else. This is not a great team. They’ve got some excellent individuals, and their tactics are semi-effective, but they have more weaknesses than they’d like to admit.
I won’t go near the 1×2 market, as I said above, especially given that this is the third game in a week for both teams so we may see some rotation. I don’t know if FC Zurich will react positively to their shambolic showing last time out or not, and I don’t know if FC Sion are capable of bouncing back from any defeat nowadays, although I have to admit that they did deserve at least a point from the game against FC Basel last weekend.
I do rather like the odds available on under 2.5 goals though. Should either team score, then I expect them to sit on it, and that’s what they both do rather well. Both will be eager to not make early mistakes, given the importance of the fixture, and both are decidedly cautious in the final third anyway. I’d also argue that both are far more effective in the final third when granted space, and neither defence on show here does that religiously.
Therefore, under 2.5 goals is my poison at 27/25.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 27/25.
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.
Austrian Bundesliga:
LASK – Anselm, Boller,Goiginger, Letard, and Wiesinger are absent.
Austria Klagenfurt – Straudi is absent.
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Racing Genk – Cuesta is absent.
Club Brugge – Buchanan, Mata, Bursik, Hendry, and Nielsen are absent.
Brazilian Serie A:
Flamengo – Filipe Luis and Matheuzinho are absent.
Botafogo – Kayque, Breno, Fernandez, Marcal, and de Paula are absent.
Internacional – Aranguiz and Gabriel are absent.
Goias – Diego Goncalves, Gabriel Novaes, and Luiz Filipe are absent.
Cuiaba – Uendel is absent.
Gremio – Pedro Geromel is absent.
Bulgarian A PFG:
Beroe – Gomes is absent.
Pirin Blagoevgrad – Preslav Yordanov is absent.
Cherno More Varna – No news.
CSKA 1948 Sofia – No news.
CSKA Sofia – No absentees.
Ludogorets Razgrad – Rousse and Verdon return.
Czechia Liga 1:
Ceske Budejovice – No absentees.
Pardubice – Mares, Solil, and Vicek are absent.
Slovacko – Kohut is absent.
Zbrojovka Brno – Endl, Pachlopnik, Rogozan, and Sural are absent.
Slovan Liberec – Gebre Selassie and Visinsky are absent.
Sparta Prague – Celustka, Cvancara, Jankto, Krejci, Mejdr, Minchev, Pesek, Sorensen, and Zeleny are absent.
Viktoria Plzen – Hejda and Pernica are absent. Bucha, Havel, and Kopic are doubts.
Teplice – Grigar, Knapik, Kucera, and Vondrasek are absent.
Sigma Olomouc – Matousek, Prichystal, Rusek, and Vodhanel are absent. Spacil is a doubt.
Banik Ostrava – Takacs and Tetour are absent. Boula is a doubt.
Mlada Boleslav – Karafiat is absent. Vanicek is a doubt.
Zlin – Chanturishvili, Hlousek, and Kozak are absent.
Slavia Prague – Jurasek, Lingr, and Sevcik are absent.
Hradec Kralove – Sevcik and Cihak are absent. Gabriel and Kubala are doubts.
Bohemians 1905 – Petrak and Shejbal are absent. Cermak is a doubt.
Baumit Jablonec – Huska, Kratochvil, Krob, Malinsky, and Povazanec are absent.
Danish Superligaen:
Viborg – Jatta, Agnarsson, Lauritsen, and Ndione are absent.
Randers – Lauenborg is absent. Hoegh is a doubt.
FC Copenhagen – Amoo, Babacar, Boilesen, Khocholava, and Zeca are absent.
Brondby – No absentees.
FC Nordsjaelland – No absentees.
AGF – Hvidt is absent. Duin, Lund, and Kristensen are doubts.
Aalborg BK – Poulsen is absent. Pedersen and Ross are doubts.
Lyngby – Finnbogason and Kumado are absent.
English Premier League:
Bournemouth – Tavernier, Stanislas, and Fredericks are absent. Traore is a doubt.
Leeds United – Adams, Dallas, and Sinisterra are absent. Wober is a doubt.
Fulham – Mitrovic and Kurzawa are absent. Willian and Wilson are doubts.
Manchester City – Ake and Mendy are absent.
Manchester United – Heaton, Greenwood, Garnacho, Jones, Martinez, Varane, and van de Beek are absent. Maguire and McTominay are doubts.
Aston Villa – Kamara and Steer are absent. Cash, Coutniho, and Bailey are doubts.
Newcastle United – Fraser, Krafth, and Saint-Maximin are absent.
Southampton – Larios and Salisu are absent. Livramento, Perraud, and Ward-Prowse are doubts.
Liverpool – Firmino, Bajcetic, and Ramsay are absent. Keita is a doubt.
Tottenham Hotspur – Bentancur, Bissouma, Emerson Royal, Lloris, and Sessegnon are absent.
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
IFK Mariehamn – Olawale, Raitanen, and Coubronne are absent. Abdulfattah Asiri may debutise.
KuPS – No news.
French Ligue 1:
AS Monaco – Sarr and Embolo are absent.
Montpellier HSC – Esteve, Makouana, and Sainte-Luce are absent.
Clermont Foot 38 – Andric is absent.
Stade de Reims – Duparchy, Holm, Maolida, and Penneteau are absent.
Stade Rennais – Truffert, Terrier, and Xeka are absent.
Angers SCO – Capelle, Chetti, Diony, Doumbia, El Melali, Eneme-Ella, Ghoulam, Kalla, Ould Khaled, Sabanovic, and Salama are absent.
Troyes – Ripart, Conte, and Tardieu are absent.
OGC Nice – Atal, Beka Beka, Diop, Pepe, and Viti are absent.
Paris Saint-Germain – Mukiele, Kimpembe, Sanches, and Neymar are absent. Pembele are doubts.
Lorient – Igor Silva, Laporte, Le Bris, and Makengo are absent.
Olympique de Marseille – Ounahi, Harit, and Ruiz are absent.
AJ Auxerre – Massengo, Dugimont, Boto, Owusu, Ruiz-Atil, and Toure are absent.
German Bundesliga:
Bayern Munich – Choupo-Moting, Davies, Hernandez, Schenk, Neuer, Hulsmann, Upamecano, and Wanner are absent. Goretzka and Coman return.
Hertha Berlin – Boateng, M. Dardai, Jarstein, Nsona, Kempf, S. Serdar, Sunjic, Ullrich, M. Richter, and Jovetic are absent. Cigerci is a doubt.
VfL Wolfsburg – Fischer, Klinger, L. Nmecha, Schulze, Otavio, Paredes, and van de Ven are absent.
Mainz 05 – Riess and Burkardt are absent.
German Bundesliga 2:
Holstein Kiel – T. Becker and M. Schulz are absent.
Darmstadt 98 – Holland, Ronstadt, and Vilhelmsson are absent.
Fortuna Dusseldorf – Hendrix, Hennings, Karbownik, Klaus, and Tanaka are absent.
Karlsruher SC – Breithaupt, Choi, Eisele, Jensen, and O’Shaughnessy are absent.
SV Sandhausen – Diekmeier and Framberger are absent.
Jahn Regensburg – Gouras, Idrizi, Nachreiner, Saller, and Schonfelder are absent.
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Hadera – Zamir, Sturm, and Gottlieb are absent. Levkovic and Lababidi return.
Hapoel Haifa – Elhamid, Glazer, and Mizrahi are absent.
Bnei Sakhnin – Ashkenazi, Shukrany, and Melamed are absent. Kayal and Ghantus return.
Hapoel Tel-Aviv – Kancepolski and Gonzales are absent. Ozbolt is a doubt.
Italian Serie A:
Internazionale – Skirinar is absent.
SS Lazio – No absentees.
Cremonese – Chiriches, Benassi, Tsadjout, and Sernicola are absent.
Hellas Verona – Henry, Hrustic, Faraoni, and Lasagna are absent.
Sassuolo – No absentees.
Empoli – De Winter is absent.
ACF Fiorentina – Sirigu is absent.
Sampdoria – Conti, Pussetto, Audero, and Nuytinck are absent.
Bologna – Arnautovic, Bagnolini, Sansone, and Soriano are absent.
Juventus – Jorge and Kean are absent.
Italian Serie B:
Cagliari – Azzi, Falco, Mancosu, and Capradossi are absent.
Ternana – Di Tacchio is absent. Sorensen and Capuano are doubts.
SPAL – Valzania and Meccariello are absent. Varnier is a doubt.
Perugia – Dell’Orco and Vulikic are absent.
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Haugesund – Eskesen and Krygard are absent. Pajaziti is a doubt.
Sarpsborg 08 – Andersen is absent.
Molde FK – Eikrem, Ellingsen, and Haugen are absent. Zekhnini, Sinyan, and Andersen are doubts.
Stabaek – No absentees.
Sandefjord – Nyenetue and Palerud are doubts.
Aalesund FK – Ammitzboll is absent.
Stromsgodset – No absentees.
Tromso – Oyvann is absent. Romsaas and Traore are doubts.
Viking Stavanger – Bjarnason, Kvia-Egeskog, Salvesen, and Urbancic are doubts.
Hamarkameratene – Opsahl is absent. Dunn-Johnson is a doubt.
Odd – Solholm and Ruud are absent. Hien is a doubt.
Rosenborg BK – Augustinsson, Saeter, and Skarsem are absent.
Portuguese Liga 1:
Estoril – Lucas Africo is absent.
Santa Clara – Domingos, Quintilla, and Rocha are absent.
FC Porto – Otavio is absent.
Boavista – No absentees.
Sporting Clube de Portugal – Braganca, Cabral, Paulinho, and St. Juste are absent.
Famalicao – Fonseca, Pele, and Puma are absent.
Spanish Primera Liga:
Cadiz – Chust, Cala, Fali, Garrido, Marti, Ocampo, and Zaldua are absent.
Valencia – Kluivert and Marcos Andre are absent. Correia, Castillejo, and F. Perez are doubts.
Villarreal – Morales, Coquelin, and Gerard Moreno are absent. Chukwueze, Albiol, and Kiko are doubts.
Celta de Vigo – Marchesin and Mingueza are absent.
RCD Espanyol – Exposito, Gori, and Montes are absent. Gragera and Olivan are doubts.
Getafe – Djene, Arambarri, and Iglesias are absent. Algobia and Milla are doubts.
Real Valladolid – Anuar is absent. El Yamiq and Amallah are doubts.
Atletico Madrid – Llorente, Mandava, and Savic are absent. Oblak is a doubt.
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Malmo FF – Siby, Moisander, Sejdiu, Diawara, and Tinnerholm are doubts.
Hammarby – Colander and Trawally are absent.
Varberg – Tshikupe, Mensah, Birkfeldt, and Liljenback are absent. Le Roux is a doubt.
Kalmar FF – Nilsson, Ylatupa, Jensen, and Bjerkebo are absent. Gojani, Karlsson, and Motaraghebjafarpour are doubts.
Degerfors – Pavlovic and Djurdjic are absent. Ohlsson is a doubt.
Djurgarden – Zetterstrom, Odhiambo, and Kack are absent.
Swiss Super League:
FC Zurich – Aliti, Simic, Tosin, and Santini are absent. Boranijasevic and Dzemaili are doubts.
FC Sion – Bua, Baltazar, Balotelli, Cavare, Itaitinga, Lindner, and Moubandje are absent.
FC Winterthur – Gantenbein, Pukaj, and Lekaj are absent.
FC Basel – Pelmard, Comas, and Frei are absent. Hitz is a doubt.
Young Boys Bern – Camara and von Ballmoos are absent. Ruegg returns.
Luzern – Burch, Max Meyer, Campo, Emini, Kadak, Toggenburger, Klidje are absent. Simani and Lemy Meyer are doubts.
Swiss Challenge League:
AC Bellinzona – Curic, Doldur, Izmirlioglu, Kiassumbua, Klein, and Padula are absent.
Aarau – Eberhard is absent.
Vaduz – Iodice, Rahimi, and Wieser are absent.
Yverdon Sport – Kabacalman and Sorensen are absent.
Turkish Super Lig:
Ankaragucu – Radakovic is a doubt.
Kasimpasa – Djilobodji, Gholizadeh, Ciftpinar, and Gemicibasi are absent.
Besiktas JK – Ghezzal, Sanuc, and Alli are absent.
Galatasaray – No absentees.
Kayserispor – Carole and Korkmaz are doubts. Bayazit and Karimi are doubts.
Gaziantep – No absentees.
Istanbul Basaksehir – Gurler, Karzev, and Okaka are absent.
Hatayspor – No absentees.
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.
Austrian Bundesliga:
LASK vs Austria Klagenfurt (6) over 2.5 goals
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Racing Genk vs Club Brugge (5) 2-1
Brazilian Serie A:
Flamengo vs Botafogo (6) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Internacional vs Goias (6) 1-0
Cuiaba vs Gremio (5) 1-1
Bulgarian A PFG:
Beroe vs Pirin Blagoevgrad (5) 0-0
Cherno More Varna vs CSKA 1948 Sofia (6) 1-1
CSKA Sofia vs Ludogorets Razgrad (5) 1-0, at least one red card in this game
Croatian Prva Liga:
Varazdin vs NK Osijek (5) 0-0
Hajduk Split vs Dinamo Zagreb (5) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Czechia Liga 1:
Ceske Budejovice vs Pardubice (5) 1-0
Slovacko vs Zbrojovka Brno (6) 2-1
Slovan Liberec vs Sparta Prague (5) 1-2
Viktoria Plzen vs Teplice (7) over 2.5 goals
Sigma Olomouc vs Banik Ostrava (5) 0-0
Mlada Boleslav vs Zlin (6) over 2.5 goals
Slavia Prague vs Hradec Kralove (7) 2-0
Bohemians 1905 vs Baumit Jablonec (6) 1-0
Danish Superligaen:
Viborg vs Randers (5) 1-1
FC Copenhagen vs Brondby (6) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
FC Nordsjaelland vs AGF (6) over 2.5 goals
Aalborg BK vs Lyngby (5) 2-1
English Premier League:
Bournemouth vs Leeds United (5) over 2.5 goals
Fulham vs Manchester City (6) 1-2
Manchester United vs Aston Villa (4) 1-1
Newcastle United vs Southampton (6) 2-1
Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur (6) over 2.5 goals
Faroese Betrideildin:
AB vs TB (5) 1-1
B36 Torshavn vs KI (6) over 2.5 goals
07 Vestur Sorvagur vs HB Torshavn (7) 0-1
Vikingur Gota vs EB/Streymur (6) over 2.5 goals
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
IFK Mariehamn vs KuPS (6) 0-0
French Ligue 1:
AS Monaco vs Montpellier HSC (6) 2-1
Clermont Foot 38 vs Stade de Reims (5) 0-1
Stade Rennais vs Angers SCO (6) 2-0
Troyes vs OGC Nice (5) 1-1
Paris Saint-Germain vs Lorient (4) 2-2
Olympique de Marseille vs AJ Auxerre (6) 1-0
German Bundesliga:
Bayern Munich vs Hertha Berlin (8) over 2.5 goals
VfL Wolfsburg vs Mainz 05 (5) 2-1
German Bundesliga 2:
Holstein Kiel vs Darmstadt 98 (5) over 2.5 goals
Fortuna Dusseldorf vs Karlsruher SC (6) 1-0
SV Sandhausen vs Jahn Regensburg (6) over 2.5 goals
Hungarian Liga 1:
Debreceni VSC vs Fehervar (5) 1-0
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Hapoel Hadera vs Hapoel Haifa (5) 1-1
Bnei Sakhnin vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv (6) 1-0
Italian Serie A:
Internazionale vs SS Lazio (5) 2-2
Cremonese vs Hellas Verona (5) 2-1
Sassuolo vs Empoli (6) 2-1
ACF Fiorentina vs Sampdoria (6) 1-0
Bologna vs Juventus (5) 1-2
Italian Serie B:
Cagliari vs Ternana (6) 2-0
SPAL vs Perugia (6) 1-0
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Banga Gargzdai vs Zalgiris Vilnius (6) 0-1
Dutch KNVB Beker:
AFC Ajax Amsterdam vs PSV Eindhoven (5) over 2.5 goals
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Haugesund vs Sarpsborg 08 (6) 1-0
Molde FK vs Stabaek (7) 2-0
Sandefjord vs Aalesund FK (5) 1-0
Stromsgodset vs Tromso (4) 2-2
Viking Stavanger vs Hamarkameratene (6) 2-0
Odd vs Rosenborg BK (5) 2-1
Portuguese Liga 1:
Estoril vs Santa Clara (5) 0-0
FC Porto vs Boavista (7) 2-0
Sporting Clube de Portugal vs Famalicao (7) over 2.5 goals
Spanish Primera Liga:
Cadiz vs Valencia (5) 1-0
Villarreal vs Celta de Vigo (6) 2-1
RCD Espanyol vs Getafe (6) 1-0
Real Valladolid vs Atletico Madrid (5) 1-2
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Malmo FF vs Hammarby (6) 2-1
Varberg vs Kalmar FF (5) 0-0
Degerfors vs Djurgarden (5) 0-1
Swiss Super League:
FC Zurich vs FC Sion (5) 1-0
FC Winterthur vs FC Basel (5) 1-2
Young Boys Bern vs Luzern (4) 2-2
Swiss Challenge League:
AC Bellinzona vs Aarau (6) over 2.5 goals
Vaduz vs Yverdon Sport (6) over 2.5 goals
Turkish Super Lig:
Ankaragucu vs Kasimpasa (6) 2-0
Besiktas JK vs Galatasaray (4) 1-2, at least one red card in this game
Kayserispor vs Gaziantep (5) 2-1
Istanbul Basaksehir vs Hatayspor (6) 1-0
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