TFT Issue 414!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Estonia U21 vs Spain U21 – away win with -2 Asian Handicap at 9/10.
Today’s featured game is the UEFA European U21 Championship Qualifier between Estonia and Spain.
In the past couple of years, Estonia U21 were a good outfit, capable of upsetting the odds, which is partially why their senior team is now good at the same thing. However, the latest crop of Estonian U21 players are not good at all. They’re yet to score in the qualifiers with three defeats from four games, shipping eleven goals along the way. They were drubbed 6-0 in Spain in the reversal of this fixture and a similar scoreline wouldn’t surprise me today as I don’t see anyone good enough in their ranks to change that.
Spain are still one of the best sides in the U21 world. There’s a vast array of talent in every position that simply can’t break into the senior team due to the superb level of talent in their team too, hence De Gea, Thiago Alcantara, Bartra, and Muniain still being in their U21 squad for this game. Rodrigo has been immense at this level this season and there’s simply too many other good players to begin mentioning here as I’d be here all night.
I fully expect Spain to dominate this game with no problem whatsoever and to score goals at will, possibly even breaking bigger handicaps than the -2 Asian Handicap that I’ve tipped today.
Verdict: Spain to beat the -2 Asian Handicap at 9/10.
Additional games
Greece vs Armenia – away win with draw no bet at 5/2.
If Armenia field their proper starting eleven here then this looks a pure bargain to me. I mean, seriously – why are Greece such heavy favourites here? They’ve got more recognisable players, sure, but they don’t play the better football here – Armenia do. Armenia are a much more able and dangerous attacking side than Greece are, to be blunt. Greece have more depth and more experience than their opponents but they’re also very slow and predictable. You’ll note that Greece have won just twice in their last seven home games because they’re easy to defend against. The return to fitness of Ninis will aid Karagounis in unlocking the Armenian door but they’re the only two who can. Greece are simply not very hard to play against and as bad as Armenia can be defensively, I don’t see them having many problems here. Indeed, Armenia themselves have lots of talented and quick attacking players that will cause a slow Greece defence a lot of problems here, I am quite sure. The likes of Movsisyan, Mkhitaryan, Ghazaryan, and Manucharyan are all more than good enough to upset the Greeks here and I really think that they will.
Again, my sole concern is that the Armenians field their second string because it’s a friendly. If they do that then they’ll lose, simply put. However, I’d go as far as to say that their first-team is better than Greece’s and I hope you can all see that in today’s game. With the above in mind, taking Armenia with draw no bet looks very appealing at 5/2.
Verdict: Armenia to win with draw no bet at 5/2.
Ukraine U21 vs Sweden U21 – over 2.5 goals at 11/10.
The absence of Guidetti is Sweden’s biggest problem here as he’s been immense all season long, both for Sweden U21 and for Feyenoord Rotterdam. However, we’ve got Rasmus Jonsson and Viktor Claesson that are more than capable of causing problems here, not to mention Celik, pacey Hamad, and set piece specialist Ajdarevic. There’s a lot of good attacking players here and Sweden have impressed in attack during the qualifiers so I fancy them to give Ukraine a good game today. That said, Ukraine themselves have a decent U21 side too. They’re good at attacking with their pace and movement but their defence doesn’t look as solid as that of their senior team, hence them shipping so many goals. Truth be told, I think the Swedes edge the quality battle here but it’s hard to see either side winning this one as they’re relatively well-matched. Both sides have enough going forward to win this game but realistically speaking, I just don’t know if one will outscore the either. With the above in mind, however, I do fancy over 2.5 goals at 11/10 between two attacking sides today.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals at 11/10.
Team news
International Friendlies:
Serbia – Markovic, Lukovic, and Mijajlovic are absent. Ljajic has been sent home. Starting line-up – Brkic, Ivanovic, Maksimovic, Rajkovic, Ninkov, Fejsa, Matic, Mladenovic, Tadic, Jankovic, Scepovic.
Israel – No absentees. Unconvincing tactics.
UEFA European U21 Championship Qualifiers:
Bulgaria U21 – A.Tonev, Plamen Iliev, and Karachanakov are absent. Ilia Milanov is a doubt.