TFT Issue 44!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Gornik Zabrze vs Arka Gdynia – home win at 5/6.
Today’s featured game is the Ekstraklasa encounter between Gornik Zabrze and Arka Gdynia. Newly-promoted Gornik Zabrze have had a good campaign due to consistently strong displays at home whereas Arka Gdynia are very unlikely to be playing Ekstraklasa football next season due to a complete lack of goal threat.
Gornik enter this game on the back of a 5-1 demolition of Zaglebie Lubin, which takes them to six wins from nine Ekstraklasa home games this season, a record bettered only by second-place Jagiellonia Bialystok. Gornik fight like troopers at home and although their attack is generally quite predictable in games, they still tend to edge victories at home due to strong defensive displays. However, recent Slovakian acquisitions Gasparik and Jez, most notably the latter, have really strengthened Gornik’s resolve and they look much more potent with them in their ranks. A recent bout of flu in the camp means Kwiek may not feature in this game today but the two Slovakians have really bolstered Gornik’s ability in attack so I think they’ll be able to cope without him, if indeed he is absent. Gornik also possess ex-Bayern Munich striker Sikorski of Austria and playmaker Bonin as part of their attack so there are options for the feisty hosts and with momentum favouring them here, they deserve a shot for this game.
Visitors Arka Gdynia still suffer from an injury crisis but to be frank, that’s simply not their biggest problem right now. Their biggest problem is not scoring goals and it’s not just a temporary thing either. They’ve scored an appalling nine goals in seventeen Ekstraklasa games this season, which is an average of only just over a goal scored per every two games, which is incidentally the worst record in the Ekstraklasa by a long way. Could things be worse for the relegation-threatened side? Well, yes, actually. It just so happens that the nine goals that Arka have scored this season have all been in Gdynia. Yes, they actually have failed to score goals away from home in eight consecutive games. Credit to Arka – they still possess a really strong defensive record due to being well-organised in defence but with no goal threat whatsoever, it’s hard to take them seriously here. I wondered if the acquisition of Peruvian attacker Junior Ross would rectify that issue but as of yet, it’s not done so. Arka enter this game on the back of two straight defeats and although you can argue that defeats against Wisla Krakow and Lech Poznan (both at home) are acceptable, I would point to the fact that Arka have played well in both games but have capitulated in the last ten minutes and lost each game due to stupid mistakes. Indeed, one of my Polish friends joked that they should becomea women’s team due to their lack of stamina and concentration beyond the eightieth minute, which I found amusing.
Either way, Arka are in for a rough ride in this game though. They do defend well but you know a tenacious and in-form side like Gornik is very likely to score against your side at somepoint and with no response so far this season away from home, it’s hard to see why Gornik are priced so generously here. If Gornik play as well in this game as they did against Zaglebie then 5/6 on the home win is a steal here.
Team news – Gornik Zabrze miss Bebenek and have doubts over Kwiek.
Verdict: Gornik Zabrze to win at 5/6.