TFT Issue 487!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
RKC Waalwijk vs Roda JC Kerkrade – home win at 5/6.
Today’s featured game is the Eredivisie encounter between RKC Waalwijk and Roda JC Kerkrade.
It’s a great pleasure to watch my favourite Dutch team RKC back in action with the same zest and hunger that they displayed last season. The ability in this squad to pass the ball is extraordinary and they attack with so much belief that any side facing them can and will struggle, including the heavyweights. It’s amazing that they’re still as good as they are, really, after influential boss Ruud Brood moved on. Koeman has come in and he’s a capable manager, though, so that’s handy. They also lost the star of their midfield last season as Sno moved to NEC Nijmegen. They also lost starlet striker ten Voorde, who joined Sno at NEC Nijmegen. Hungarian forward Nemeth moved to Roda JC Kerkrade whilst Castillion moved to Heracles Almelo, and Meijers left for ADO Den Haag, which essentially leaves Braber and Duits as the cornerstones of the RKC midfield. Most of RKC’s attack moved on, basically, but they still look amazing. Why? It’s because they were very intelligent in the transfer market. They’ve talked Ajax into parting company with Wesley Sneijder’s younger brother Rodney and he’s been immense thus far, just as he was with FC Utrecht last season. They also took Jozefzoon off Ajax’s hands, who has been a revelation since signing for RKC, causing no end of problems with his lightning pace. They signed French striker Chevalier to score the goals, which he has duly done thus far. They also brought in PSV youngster Najah in defence and ex-PSV battleaxe Lucius to add experience to their midifeld. What else can I say? They’re not the world’s greatest players but they function incredibly well as a unit and they’re more than capable of scoring goals against everyone.
Roda are not a bad side themselves but they tend to look very poor on the road. Indeed, they’ve actually looked lazy this season, which is concerning. They’ve conceded soft goals in each of their two games thus far and although Syrian striker Malki is a very good finisher indeed, he looks isolated in this new-look, complacent Roda side. Roda are not short of good players but when it comes to cohesion and leadership, they really tend to struggle. The departure of Vormer in midfield and Vukovic in defence has clearly unsettled Roda and I think they’ll really struggle against a determined and potent RKC side.
For me, there has to be value in RKC winning this one at 5/6 as they look far more determined and cohesive than their opponents.
Verdict: RKC Waalwijk to win at 5/6.
Additional games
FC Nordsjaelland vs SonderjyskE – home win with -1 Asian Handicap at evens.
Reigning Superligaen champions Nordsjaelland are rightly favourites for this game against defensive moguls SonderjyskE and I personally think that they’ll be able to win this game with whatever scoreline they desire.
Nordsjaelland have been a bit naive in defence this season and it’s no surprise with Bjelland having moved on pre-season. However, as far as goalscoring goes, only FC Copenhagen and possibly FC Midtylland can boast the firepower that Nordsjaelland do. The return of Nordstrand has helped their attack out a lot and both Lawan and John have benefited from it. Lorentzen’s pace and skill will always cause problems and newbie Christensen has settled in well since his signing pre-season. Stokholm is 36 but plays as if he’s fresh out of the academy and ultimately, this Nordsjaelland has plenty of spirit and belief so I fancy them to do well on their own turf here.
Of course, a large potion of my confidence does stem from the fact that SonderjyskE are bloody awful. I’ve never seen a side play so badly as they have on some occasions this season. I watched them take on Brondby and despite knowing that Brondby’s defence is awful, SonderjyskE barely bothered attacking. They didn’t deserve the win; only a horrendous defensive error gave them the winner at the end of the game. Their own coach was sighing in frustration at his team’s inability to pass the ball and that explains why SonderjyskE always line up so defensively on the road. Don’t get me wrong – they’re still in the Superligaen because they are good at stopping sides from scoring against them. That’s their only strength, however, and the absence of Jonasson in addition to that of Hedinsson, Troest, and Salami does a thin SonderjyskE squad an awful lot of damage.
I can only see one side winning this game tonight and that’s Nordsjaelland. As long as they keep their heads and don’t give stupid goals away, they should be good enough to clear the -1 Asian Handicap at evens.
Verdict: FC Nordsjaelland to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at evens.
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen – over 3 goals at 5/6.
As you all know, Dortmund lost their clever playmaker Kagawa pre-season. That’s a big blow for them but they’ve made a very astute signing in Reus and thus I doubt Dortmund’s creativity nor goalscoring will hurt drastically. After all, they’ve still got excellent Lewandowski and skilful Gotze in their ranks so goalscoring really shouldn’t be a problem for them. Defending, though – that’s been a real problem pre-season with Klopp lamenting their constant mistakes in friendlies and against Bayern Munich and he’s absolutely right. It’s like they’ve lost their composure in defence and that will hurt them this season as that’s one of the more prominent reasons behind them getting results on the road. Werder boss Schaaf is of the opinion that his side can upset the Dortmund defence too. I agree with him but not for the same reasons as he believes that it’s because Bremen have a good attack whereas I believe that Dortmund are suspect at the back. In my opinion, this Bremen side is horribly short of a good striker now that Pizarro has left for Bayern Munich but they do have a strong midfield with Junuzovic and de Bruyne. Elia has come in to add pace to their side (which is all he has!) but there’s enough in this Bremen side to trouble a shaky Dortmund defence. Bremen’s confidence shouldn’t be as low as it usually is, either, as it’s the opening game of the season and they’ve not lost against anyone ridiculously poor at home – yet.
All in all, I expect goals here. It’s hard to predict opening day games to have goals as teams can be rusty but there really should be over 3 goals in this one, which looks a bit of a steal at 5/6.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at 5/6.
Odd Grenland Skien vs Brann Bergen – over 3 goals at 5/6.
To put it bluntly, Brann Bergen are a pain in the arse to play against right now. They’ve got maximum belief, a very strong attack, and some classy finishers, hence them winning so many games and scoring so many goals. I guess most people will take them to win here.
I’m not one of them, though. They had a tough game with Stromsgodset earlier this week and now they have to face Odd Grenland on unfavourable artificial turf, which is far from easy. Odd Grenland aren’t the side that they once were, admittedly, but they’re one of the hardest sides in Norway to take on at their place and the fact that they score a two goal minimum in the vast majority of their home games shows you why that is. At home, Odd Grenland commit men forward to support big Johnsen up front and his presence causes all kinds of problems. Unfortunately for Odd Grenland, their defence is very young and thus concede an awful lot of goals, hence them struggling to win games. Still, they’re a force at home and I firmly believe that they’ll give Brann a tough game here.
Brann are the better side but don’t underestimate Odd Grenland, who are capable of surprises at home. For me, taking over 3 goals is a steal at 5/6 between these two goal machines.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at 5/6.
Team news
Croatian Prva Liga:
Inter Zapresic – No news.
Rijeka – Mierzejewski is absent.
Slaven Koprivnica – Pilipovic and Takac are absent.
Lokomotiva Zagreb – Pavicic may debutise.
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Vyoscina Jihlava – Gabriel, Obert, and Mesanovic are absent. Karlik and Tlusty are doubts.
Sigma Olomouc – Dreksa, Zlamal, and Klesnil are absent.
Danish Superligaen:
FC Nordsjaelland – No absentees.
SonderjyskE – Salami, Jonassen, Hedinsson, and Troest are absent.
German Bundesliga:
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund – Bender is absent.
Werder Bremen – No absentees.
Dutch Eredivisie:
RKC Waalwijk – Jungschlager and Barroihet are absent.
Roda JC Kerkrade – Delorge and Wielaert are absent.
Norwegian Eliteserien;
Brann Bergen – Kalvenes, Sokolowski, and Jonsson are absent. Wangberg returns.
Odd Grenland Skien – Borven has left.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Zaglebie Lubin – No absentees.
Piast Gliwice – Matras, Oleksy, Swierczok, Urban, Cuerda are absent. Polak may debutise.
Jagiellonia Bialystok – Frankowski is absent.
Gornik Zabrze – Olkowski is absent.
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Academica de Coimbra – Real, N’Gal, Saleiro, Marcos Paulo, Fabio Santos, and Nivaldo are absent. Junior Lopes debutises.
Olhanense – Mauricio returns. Rui Sampaio debutises.
Romanian Liga:
Gaz Metan Medias – Markovic, Buzean, Trtovac, A.Muntean, Vitinho, and Bawab are absent.
Turnu Severin – No absentees.
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Orebro – Wikstrom is absent. Sigurbjornsson is a doubt.
Gefle – No news.
Turkish Super Lig:
Kasimpasa – Eker is a doubt.
Karabukspor – Yaman and Aygunes are absent. Mabiala is a doubt.