TFT Issue 54!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
SonderjyskE vs Midtylland – lay Midtylland at 4/5.
Today’s featured game is the Superligaen encounter in Denmark between SonderjyskE and Midtylland.
SonderjyskE haven’t had a great campaign thus far and recognised the importance of good transfer window activity in order for them to stave off the threat of relegation. As always with SonderjyskE, their issue wasn’t defending; it was scoring goals. The lack of good play in attack meant two things; one is that they weren’t scoring enough goals to win games and another was that the ball wasn’t sticking in attack so their defence was under more pressure than normal, hence conceding more goals. This SonderjyskE defence is weaker with Icelandic defender Ottesen having joined FC Copenhagen part-way through last year’s Superligaen campaign but they’re still a solid unit under Hemmingsen and I think they’ll be their usual impervious selves today, especially with their excellent transfer activity!
Over the window, SonderjyskE signed winger Martin Christensen on a free transfer – he’s notorious for his dribbling, pace, and creativity. They also acquired their ex-home grown striker Soren Fredriksen from FC Copenhagen to give him some match practice that he wasn’t getting with FC Copenhagen. They’ve bolstered their backline with the acquisition of Austrian defender Hannes Eder from Rapid Vienna and have also drafted in Icelandic midfielder Eyjolfur Hedinsson from GAIS Goteborg. They sold midfielder Rasmus Hansen to Randers but they’ve signed enough replacements to refresh their squad substantially, especially in attack, and I think it’s shown thus far. They won easily 0-2 at Esbjerg before battling hard at Brondby but were really rather unlucky to lose 2-0, in my view. Back on familiar turf, I think SonderjyskE are in pole position to be a pain in the ass again this season and I don’t see why that can’t start tonight.
Although their form hasn’t shown it thus far, Midtylland made some hefty losses over the transfer window with the sales of Brian Priske to Vejle, Baba Collins to Dacia Chisinau, Ken Ilso to Fortuna Dusseldorf, and Frank Kristensen to Randers. Those sales effectively remove a great portion of Midtylland’s ability to create and score goals, which has bizarrely not shown during their win and draw over their last two games. Impressively, they outplayed and outfought FC Copenhagen to win 2-0 and played out a 2-2 draw with Nordsjaelland too so they look anything but impotent currently. However, I do think it’s going to hurt them in the near future and why not at one of the most dogged defensive sides in Denmak? Midtylland are rarely as good away from home as they are at home and their two games since the winter break have both been at home so let’s see how they fare tonight.
Amusingly, these two sides have met seven times at either ground since SonderjyksE were last prommoted and none of those games have resulted in home wins. Midtylland have drawn twice and won twice during their four visits to SonderjyskE but SonderjyskE have won twice and drawn once at Midtylland away from home so they usually play some strange games, these two, especially as both sides are much stronger at home. However, Midtylland’s departures and over-achieving displays of late can be halted here and a SonderjyskE side that are playing deceptively well with a good backbone to the team makes me think that the outlandish odds on the Midtylland winning this game are not merited so my call is to lay Midtylland at 4/5.
Verdict: Lay Midtylland at 4/5.
Additional game
Aalesund vs Fredrikstad – both sides to score at 4/5.
I have an awful lot of respect for Aalesund boss Kjetil Rekdal, outspoken though the Aalesund manager undoubtedly is. He’s a terrific motivator and will not tolerate his players being soft or not adhering to his tactical plans so I don’t like going against Aalesund.
However, this side is barely recognisable to the side that Aalesund were last year, to be fair. Big target man Aaroy left for JEF United in Japan, number one goalkeeper Lindegaard left for Manchester United in England, winger Mathiesen left for Lierse SK in Belgium, captain Armeng signed for Syrianska Sodertalje in Sweden, and Roberts signed for fellow Eliteserien side Sarpsborg 08 with defender Fredriksen retiring. They’ve signed pacey Nigerian attacker Okoronkwo from Saturn Moscow Oblast in Russia but it cannot be denied that Aalesund have lost a lot of talent from last year that they’ve failed to replace, in my eyes. Aalesund are still a hard side to beat – you can expect nothing less from any side headed by Rekdal – but they’re not going to achieve what they did last year, in my view. The signing of Okoronkwo suggests that Rekdal is looking to play a quicker counter-attack rather than the long ball to Aaroy so it’ll be interesting to see how that pans out.
The only game that Aalesund failed to score in at home in the Eliteserien last season was against bitter rivals Molde FK so you can see how strong they are. I think you can partially attribute their success to Rekdal’s tactical prowess but Aalesund’s artificial turf at the Color Line Stadion plays a big part in their home advantage too. The signing of Okoronkwo should cause problems to most sides in the Eliteserien and on artificial turf in front of their own fans, you have to fancy Aalesund to at least score here.
However, newly-promoted Fredrikstad are back in the Eliteserien after just a year’s absence and they’re serious about staying this time. They’ve signed some experienced players to aid their cause this year with the most notorious of which being Elyounoussi, who brings a lot of pace and skill to this Fredrikstad side. Fredrikstad have looked good in friendlies pre-season, scoring a lot of goals, and there’s a good level of unity in their team so I wouldn’t write them off here, especially as we all saw what Sarpsborg 08 did to Molde FK on friday night! The defensive rock that is Piiroja will be instrumental if Fredrikstad are to avoid the drop and there are some good players in this team now. Are they good enough to survive? I don’t know; it’s going to be a close call and they have to start well. However, newly-promoted sides are always brimming with confidence and determination at the start of the season and I think we’ll see that from Fredrikstad today, especially as Aalesund are not untouchable.
With the above in mind, I think the logical call here is for both sides to score. I’d not dare enter the 1×2 market as the Rekdal factor can steer Aalesund to a win against anyone but Fredrikstad will cause problems here. Therefore, my call is for both sides to score at 4/5.
Verdict: Both sides to score at 4/5.