TFT Issue 67!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Almeria vs Athletic Club de Bilbao – both sides to score at 4/6.
Today’s featured game is the Spanish Primera Liga encounter in southern Spain between Almeria and Athletic Club de Bilbao.
Despite being bottom of the table, only Barcelona and Levante have left Almeria this season without having conceded despite Almeria having hosted Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Espanyol, to name a few. Almeria have always been a potent attacking force at home but new manager Oltra has given them the extra confidence that they’ve badly needed to start converting their chances. They’ve actually now scored in five out of their last six games with Uche, Piatti, and Ulloa being rather hard to handle despite Almeria being bottom of the Primera Liga. However, the negative side is more than apparent with Almeria having failed to keep a clean sheet since September 2010 so it’s pretty much a given that they’ll concede here too.
Visitors Athletic miss regular left-back Koikili and winger Susaeta. For me, these are both quite big absentees. The left-back role has long troubled Athletic – ever since Del Horno left, actually – and although Castillo is ok, he’s not great and Bilbao can be damaged by Almeria’s 4-3-3 with that in mind. Additionally, the absence of Susaeta on the flanks loses some of Bilbao’s counter-attacking threat, dribbling ability, and most of all, loses Bilbao pace. They still have Muniain to do the job on counters, which is good, but Gabilondo and/or Lopez are not quick enough to do what Susaeta does. That tells me what Caparros will drop Toquero back to do Susaeta’s job as Lopez is likely to start on the right and he definitely doesn’t have the necessary pace anymore. However, Bilbao do have the creativity of Javi Martinez and the finesse of Fernando Llorente in their arsenal and thus I do expect them to score here, especially from set pieces as Almeria are not good in terms of organisation in defence.
Almeria drew 1-1 with Racing Santander and Deportivo La Coruna respectively lately and given that both sides deploy a similar tactical approach to that of Athletic Club de Bilbao, another 1-1 tonight wouldn’t surprise me here. Almeria will attack freely and defend like idiots whereas Bilbao will most likely bag a set piece at somepoint and concede against the enthusiastic attack of Almeria. Therefore, I think it’s highly likely that we’ll see both sides scoring in this game so both sides to score at 4/6 appeals to me today.
Team news – Almeria miss Jakobsen and Vargas whereas Athletic Club de Bilbao miss Koikili, Ustaritz, and Susaeta.
Verdict: Both sides to score at 4/6.
Additional games
IFK Goteborg vs Orebro – both sides to score at 5/6.
This game marks the start of the Allsvenskan side for both giants IFK and arising side Orebro and we should witness a good game here as I don’t believe it’ll be as straightforward as the names of both sides in this game would atypically command a few years ago.
Over the past couple of seasons, IFK have been rather dependant on Tobias Hysen in attack, who has fortunately been passed fit for this game so they should have a good attacking threat. Additionally, starlet Robin Soder is fit for this game his lightning pace will cause trouble for every defence in the Allsvenskan if the youngster can remain fit. Sweden has high hopes for him and IFK need him to be as good as his potential suggests that he will be in order to reclaim their status as giants of the Allsvenskan on an annual basis. IFK need him and Hysen a lot not only for their goals but because their midfield is arguably their weakest area, which is furthered weakened by the absence of a sick Stefan Selakovic today. There’s a large dependance on Eriksson without Selakovic and that could undo IFK today as their opponents have a lot of strength in midfield. IFK have a good team and are better than Orebro, to be fair, but I don’t see them having it all their own way today without Selakovic to steady the ship in midfield.
Visitors Orebro are getting better each year and although they struggle a bit away from home due to playing their home games on artificial turf, I still think they can cause problems for IFK today. In Nordin Gerzic, they have one of the better attacking midfielders in the Allsvenskan – capped not long ago by Sweden – and American midfielder Bedoya makes this midfield really pretty damn strong. They lost Finnish midfielder Porokara over the winter break, which is a blow for them. However, with emerging youngster Astvald also adds to this growing midfield and really, I think Orebro have to be taken very seriously nowadays. They’re hinging their attack a bit too much on new striker Haddad, who is unproven at this level, having signed from Assyriska Sodertalje over the winter break. However, Orebro are a solid unit and have plenty of creativity in midfield to make chances for him so I think Orebro are going to surprise a few people this year.
Given that it’s the start of the season, I don’t expect highly-polished displays from either side. Mistakes can and will happen, especially given that IFK miss important midfielder Selakovic and Orebro miss full-back Anttonen. IFK have more firepower than Orebro and I expect Hysen or Soder to score at somepoint whereas Orebro bring arguably a stronger midfield into this game than their hosts so I think they can score here too. The fact that IFK’s ground has natural grass does concern me a little but even so, odds of 5/6 on both sides scoring with the above in mind does interest me here.
Team news – IFK Goteborg miss Selakovic whereas Orebro miss Anttonen.
Verdict: Both sides to score at 5/6.