TFT Issue 74!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Vasteras vs Atvidaberg – away win at evens.
Today’s featured game is the Superettan encounter between Vasteras and Atvidaberg. It’s the first Superettan game of the season for both sides so it’s be wise to approach this one with a bit of caution!
Hosts Vasteras are going to be cast straight into the deep end for the start of their Superettan campaign as they face recently-relegated Atvidaberg, who are simply one of the best sides in the division. Vasteras demonstrated last match that they’re going to struggle in this division by struggling to overcome lower league opponents Sandviken 2-3 in the Svenska Cupen, needing their goalscoring ability to bail them out from shoddy defending. Vasteras’ team is very much on the youthful side and although they possess one of the hottest prospects in Swedish football in seventeen year old Filip Tronet, they’re still going to find life very hard in this division. They’ve drafted in some new signings since being promoted last season but none of them should make a great difference to the overall ability of the team. They’re hard-working and enthusiastic but from a talent perspective, they’re in the shallow end of the pool here.
Visitors Atvidaberg are amongst the favourites to be promoted this season and that’s largely because they still have a lot of players from their Allsvenskan campaign last season. They’ve got a solid defence, a talented playmaker in Radetinac, and generally a very experienced team. It’s fortunate that this game is the opening one of the season for Atvidaberg, really – it’s never easy to play on artificial turf as they will be doing today but they’ve had a couple of weeks of practice on artificial turf, according to their manager, so they shouldn’t struggle much here. They unfortunately miss Brazilian defender Alberis da Silva for this game but bring a largely full squad into this game despite his absence with the other absentees listed at the bottom of this preview being long-term absentees.
The problem I envision for Atvidaberg this season is perhaps on the goalscoring front. Now that Finnish striker Roiha has moved on, only Moller really remains to score their goal, which isn’t really enough from a depth perspective. There are some more bit-part strikers in their team and that may be enough to get them promoted this season, ultimately, but it’s still not ideal for Atvidaberg, in my view. However, that’s a problem for another day as I just don’t see Atvidaberg struggling to score goals against a very much inferior Vasteras side, especially with their hosts really rather young. Vasteras’ sole strength is scoring goals but against arguably the best defence in the Superettan, I can only see one winner there. For me, there’s value in the away win at evens.
Team news – Atvidaberg miss Alberis da Silva, Axel Konradsson, Eric Melin, Andreas Johansson, and Besart Kalludra.
Verdict: Atvidaberg to win at evens.
Additional game
Assyriska Sodertalje vs Hammarby – over 2.5 goals at 21/20.
This is another Superettan game but this time between Assyriska Sodertalje and Hammarby. Again, as it’s the first Superettan game of the season for both teams, do approach with caution here!
However, the inspiration for this bet purely comes from both sides playing with the desire to attack and score goals. Assyriska Sodertalje boast one of the more dangerous attack lines in the Superettan with experienced Goran Marlund being partnered by pacey Kusi-Asare, who has become a pretty familiar name around Scandinavia over the past few years. As both strikers are still capable of playing Allsvenskan football, in my view, I think this attack should prove to be very dangerous in the Superettan this season. Defensively, they’re ok but nothing along the lines of Atvidaberg so they can and probably will be breached defensively today. Will they win? Hard to say!
Visitors Hammarby are one of the biggest clubs in the division and it’s a popular opinion in Sweden that really should be playing football in the Allsvenskan again by now. Maybe this year will be their year! Who knows? If it is to be their year then they need to be a lot better than they were during their recent 1-0 defeat at lowly Norrtalje in the Svenska Cupen and I’m sure Franzen has expressed that already. The most exciting part of Hammarby’s team is their lethal strike duo, just like that of their hosts. Hammarby boast ex-academy product Bjorn Runstrom, who has played all over Europe over the past few years and is a very good finisher, especially at this level. He’s partnered by experienced Brazilian striker Paulinho and again, both of these strikers are good enough to be playing Allsvenskan football currently so there goals in Hammarby. Again, much like their hosts, Hammarby are susceptible defensively and that should be visible today too.
All in all, I expect the atypical Superettan game here; open, and with plenty of goals. Both sides play attacking football and boast strong attackers so for me, over 2.5 goals is priced too generously here.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals at 21/20.