Kortrijk vs Anderlecht
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Today’s secondary featured game is the Eerste Klasse game in Belgium between Kortrijk and Anderlecht.
Kortrijk are a very plucky side with plenty of spirit. Although they’re getting tired after a long season, they still have plenty of heart and they play their football for the love of the game, which is encouraging. Kortrijk weren’t expected to do as well as they’ve done this season so any finish in this group is a big plus to them, hence them playing without pressure at the moment. Impressively, Kortrijk enter this game on the back of a 2-3 win at AA Gent in which they demonstrated the best and worst of their team with a masterclass counter-attacking game being countered by a shocking defensive display at the end. They’re two things that you can always count on with Kortrijk. The absence of Veselinovic today may damage Kortrijk’s attack but this side has such strong cohesion and attacking strength that I can’t see any player damaging them excessively. Kortrijk are very much the able host and I think they’re more than capable of upsetting Anderlecht today.
Anderlecht are of course the better side here. However, that didn’t help them in their 1-1 draw at home against Kortrijk a few weeks ago so let’s not underestimate the hosts here, who are notorious in Belgium for their strong home displays. Anderlecht secured the title with a nervous 1-1 draw with rivals Club Brugge so may field a rotated side here. It’s hard to see them fielding Biglia, for example, who has recently admittedly in public his desire to leave Anderlecht with Real Madrid and Arsenal allegedly vying for his signature. Anderlecht are still the strongest side in Belgium by some distance and the fact that they can rotate players here and still be likely to win emphasises that point. However, I can’t bring myself to back either side to win a game that could go either way so let’s avoid the 1×2 market.
What does interest me, however, is the goals market. Both sides are goalscoring sides and both are notoriously weak in defence with Kortrijk abandoning positional sense and Anderlecht playing a very high line. The movement of Mbokani and the pace of Chavarria etc. can both cause issues for their respective opponents today and with no pressure on either side, I expect a very open game here. Maybe Anderlecht will want revenge for the 1-1 draw at the Constant Vanden Stock; who knows? My view on this game is that taking over 3 goals at 6/5 is a bit of a bargain with the above in mind.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at 6/5.
Thursday’s Picks
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
UEFA European U21 Championship Qualifier:
Republic of Macedonia vs Northern Ireland (5) 1-1
Copa Libertadores:
Santos vs Bolivar La Paz (8) over 2.5 goals
Fluminense vs Internacional (4) 0-1
Universidad de Chile vs Deportivo Quito (8) 2-0
Austrian Bundesliga:
Salzburg vs SV Kapfenberg (6) 2-1
Austria Vienna vs Wiener Neustadt (6) 1-0
SV Ried vs Wacker Innsbruck (5) 1-1
SV Mattersburg vs Rapid Vienna (5) 1-2
Sturm Graz vs Admira Wacker (7) 2-0
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Mons vs Cercle Brugge (6) 2-1
Racing Genk vs Club Brugge (5) 1-1
Kortrijk vs Anderlecht (5) 2-2
Standard de Liege vs AA Gent (5) 0-1
Finnish Ykkonen:
HiFK Helsinki vs AC Oulu (6)
French Ligue 1:
Evian Thonon Gaillard vs Olympique Lyonnais (5) 2-1
Greek Super League:
AEK Athens vs Atromitos (5) 1-1
PAOK Salonika vs Panathinaikos (6) 1-0
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
IBV Vestmannaeyjar vs Breidablik Kopavogur (7) 2-0
FH Hafnarfjordur vs Fram Reykjavik (6) 1-1
Valur Reykjavik vs Selfoss (7) 2-0
UMF Grindavik vs Keflavik (5) 1-1
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs Fylkir Reykjavik (6) 2-1
IA Akranes vs KR Reykjavik (4) 2-2, at least one red card in this game
Mexican Primera Division:
Tigres UANL vs Santos Laguna (5) 1-1
Dutch Eredivisie:
NEC Nijmegen vs Vitesse Arnhem (5) 2-2, at least one red card in this game
RKC Waalwijk vs Twente Enschede (5) 2-1
Romanian Liga:
Astra Ploiesti vs Concordia Chiajna (4) 1-1
Targu Mures vs Petrolul Ploiesti (5) 1-1
Pandurii Targu Jiu vs Vaslui (5) 0-1
Gaz Metan Medias vs Rapid Bucharest (5) 0-0
Steaua Bucharest vs Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt (6) 2-1
Singaporean S-League:
Balestier Khalsa vs DPMM FC (6) 0-1
Armed Forces vs Geylang United (7) 2-0
Hougang United vs Young Lions (6) 1-0
Swedish Allsvenskan:
BK Hacken Goteborg vs Gefle (7) 2-0
Malmo FF vs Helsingborg (7) 1-0, at least one red card in this game
Swedish Superettan:
Angelholm vs Landskrona BoIS (5) both sides to score
Ukrainian Premier League:
Vorskla Poltava vs Metalist Kharkiv (5) 1-1
Volyn Lutsk vs Zorya Lugansk (4) 1-1
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih vs Arsenal Kiev (5) 2-1
Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk vs Karpaty Lviv (4) 2-2
Illichivets Mariupol vs Metalurg Donetsk (5) 1-0
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Oleksandriya (8) over 2.5 goals
Chernomorets Odessa vs Obolon Kiev (4) 0-1
Dynamo Kiev vs Tavriya Simferopol (8) 2-0
Enjoy your free betting tips!