VfB Stuttgart vs Young Boys Bern
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Secondly – as usual, please bet with caution on the Europa League. I have little to no faith in most of the games tonight so high stakes are foolish, in my opinion – you have been warned!
Today’s featured game is the UEFA Europa League game in Germany between VfB Stuttgart and Swiss outfit Young Boys Bern. Neither are on fire in their respective domestic campaigns and that’s unlikely to change in the near future with both sides having lost key players over the summer.
However, I do like the idea of this game going over 2.5 goals. As the majority of the English viewers of this site will know having watched the Tottenham Hotspur vs Young Boys Bern game(s), the Swiss side don’t know how to defend. To their credit, they don’t try to – they just attack and hope to outscore their opponents. Without the departed Doumbia, they’ve struggled to do that on a more regular basis although I should point out that it’s their defending that appears to have gotten worse, not their attacking! Young Boys Bern have kept just one clean sheet in their last sixteen consecutive games because of their attacking style and although that’s a respectable aim, football doesn’t always reward merit.
Hosts Stuttgart should win this as they’re the better side but to be honest, you’re a braver man than me if you take that. They’ve looked anything but convincing in all of their games this season with goalscoring being little more than an idle passtime. Stuttgart’s big players aren’t playing well at the moment and because they’re not the side that they once were, they don’t have the depth to deal with that kind of problem, which is why Stuttgart have lost three out of three Bundesliga games so far this season. Stuttgart have conceded for four consecutive games and three of those games have gone over 2.5 goals to give you some idea of their lacklustre and frustrating displays. They’ve played two Europa League games at home this season against Molde FK and Slovan Bratislava respectively and both have ended 2-2, which is a scoreline that I think has a good chance of occurring tonight.
Christian Gross is an experienced Swiss manager and he’ll know Young Boys Bern well as a result. He coached brothers Philip and David Degen at Basel on their infamous run many years ago and now the brothers play on the same pitch tonight but for opposing sides so there may well be some “inside information” being banded about. As I said earlier – you’re braver than me to take on the 1X2 market here but over 2.5 goals for two defensively-inept side should come in tonight.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals at 4/5.
Thursday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
AZ Alkmaar vs Sheriff Tiraspol – under 2.5 goals at 3/4.
A defensively-minded and well-organised Sheriff Tiraspol side travelling to an overrated and frankly impotent AZ Alkmaar side? Under 2.5 goals, please! Since the departure of El Hamdaoui and Dembele, AZ have seen their chances of scoring goals drastically minimalised, something emphasised by the fact that they’ve scored a maximum of one goal per game for five out of their six competitive games played this season. The only side that’ve broken that record against was Kazakh outfit Aktobe Lento, whom they beat 2-0 at home. Worryingly for AZ, they’ve not defended well either and that used to be their strongest feature so I really don’t expect to see much from them this season. They still possess talented players, enough of them to keep scorelines respectable against better sides and to overcome lesser sides but I don’t think you’ll see much more of them barring that. Visitors Sheriff Tiraspol, however, have impressed me immensely this season with some very well-organised displays. Their hefty financial support is finally beginning to pay dividends as a victory against Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia indicated all too well along the way here, although it should be noted that a defeat against Switzerland’s Basel dumped them into this competition rather than the UEFA Champions League. The signs have been there for some time that this side is improving but only now are they beginning to truly fulfill their potential. Twelve out of their last thirteen away games in the UEFA Champions League have gone under 2.5 goals and they’ve played the likes of Spartak Moscow, Dinamo Zagreb, Olympiakos Piraeus, and Basel along the way so they’re clearly not rubbing rags nowadays. If you ignore the names here, I think AZ Alkmaar could get a nasty surprise if they don’t approach this game properly. Sheriff look much better than AZ at the moment and although their domestic league is unquestionably much easier to dominate, they still look more composed than their hosts and therefore I don’t see them being troubled much here tonight. Even if my prediction goes wrong and AZ make a flying start to the game – this game should still go under 2.5 goals because of AZ’s impotence and given that I expect Sheriff to sit back and hit on the counter-attack, I think we’ll see this game end 1-0 or possibly even 1-1. Either way, under 2.5 goals should really come in here.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 3/4.
Dynamo Kiev vs BATE Borisov – both sides to score at evens.
Valery Gazzaev reportedly has something of an injury crisis ahead of this game with the likes of Danilo, Shevchenko, Popov, and Zozulya missing for this game so their performance shouldn’t be as polished as normal. Given that they’ve hardly flourished under Gazzaev this season, this should cause big problems for Dynamo. Their emerging attacking prospects aren’t contributing enough in front of goal and even relatively experienced and able striker Milevskiy isn’t throwing his weight around so it’s easy to see that Kiev are not at their best. They’re keeping the ball well enough but they’re not playing well enough to dispose of sides and as a result they concede stupid goals and don’t win games that they should win easily. Kiev have played four European games this season, two against Ajax and two against Gent, and three of those games involved both sides scoring. Kiev are still a tough side to play against, particularly away from home, but they’re no longer very difficult to score against and given that they’re not firing on all cylinders, I expect them to concede at least once tonight.
Although Belarusian giants BATE Borisov reportedly miss star striker Rodionov for this game, they still enter the game in high spirits and with great potency. They smashed five goals past Maritimo Funchal of Portugal over two legs in their last European outing. In fact, BATE Borisov have scored in all three away games that they’ve played in on the continent so far this season, winning 1-0 at FH Hafnarfjordur in Iceland, losing 3-2 in Denmark against FC Copenhagen, and winning 2-1 in Portugal against the afore-mentioned Maritimo Funchal. They’ve been gradually increasing as a force in Eastern Europe for some time now and I genuinely consider them to be one of the best sides in that region of the world. They’re incredibly disciplined and clinical, which naturally makes them a nightmare to play against. They know how to frustrate sides and how to take what they need – the opposite of tonight’s opponents Dynamo Kiev – so I think they can cause real problems here.
I won’t be touching the 1X2 market here but I do like the idea of both sides scoring with the above information in mind!
Verdict: Both sides to score at evens.
Lausanne Sports vs CSKA Moscow – both sides to score at evens.
Swiss surprise package Lausanne Sports began their European campaign back in July so they know the script by now. They’ve played six games before this one in European competition and they’ve scored in all of them, including three tricky trips to Russia (to face Lokomotiv Moscow), Bosnia-Herzegovina (to face Borac Banja Luka), and Denmark (to face Randers) respectively so to say they score goals would be accurate. Amazingly, they’ve looked frighteningly good domestically too with squad rotation working well for them as they finally bid to reach the Super League and if they continue playing as they are then I don’t see why not. They’ve got some good players like Silvio and some experienced players like Celestini and Marazzi so don’t underestime the Swiss side here – they’re more than capable of giving as good as they get.
However, they’re facing what is unquestionably a superior side – CSKA Moscow. CSKA have looked ominously good since Vagner Love returned to their squad and the giants are now beginning to score their chances and thus win games. They’ve got some very talented creative footballers and although they do lack pace without Krasic occasionally, they’re still a very potent threat, especially from set pieces. They’ve got a very experienced side packed full of internatonals so if anyone is to win this one, you’d have to favour CSKA to dent Lausanne Sports’ European dream tonight.
Lausanne Sports dealt with CSKA’s rivals Lokomotiv Moscow rather well in their last European excursion so they should have a decent idea of what they’re up against tonight. Lausanne are good enough to score against the Russians, particularly as Russian sides generally don’t travel well. However, CSKA are the better side and it’s hard to envision them leaving this game without scoring a goal so my call is both sides to score tonight.
Verdict: Both sides to score at evens.
Accumulator fodder:
Besiktas JK, Porto.
Recommended bets:
I don’t like any multiples today, sorry guys!
As ever, if there any questions/explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below!
UEFA Europa League:
Dinamo Zagreb vs Villarreal (6) 1-1
Club Brugge vs PAOK Salonika (5) 2-1
AZ Alkmaar vs Sheriff Tiraspol (6) under 2.5 goals
Dynamo Kiev vs BATE Borisov (5) 2-1
Sparta Prague vs Palermo (6) 1-2
Lausanne Sports vs CSKA Moscow (6) both sides to score
Salzburg vs Manchester City (6) 1-2
Juventus vs Lech Poznan (6) 2-1
Aris Salonika vs Atletico Madrid (5) 1-1
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Rosenborg BK (7) 2-0
LOSC Lille vs Sporting Clube de Lisboa (6) 1-1
Levski Sofia vs AA Gent (6) 2-1
Anderlecht vs Zenit St.Petersburg (5) 0-0
AEK Athens vs Hajduk Split (6) 2-1
VfB Stuttgart vs Young Boys Bern (5) over 2.5 goals
Getafe vs OB Odense (7) 2-0
Debreceni VSC vs Metalist Kharkiv (6) 1-1
PSV Eindhoven vs Sampdoria (5) 1-0
Kapaty Lviv vs BV09 Borussia Dortmund (5) 1-2
Sevilla CF vs Paris Saint-Germain (6) over 2.5 goals
SSC Napoli vs FC Utrecht (7) 2-1
Liverpool vs Steaua Bucharest (7) 1-0
Besiktas JK vs CSKA Sofia (8) 2-0
Porto vs Rapid Vienna (8) 2-0
Copa Sudamericana:
Newells Old Boys vs Estudiantes De La Plata (6) 1-1
Independiente de Santa Fe Bogota vs Caracas (7) 2-0
Defensor Sporting vs Sport Huancayo (6) 2-1
Brazilian Serie A:
Sao Paulo vs Internacional (6) 2-1
Vasco da Gama vs Avai (7) 1-0
Hungarian Soproni Liga:
MTK Budapest vs Vasas Budapest (6) 1-1, at least one red card in this game
Icelandic Urvalsdeild:
Selfoss vs IBV Vestmannaeyjar (7) over 2.5 goals
Stjarnan Gardabaer vs FH Hafnarfjordur (5) over 2.5 goals
Keflavik vs Valur Reykjavik (6) 1-1
Fylkir Reykjavik vs UMF Grindavik (4) 1-1
Haukar Hafnarfjordur vs Fram Reykjavik (6) 1-2
KR Reykjavik vs Breidablik Kopavogur (7) 2-1
Singaporean S-League:
Woodlands Wellington vs Tampines Rovers (7) 0-2
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Brommapojkarna vs Trelleborg (5) 1-2, draw no bet
Enjoy your free betting tips!