steamhammer
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Posts posted by steamhammer
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Re: UEFA Cup - (Nov 23) Brugge isn't as strong as two/three seasons ago. They don't create as many chances and can't play on powerplay anymore, which used to be the strength of the team. Against Leverkusen(1-1) they played relatively good and had some good chances to score the winning goal, but didn't take them. Against Tottenham(lost 3-1) they were just totally outplayed. The problem of Brugge is the lack of creativity and the wings don't bring enough in attacking point of view so winning games against teams with equal qualities is tough for them.
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Re: UEFA Cup - (Nov 23)
Event Espanyol Barcelona(-1) - Zulte-Waregem(+1) Selection Espanyol Barcelona(-1) (Asian Handicap) Strength 10/10 Date 23/11/2006 Bookmaker/Price 10bet @ 1.81 (Back) Reasoning Espanyol has won their first game in this group with 0-2 on the field of Sparta Praag. Winning this one would give them a place in the next round (mathematically not, but Austria and Sparta are so weak that I don't see them winning twice). Espanyol won this weekend against Athletic Bilbao with 3-2. Zulte-Waregem won their two first games in the UEFA-cup against Austria Wien (1-4) and Sparta Praag (3-1) so they are sure about a spot in the next round. Last weekend Zulte-Waregem played 2-2 against Westerlo at home after getting a 2-0 lead. Zulte-Waregem is a semi-professional team (which means some of the players are having a job besides football, there is a teacher in the team, a bricklayer,...). Their coach is working for the police. Espanyol has obviously only professional players. Espanyol Barcelona is obviously the better team, the difference in quality between the two leagues is just too huge. I can't remember a victory of a Belgian on Spanish ground from the last 10 years, not even from the 'top'teams (Brugge and Anderlecht). The reason why Belgian teams are having so much problems with the Spanish ones is because Spanish teams often have alot of technically good players, that is something Belgian defenders aren't used to play against. Espanyol will certainly win this one, the question is only with how many goals. Early pick, because I think the odds will drop. -
Re: euro 2008 Qualifiers (Oct 7th)
Event Serbia - Belgium Selection Serbia to keep a clean sheet Strength 8/10 Date 07/10/2006 Bookmaker/Price Gamebookers @ 1.94 (Back) Reasoning Both teams played against each other in the qualification round for the WC in Germany. Serbia(-Montenegro) won in Belgium with 0-2 and the game in Serbia ended in a scoreless draw. Serbia only conceeded one goal in the 10 games they played to qualify for the WC, so their defence is good. Serbia played two qualifiers for Euro2008, 1-1 on Poland and a 1-0 victory against Azerbaijan. Belgium also played two qualifiers 0-0 at home against Kazachstan and a 0-1 victory on Armenia. Both games were far from good. Belgium obviously lacks creativity and fighting spirit (which used to be the strentgh of the national team). According to the local newspapers Belgium will probably play with Stijnen, Hoefkens, Kompany, Van Buyten, Simons, Mudingayi, Goor, Geraerts, Dembele en Emile Mpenza. Vanden Borre, Englebert or Vermaelen will also start(one of the three of course). Mpenza is playing in Qatar so I doubt he is in very good form. Dembele starts most of the time on the bench of AZ, he is a talented player, but not a goalgetter. Then three central midfielders: Geraerts is an upcoming midfielder who often appears in front of goal, Simons is a defensive midfielder playing for PSV, Mudingayi is defensive midfielder playing for Lazio Roma. On the left-midfield you have Goor, who doesn't reach the same level as a few seasons ago. The three central defenders: Kompany who is playing for HSV and is the most talented player of the team, also the one with the best technique, Van Buyten is playing for Bayern München, Hoefkens is playing for Stoke City in the English Championship. Stijnen is the goalkeeper of Club Brugge, he is not a bad goalkeepers, but not as talented as the goalkeepers we had in the past and he made a few mistakes the last weeks. I doubt Belgium will be able to score with these players, none of these players can play on the wing (except Goor), so everything will probably go through the center, which is good if you have a Ronaldinho in your team, but with these technically limited players I don't see Serbia having problems to keep the attacks of Belgium under control. The objective of Vandereycken(coach of Belgium) is obviously taking a point, which would be great thing in the race for the second place of the group. Betting on 0-0(@8.50) might be good idea also. -
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Re: CL matches Tue 26/09
I was thinking about under2.25 @1.87. But the more I think about it, the more I think this is a no bet-game. Anderlecht should be better then the previous seasons. AEK doesn't seem to be in good form and doesn't score alot. This is a very important game for both teams so it might be a close game. Anderlecht: Doubtfull: Juhasz (central defender) Injured: Proto (goalkeeper, not a big missing at the moment, Zitka is playing maginificent this season), De Man(central defender), Siani and Tioté (both young players who wouldn't play anyway) Selection Anderlecht: Akin, Allagui, Biglia, Boussoufa, Deschacht, Frutos, Goor, Hassan, Juhasz, Legear, Leiva, Mbokani, Mpenza, Pareja, Schollen, Tchite, Van Damme, Vanden Borre, Vanderhaeghe, Van Steenberghe, ZitkaAnd how about AEK Athens - Anderlecht match? Any injuries or suspension for this match? Greece clubs are very strong at home and for anderlecht it will be a very tough match. I think that AEK can win 1:0 or 2:1 Cheers!! -
Re: UEFA Cup matches - Thu 28/09
Sport Football (Euro Cups) Event Zulte-Waregem - Lokomotiv Moscow (UEFA-cup) Selection 0-0 correct score Strength 2/10 Date 28/09/2006 Bookmaker/Price BetandWin @ 8.00 (Back) Reasoning To cover my bet on a Lokomotiv Moscow-win as I'm convinced that Zulte-Waregem will not score and a draw is enough for Lokomotiv to go the groupstage. -
Re: UEFA Cup matches - Thu 28/09
Sport Football (Euro Cups) Event Zulte-Waregem - Lokomotiv Moscow Selection Lokomotiv Moscow Strength 8/10 Date 28/09/2006 Bookmaker/Price Skybet @ 2.50 (Back) Reasoning A bit early, but I think the odds on Lokomotiv will drop, so I'll put my pick here now. These odds on Lokomotiv (at Skybet) are just way too high in my opinion. Zulte-Waregem isn't playing in their own stadium (because it isn't good enough for European football), but in the stadium of AA Gent. This is about 30kms (+-20 miles) far from Waregem. I doubt they will be able to fill the stadium (about 12000 places?). There is a good field in Gent, which is an advantage for Lokomotiv, because they have the more technical players. Zulte-Waregem won this weekend with 4-2 against Roeselare. They scored 2 goals on penalty. Roussel(striker) got injured in that game, he will not be fit for the game against Lokomotiv. Zulte-Waregem has been far from impressive this season (and the last half of last season). Lokomotiv won on the field of CSKA with 1-2 this weekend. They have won alot in awaygames this season in the competition (7-2-1). The first leg between the two teams ended in a 2-1 victory for Lokomotiv. Lokomotiv dominated the game, but without creating alot of chances. Zulte-Waregem only had one chance in that game (in the 94th minute) and scored out of that 1 chance. The qualitydifference was obvious in the first leg, if you compare the individual qualities of the Lokomotiv-players with the qualities of the Waregem-players you'll see that Lokomotiv has by far the best player on every position. Waregem will probably start the game a bit defensive, but if it's still 0-0 after an hour they will have to attack which will be in the advantage of Lokomotiv, because they seem pretty good on counter-attack. I don't see Waregem scoring, so you could cover this bet with 0-0(@8.00) correct score. -
Re: UEFA Cup matches - Thu 28/09 Zulte-Waregem - Lokomotiv Moscow: great odds on away-win, even though Lokomotiv doens't have to win.
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Re: Cycling - World Championship 2006 Salzburg (24/09/06) Bettini won and he deserved the victory, he was the most attacking rider today. The Italian team was just superb. Boonen only finished 9th. :cry
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Re: Cycling - World Championship 2006 Salzburg (24/09/06)
Sport Cycling Event World Championship 2006 - Road Race : Winner Selection Boonen Tom Strength 4/10 Date 24/09/2006 Bookmaker/Price Unibet @ 6.50 (Back) Reasoning Boonen was last years WC in Madrid. He then won in a sprint with a small pack. The course of this year isn't as hard as expected, which is an advantage for Boonen, because he is the best sprinter(after such a long race). Since his dissapointing Tour de France, Boonen prepared himself for the last objective of this season, this WC. If I may believe the newspapers Boonen thinks he will have no problems to get over the hills. He says the hills are comparable with the hills in the Flemish races(in which Boonen is simply the best). The others cyclists have to try to get alone to the finish without Boonen or they'll probably lose the race. In contrast with a few years ago Belgium has now a real team that wants to race for each other. This could be an advantage to help Boonen if any of the other candidates manages to dash off. The other big candidates in my point of view are Bettini, Valverde and Di Luca. -
Odds on the favourites:
Odds from Unibet Profile of the race:Win Paced 1-3 Bettini 5.00 2.00 Boonen 6.50 2.30 Valverde 7.00 2.20 Vinokourov 8.50 2.75 O'Grady 14.00 4.25 Gilbert 17.00 5.25 Schumacher 17.00 5.25 Di Luca 17.00 5.25 Hushovd 22.00 7.00 Zabel 25.00 8.00 
265,2 km (12 tours)
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Re: CL matches 13/09
Anderlecht should be better then the past seasons, they have bought some good technically midfielders and they have three good strikers. Only the defence is weakened in comparison with the previous seasons. Anderlecht lost their last six games at home in the Champions League. Their last win at home dates from 2003 against Lyon. It's indeed a tough call, but on first view I would go for under2.5, odds around 1.55. I think both teams will defend the advantage if they score instead of going for a second goal.Anderlecht- Lille, bit of a toss up Anderlecht usually solid at home in the CL but I don't think they are as good as they have been in passed seasons? Tough call -
Re: UEFA Cup matches - Thu 14th Sept Lokomotiv Moscow – Zulte-Waregem:
Zulte-Waregem hasn’t got the good form of last season anymore. The strikers they bought haven’t got the same profile as Salou (striker who could keep the ball with him and then pass it to the upcoming midfielders), so the coach had to change their way of playing. This is causing more problems then planned. Zulte-Waregem gained 4 points out of 15 this season, and last weekend they lost at home with 1-2 against Cercle (one of the worst teams in the league).There are also some missings in the team: Dindeleux(defender who would take place on the bench anyway, but I find him better then Leleu, who is getting too slow), D’Haemers, Meert and Van Nieuwenhuyze (three midfielders, normally in the starting 11) and Roussel (good striker, but has some fysical problems). Muslin, the coach of Lokomotiv knows the Belgian competition and Zulte-Waregem from last season, when he was half a season coach for Lokeren. Lokomotiv played some Belgian teams in the previous years, but never lost: Sep 24, 02: Club Brugge – Lokomotiv: 0-0 Nov 13, 02: Lokomotiv – Club Brugge: 2-0 Oct 24, 2001: Anderlecht – Lokomotiv: 1-5 Sep 11, 2001: Lokomotiv – Anderlecht: 1-1 Both Anderlecht and Club Brugge are better teams then Zulte-Waregem. I don’t know wether Lokomotiv is missing some important players, but the difference in quality and the fact that Lokomotiv is in the winning mood(they won their last 4 games) and Zulte-Waregem has been far from impressive this season and is missing some important players makes me go for a Lokomotiv-win. Zulte-Waregem has also no European experience. 9/10 on 1 @1.35 (Bet-at-home) 4/10 on H1 (0-1) @1.80 (Bet-at-home)
UEFA Cup - (Nov 23)
in Europa League Predictions
Posted
Re: UEFA Cup - (Nov 23) Probable line-ups (according to the Belgian newspapers): CLub Brugge - Dinamo: Stijnen, Priske, Maertens, Clement, Gvozdenovic, Englebert, Vermant, Blondel, Daerden, Balaban*, Salou *Balaban and Yulu-Matondo(both strikers and topscoreres of the team) are doubtfull Gajev, Blay, Radu, Galamaz, Pulhac, Serban, Ropotan, Danciulescu, Cristea, Niculescu, Ganea Espanyol - Zulte-Waregem: Gorka, Velasco, Torrejon, Jarque, Moha, Rufete, Costa, De la Peña, Luis Garcia, Riera, Pandiani Merlier, D'Haemers, Leleu, Dindeleux, Reina, Van Nieuwenhuyze, Verschuere, Sergeant, Meert, Matthys, Roussel De Brul (central defender) and De Vlieger (first goalkeeper) are injured