UEFA Europa League > 15 September

[Mahno]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Also have to remind you about Metalist away record.Bookies still priced them as underdogs...agaist Austria Viena :unsure Last time i took Metalist away to Soauchax at @4.50. DNB should be safe option.Argentinians can tear apart Viena if in the mood :lol

Oh,looks like odds droped now and Metalist is favorite.I took them few days ago at @3.50 now down to @2.60

[Charles Drawin]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Also have to remind you about Metalist away record.Bookies still priced them as underdogs...agaist Austria Viena :unsure Last time i took Metalist away to Soauchax at @4.50. DNB should be safe option.Argentinians can tear apart Viena if in the mood :lol

Totally agree, they took Sochaux apart, it was very impressive. Don't forget the Brazilians too ;)

[Shotty]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September Quick question for you guys if you wouln't mind answering. If you see odds around 1.8 to 2.0 etc and see value in that do you put a single bet on that to win? I normally do doubles, trebles, accy's when i bet but i see lots of people saying there taking odds of around 1.8 but you would have to bet high stakes if you want a big return right? What's your normall betting style guys? I could do with a few tips

[MPLouis]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

That's not a credible argument unfortunately.

I think it's always a good idea to look at sides' home and away records. In the Europa League, Braga have won 5 of their last 10 at home, but only 1 of their last 10 away ;) - http://www.soccerway.com/teams/portugal/sporting-braga/

[Charles Drawin]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

I think it's always a good idea to look at sides' home and away records. In the Europa League, Braga have won 5 of their last 10 at home, but only 1 of their last 10 away ;) - http://www.soccerway.com/teams/portugal/sporting-braga/

You need to dig a little deeper than that. Yes they have only won 1 in the last 10 away but you have to take into account the calibre of opposition. I refer you to the post by pg yid regarding their away form. Stats are very useful but should never be followed blindly ;)

[Charles Drawin]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September I'm thinking Maribor maybe overpriced but I'll have to do some research.

[Profit Prophet]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

No,it's not! Stoke's playres that didn't travel are: Crouch,Fuller,Delap,Begovic(main keeper),Etheringnton,Wilson Kiev has no injury worries apart from Gusev,Sheva and Mihalik should be Back for that one. If memory serves me well then in a past few years Dynamo only lost at home to Barca in all Euro comp.I also took them to beat man City last season(which they did 2-0) So think twice before backing Stoke with poor away record. I would go with U2.5 knowing defensive stoke with flying tackles

I assure you i know alot more about stoke than you do mahno. Don't tell me what i should or shouldn't do thank you. I recommend a bet based on average hit ratio compared to odds available. It's unlikely you'll make money on kiev @ 1.80 long term. As i say, i know Stoke inside out, they are my local team. Begovic isn't neccessarily their main goalkeepee btw, he's just started this season that's all. I will write up when i've finalised my bets.

[DJ]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September I think Udinese will beat Rennes. Udinese looked the better team against Arsenal over both looks and were unlucky not to qualify for the CL. Udinese have home advantage, a stronger side and I can't see them being a club to dismiss the Europa League. Odds of 5/6 are surely worth a go? With hills. Oh and At Madrid should batter Celtic. At Madrid made some excellent signings over the summer including Falcao. The odds for the win are around 2/5 but still worth a go.

[Charles Drawin]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Birmingham vs Braga is an interesting one. Is Braga's away record THAT bad? Recent results include narrow defeats at Lech Poznan and Benfica' date=' but draws at Kiev, Young Boys and Liverpool and a victory at Partizan Belgrade. It's not spectacular but I'd say they were a difficult side to beat. Last season this would have been as close as you could get to an under 2.5 goals banker, with these sides being two of the most cautious, defensive club sides I saw play. But now Chris Hughton is in charge at Birmingham they have been scoring and conceding a lot more, which is little surprise. Braga too have changed manager, though I know nothing about the new guy. Braga DNB @ 2.1 (Skybet) appeals as I'd say they were the more likely side to nick it, but the draw is tempting as well.[/quote'] Last 10 European Away Fixtures Wed 04/08/10 UCL Celtic 2 - 1 Sporting Braga Tue 24/08/10 UCL Sevilla 3 - 4 Sporting Braga Wed 15/09/10 UCL Arsenal 6 - 0 Sporting Braga Wed 03/11/10 UCL Partizan 0 - 1 Sporting Braga Wed 08/12/10 UCL Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 0 Sporting Braga Thu 17/02/11 UEL Lech Poznan 1 - 0 Sporting Braga Thu 17/03/11 UEL Liverpool 0 - 0 Sporting Braga Thu 07/04/11 UEL Dynamo Kyiv 1 - 1 Sporting Braga Thu 28/04/11 UEL Benfica 2 - 1 Sporting Braga Thu 25/08/11 UEL Young Boys 2 - 2 Sporting Braga P10 W2 D3 L5 The fixtures highlighted in bold were over two legs. No your eyes don't deceive you a 4-3 win at Sevilla to qualify for the Champions League group stage ;) Also they weren't required to win all the games in bold. So taking the calibre of the opposition into account and the context in which the games were played that's a pretty decent away record. For me Birmingham are there for the taking if they can put their best foot forward.

[Wittek]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September Hello everyone, if I remember correctly when I posted the odds came out at once but I can not find the post now, I put it all even if the odds have changed a lot but might be useful for information I moved here too early because some units out on the book and I could not see them yesterday in Asia, but some have fallen, however, could serve ODENSE 5.15 stanlybet ODENSE X2 2.20 stanlebet ZURICH 3.14 Stanleybet ZURICH asianbooks 1.92 +0.25 BRAGA asianbooks 2.02 +0.25 RAPID BUCHAREST 3.80 Stanleybet RAPID BUCHAREST asianbooks 1.85 +0.5 For me, these shares were and still are some out of business. Odense is favored against Wisla do not see why bwin.com is out with 5.85 followed by others with the Danes and finally down a little is that stanley is aligned, Asians have Wisla -0.5 but not on match day longer exist, with the Wisla 1.60 was ridiculous, at least for me, but then again that is from 2.40 to 2.50 Odense is favored in this race and I wonder if it closes Sept. 15 with a dnb.Wisla I saw him play all both the preliminary matches of the champions that those found campionato.In champions Skonto Riga of the amateurs, and they disbanded in the first round of the Bulgarian Lovech.Contro Apoel at home have suffered for 70 minutes and if he had Apoel a stacker would go ahead, then the Cypriots are physically in the final and fell to the Wisla scored his first in goal and won the Cyprus partita.A but were put under for 90 minutes but the Cypriots do not have a repeat in front of the tip height to make the Champions League, Wisla took the first two goals and three ducks to their Estonian goalkeeper Parejko.Odense team is physical and has been an awkward one to Villareal and easily disposed of the Greeks won 2-4 in Athens Pananthinaikos . Then you must consider one very important thing that then surely the market will suffer, will not play in Wisla two important players, the Israeli Melikson that is worth only 50% of the team director and driver scorer thanks to its networks have eliminated Bulgarians, and Sobolewski midfielder well encounter in the national team, in practice they are out two pieces of 90 players and there are worthy to replace them, so the midfield will be very difficult Wisla. Zurich I have reversed the odds 3.15 to 2.20, the Sporting Lisbon also has big problems this year company has been years since arriving in Portugal from the first distant places, have two points in the league and have played with teams of low caliber , Zurich, I saw him play against Standard Liege are a team that plays football a very diligent, I do not understand why devano be disadvantaged in the house. Braga puolo not assert against Birmingham +0.25, true that the British have defeated the National, but Braga is always the last edition and a finalist in the international field have acquired valuable experience. The Rapid Bicarest is a very good team, I saw the play three times in a friendly with Wisla won 2-1 and in doubles against Slask contronfo well after I had supported, and although they went 1-0 in a penalty soon have equalized and then took the lead for a 3-1 win by dominating the race for 90 minutes, it is very difficult to deal with a team that leaves no space in midfield, but these will not spoil subito.Io Israeli Hapoel I do not look like fenomeni.Anche here I do not think the day I can play the game is always +0.5.

[stefanos56]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September Hi, I was hoping for some advice. I was tinking of Braga on the Asian Handicap (0) but I'm not used to Asian Handicaps. Could somebody please confirm I have the following scenarios right? Asian Handicap Braga (0): Braga win = win Braga draw = stake returned Braga lose = I lose Thanks in advance :ok

[DJ]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Last 10 European Away Fixtures Wed 04/08/10 UCL Celtic 2 - 1 Sporting Braga Tue 24/08/10 UCL Sevilla 3 - 4 Sporting Braga Wed 15/09/10 UCL Arsenal 6 - 0 Sporting Braga Wed 03/11/10 UCL Partizan 0 - 1 Sporting Braga Wed 08/12/10 UCL Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 0 Sporting Braga Thu 17/02/11 UEL Lech Poznan 1 - 0 Sporting Braga Thu 17/03/11 UEL Liverpool 0 - 0 Sporting Braga Thu 07/04/11 UEL Dynamo Kyiv 1 - 1 Sporting Braga Thu 28/04/11 UEL Benfica 2 - 1 Sporting Braga Thu 25/08/11 UEL Young Boys 2 - 2 Sporting Braga P10 W2 D3 L5 The fixtures highlighted in bold were over two legs. No your eyes don't deceive you a 4-3 win at Sevilla to qualify for the Champions League group stage ;) Also they weren't required to win all the games in bold. So taking the calibre of the opposition into account and the context in which the games were played that's a pretty decent away record. For me Birmingham are there for the taking if they can put their best foot forward.

A) Braga aren't required to win tonight as it's group stage b）losing half of the games listed and only winning 2 is hardly decent away form C) they lost 6-0 v arsenal D) they lost v CELTIC :| Braga will likely win but it's one of those I'm staying clear of as I think Birmingham will be fired up for a European night & they won 3-0 last time out plus as it's first game for Braga, they can drop points and recover & that can affect motivation. I also have a gut instinct that this will be banana skin territory so left it well alone

[ValueHunter]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Hi, I was hoping for some advice. I was tinking of Braga on the Asian Handicap (0) but I'm not used to Asian Handicaps. Could somebody please confirm I have the following scenarios right? Asian Handicap Braga (0): Braga win = win Braga draw = stake returned Braga lose = I lose Thanks in advance :ok

You got that right :ok You may find this article helpful: http://www.footballtip.co.uk/asian-handicap-explained.php

[Divincodino]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September Mauri will not play for Lazio, cause an injury, this should be formation, with 4-4-2 instead of 4-2-3-1 I try for today: Rocchi to score (@2.2) bet 365 stake 4 Rocchi 1st goal (@5.5) bet365 stake 2 Captain Rocchi has scored still now 99 goals with Lazio, so he needs just 1 goal to arrive to 100 goals with this team, I think today is the day, Rocchi in very very interested in this, and also the team can help is captain to reach his target.

[YNWA]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Euro League Thursday, 15.09. Paris-Red Bull Salzburg Paris is weak, although statistics say something else. I saw their last game against Brest, which PSG won luckily 1:0. Their team play was terrible Lot of new players, who are not able to play together yet. Salzburg can surprise them. I try [email protected] (bet90.com). PSV-Legia warschau PSV Eindhoven is the stronger team and with home field advantage. This match PSV Eindhoven shall win. Eindhoven with lots of goals in their last games. Legia not in best shape in the moment. Over 2,5 goals seem to be a quite safe bet. Lazio-Vaslui Lazio has won with ease on home field and away field in the UEFA EUROPA League 4th round. This match against weaker FC Vaslui, Lazio shall win with ease on home field. After a draw against Milan away last weekend, my pick is Lazio HCP -1.

I agree with you about PSV, i think over 2.5 is decent bet @1.65, PSV scores a lots of goals at home, so it is expectable to do it tonight also.:ok

[TOTTI3]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September Paok-Tottenham=Paok 0 HA(1.92) bet365 Preview: Tottenham: absent: William Gallas, Michael Dawson Vedran Corluka, Steven Pienaar, Rafael van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon. Paok is one of the four strongest teams in Greece. The home team is very focused to make a good game against a team much stronger and to try to continue the adventure in the Champions League. Tottenham will be a reworked deal that the trip to Greece against Paok. Priority is declared by the coach Redknapp's Premier League, saw the absences and the choices made by the technician with the exception of the goalkeeper Friedel and Van der Vaart from the feeling that the Champions League, is regarded as a secondary choice. :hope:hope:hope

[TOTTI3]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September Dynamo Kiev- Stoke =1 (1.80) bet365 Preview: Dynamo Kiev: injured: Mikhalik (defender 18 / 1), Gusev (midfielder 5 / 1) Stoke: absent: Peter Crouch (striker 1 / 0), Matthew Etherington (midfielder 4 / 0), Woodgate (defender 3 / 0), Rory Delap (midfielder 2 / 0); injured: Marc Wilson (midfielder 4 / 0); in doubt: Upson (defender 1 / 0). Dynamo Kiev lost a Champions League place by Rubin. And 'one of the strongest teams in Europe and a candidate for League final victory. The home team is doing a great league with Shakhtar is first with 23 points in 9 games with 20 goals scored and 3 conceded. Stoke after a good start to the season in the Premier League want to continue to focus much on the championship. This is why some players were in England without even leaving for a trip very insidious. The coach will line up in the Stoke keeper Sorensen leads the second. In light of this information I think a victory for the home team. Quote of the sign 1 in decline of many books. :hope:hope:hope

[Divincodino]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

I think Udinese will beat Rennes. Udinese looked the better team against Arsenal over both looks and were unlucky not to qualify for the CL. Udinese have home advantage, a stronger side and I can't see them being a club to dismiss the Europa League. Odds of 5/6 are surely worth a go? With hills. .

Hi mate, I advice you to await to know exactly who will play for Udinese, maybe Di Natale will start from the bench and this should be a great loss for local team, at this moment Di Natale is the only one who scores for Udinese

[gabymnk]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September Lazio - FC Vaslui Personally, I do not see that much value in odds around 1.40 for a home win here. There is no doubt that Lazio has better team but Vaslui has surprised many people with their performances. I expect an open match with many goals and I took both teams to score @ 2.05 with bwin. Hapoel tel Aviv vs Rapid Bucharest I have no good knowledge of israelian football but from statistics I can tell you that against Rapid they will not have an easy game here. Rapid has improved a lot with the arrival of Razvan Lucescu, the young coach who led them to the Uefa cup quarter final against Steaua a couple of years ago. Odds above 3.5 for Rapid are huge value and I haven't hesitated to take Rapid DNB @ odds around 2.60. Razvan is very talented and has the abbility to motivate his team and prepare a match technically. Rapid will focus on getting points against Hapoel and Legia. I wouldn't be surprised if this year Rapid will succeed in getting into quarterfinals again.

[nicko]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Lazio - FC Vaslui Personally, I do not see that much value in odds around 1.40 for a home win here. There is no doubt that Lazio has better team but Vaslui has surprised many people with their performances. I expect an open match with many goals and I took both teams to score @ 2.05 with bwin. Hapoel tel Aviv vs Rapid Bucharest I have no good knowledge of israelian football but from statistics I can tell you that against Rapid they will not have an easy game here. Rapid has improved a lot with the arrival of Razvan Lucescu, the young coach who led them to the Uefa cup quarter final against Steaua a couple of years ago. Odds above 3.5 for Rapid are huge value and I haven't hesitated to take Rapid DNB @ odds around 2.60. Razvan is very talented and has the abbility to motivate his team and prepare a match technically. Rapid will focus on getting points against Hapoel and Legia. I wouldn't be surprised if this year Rapid will succeed in getting into quarterfinals again.

An Over in Rome looks good to me too, but I can't see Tel Aviv losing the game. All top Israeli teams are traditionally strong at home, giving hard time to by far bigger clubs. If I knew more about Rapid, maybe I could have given a further opinion and go for a bet here, but I don't...Rapid will try to get as many points as possible from Legia and Hapoel, but this is exactly what the Managers of those two teams want as well. I see a score draw or a narrow win by Israelis, yet to tricky to call...

[HurlyBurlyMan]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September I've layed Birmingham at 7/4. There is a class difference here between the sides and Braga are seasoned Euro campaigners now. I've watched them several times and they are very hard to beat. Their away record isn't great but it isn't too bad either considering some of the sides they've played. Someone mentioned they lost to Celtic citing that as an example of a poor away record. News flash for you - Celtic despite being a Euro minnow, have a formidable home record in Europe as Barca, Milan, Porto and most of the top sides will testify. Anyway, the bet I really want to be on is Braga to qualify but I don't see any market. So instead I'll go with laying Birmingham tonight. Best bets of the night for me are : Athletico Madrid to beat Celtic Rubin Kazan to beat Shamrock Rovers Lazio to beat Vaslui All 3 matches have gulfs in class between the sides, although there is a slight danger Rubin Kazan might settle for a draw as they are such a defensive side. But I'll go with a good sized bet on the Atletico/Lazio double and a smaller bet on the Atletico/Rubin/Lazio treble.

[Kiddo112]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

I've layed Birmingham at 7/4. There is a class difference here between the sides and Braga are seasoned Euro campaigners now. I've watched them several times and they are very hard to beat. Their away record isn't great but it isn't too bad either considering some of the sides they've played. Someone mentioned they lost to Celtic citing that as an example of a poor away record. News flash for you - Celtic despite being a Euro minnow, have a formidable home record in Europe as Barca, Milan, Porto and most of the top sides will testify. Anyway, the bet I really want to be on is Braga to qualify but I don't see any market. So instead I'll go with laying Birmingham tonight. quote] Bwin have this market: Braga 2/13 Club Brugges 3/5 Birmingham 13/10 NK Maribor 13/4

[MPLouis]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Hi, I was hoping for some advice. I was tinking of Braga on the Asian Handicap (0) but I'm not used to Asian Handicaps. Could somebody please confirm I have the following scenarios right? Asian Handicap Braga (0): Braga win = win Braga draw = stake returned Braga lose = I lose Thanks in advance :ok

Asian Handicap bets are 2-way instead of 2-way, as they eliminate the possibility of the draw. The downside is the odds will be lower than the straight Braga win on the 3-way market.

[Profit Prophet]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Dynamo Kiev- Stoke =1 (1.80) bet365 Preview: Dynamo Kiev: injured: Mikhalik (defender 18 / 1), Gusev (midfielder 5 / 1) Stoke: absent: Peter Crouch (striker 1 / 0), Matthew Etherington (midfielder 4 / 0), Woodgate (defender 3 / 0), Rory Delap (midfielder 2 / 0); injured: Marc Wilson (midfielder 4 / 0); in doubt: Upson (defender 1 / 0). Dynamo Kiev lost a Champions League place by Rubin. And 'one of the strongest teams in Europe and a candidate for League final victory. The home team is doing a great league with Shakhtar is first with 23 points in 9 games with 20 goals scored and 3 conceded. Stoke after a good start to the season in the Premier League want to continue to focus much on the championship. This is why some players were in England without even leaving for a trip very insidious. The coach will line up in the Stoke keeper Sorensen leads the second. In light of this information I think a victory for the home team. Quote of the sign 1 in decline of many books. :hope:hope:hope

This is very misleading. Stoke are taking this competition VERY seriously hence they splashed out £20m on the last day of the transfer window. Unprecedented in Stokes history. The local area is quite deprived, very working class and football means a hell of a lot to the local fans. I don't support Stoke but i live 6 mile from the ground. Peter Coates (stoke owner and Bet365 owner) has bankrolled the latest investment to achieve both success in the PL and europe. Begovic isn't a clear number one although he holds the jersey currently. Coruch has only just been bought and Pulis has a long history of bedding players in slowly anyway. Etherington is the only real exclusion. Upson and Woodgate were brought in for the strength in depth of both competetions they needed. Again, please stop going off names only, they are not guranteed number 1/2 CBs at Stoke. Stoke will be travelling with a strong squad that have played together for 2-3 seasons now. That is more telling than leaving out a few recent bigger name players. Pulis likes to rely on team spirit and togetherness hence Crouch/Woodgate haven't travelled with them only joining recently. Comments like above and from Mahno make me worry what other crap is written on teams i know little about and need to rely on their info for.

[MPLouis]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

the bet I really want to be on is Braga to qualify but I don't see any market

Betfair offer this market (to qualify from the group). I'm guessing some bookies do too. Edit - just seen Kiddo112 has listed some above :p

[paun]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September PAOK - Tottenham Pick home WIN 3,55 here some news way i pick this game Injured Spurs midfielder Rafael van der Vaart was left out of the group stage squad list, much to his chagrin, while Scott Parker, Emmanuel Adebayor, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale are rested, meaning Giovani dos Santos, Tom Carroll, Jake Livermore (pictured), Yago Falque and Andros Townsend will be given a chance to shine. Kyle Walker is the only player to travel who featured in the win at Wolves. Michael Dawson (Achilles) and Sandro (knee) are out.

[pg_yid]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

This is very misleading. Stoke are taking this competition VERY seriously hence they splashed out £20m on the last day of the transfer window. Unprecedented in Stokes history. The local area is quite deprived, very working class and football means a hell of a lot to the local fans. I don't support Stoke but i live 6 mile from the ground. Peter Coates (stoke owner and Bet365 owner) has bankrolled the latest investment to achieve both success in the PL and europe. Begovic isn't a clear number one although he holds the jersey currently. Coruch has only just been bought and Pulis has a long history of bedding players in slowly anyway. Etherington is the only real exclusion. Upson and Woodgate were brought in for the strength in depth of both competetions they needed. Again, please stop going off names only, they are not guranteed number 1/2 CBs at Stoke. Stoke will be travelling with a strong squad that have played together for 2-3 seasons now. That is more telling than leaving out a few recent bigger name players. Pulis likes to rely on team spirit and togetherness hence Crouch/Woodgate haven't travelled with them only joining recently. Comments like above and from Mahno make me worry what other crap is written on teams i know little about and need to rely on their info for.

I actually backed Stoke to win the Europa League at 100s before their campaign started, with a view to lay them off later on. Reckoned it was way too high considering Stoke are a good side and considering Fulham's success the other year. But their squad selection still says to me that they are prioritising the league. Why sign Crouch if they're not even going to put him on the bench in an important game? Why leave Etherington out? Obviously Pulis is doing this not because they are poor players but because he is resting them. I agree with you that it is still a reasonably strong squad, and maybe I'm just pissed off because I bet on them, but I can't understand why he's not taking it 100% seriously rather than 80% seriously. Does he think that Stoke might get in the Champions League, or face danger of relegation? :loon Ludicrous IMO and he should be resting players FOR these games if anything, they're not going to get relegated.

[HastGill1]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

I actually backed Stoke to win the Europa League at 100s before their campaign started, with a view to lay them off later on. Reckoned it was way too high considering Stoke are a good side and considering Fulham's success the other year. But their squad selection still says to me that they are prioritising the league. Why sign Crouch if they're not even going to put him on the bench in an important game? Why leave Etherington out? Obviously Pulis is doing this not because they are poor players but because he is resting them. I agree with you that it is still a reasonably strong squad, and maybe I'm just pissed off because I bet on them, but I can't understand why he's not taking it 100% seriously rather than 80% seriously. Does he think that Stoke might get in the Champions League, or face danger of relegation? :loon Ludicrous IMO and he should be resting players FOR these games if anything, they're not going to get relegated.

League is the priority for everyone, Man Utd and Chelsea included. Look at the team United put out last night! Stoke need to rotate and are doing so, this isn't a two legged tie they still have 5 (?) games after this to qualify and they are bound to put priority on winning the home games. It's not just about qualification for the CL or relegation there are millions of pounds difference in finishing 10th say or 13th, in terms of prize money in the EPL. It becomes a squad game and Stoke are in the position where they now have a strong squad.

[Profit Prophet]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

I actually backed Stoke to win the Europa League at 100s before their campaign started, with a view to lay them off later on. Reckoned it was way too high considering Stoke are a good side and considering Fulham's success the other year. But their squad selection still says to me that they are prioritising the league. Why sign Crouch if they're not even going to put him on the bench in an important game? Why leave Etherington out? Obviously Pulis is doing this not because they are poor players but because he is resting them. I agree with you that it is still a reasonably strong squad, and maybe I'm just pissed off because I bet on them, but I can't understand why he's not taking it 100% seriously rather than 80% seriously. Does he think that Stoke might get in the Champions League, or face danger of relegation? :loon Ludicrous IMO and he should be resting players FOR these games if anything, they're not going to get relegated.

Pulis doesn't like to buy someone and throw them in several games in row. I know it sounds strange but that's just the way he is. Rememeber he's still taking : Sorenson : His number one for many seasons and still very close to being no.1 Shawcross : His first choice CB (no matter the bigger names of upson/woodgate) Palacios : new cm/dm Walters : An ever present up front for sometime now Jones : Big money signing from last season Pennant : main winger at least on level in Pulis and Stoke fans mind with Etherington Jerome : new singing I genuinly believe Pulis believes he is taking out a very strong competitive squad. I can't emphasis enough his preference to integrate players gradually and keep a spine together and team spirit.

[Jase82]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 15 September

Ludicrous IMO and he should be resting players FOR these games if anything' date=' they're not going to get relegated.[/quote'] I disagree actually. Remember they only finished six points off the relegation places last season, and another prolonged cup competition could be disastrous to their season. History should have taught us that anyone can easily get dragged into a relegation scrap. I personally don't fancy Stoke at all tonight. Kiev are a European heavy weight, and it won't be an easy trip to make. Last season they got to the quarters, and I remember them beating City 2-0 at home on the way. Admittedly a lot has probably changed since then and I know very little about Ukrainian football, but I can't see Stoke scraping a win. Maybe a scrappy draw as this is the group stages. Unders would probably be my call again, albeit an obvious call. Stoke have only gone over once this season.