UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

[Jase82]

	Thursday 3 November 2011	Home	Draw	Away	BPP
	Rubin Kazan v Tottenham Hotspur (17:00 BST)	1.8	3.75	5.2	101.45 %
	Besiktas JK v Dynamo Kyiv (18:00 BST)	2.64	3.4	2.96	101.07 %
	FC København v Hannover 96 (18:00 BST)	2.58	3.35	2.94	102.62 %
	FC Red Bull Salzburg v Athletic Bilbao (18:00 BST)	3.75	3.45	2.2	101.11 %
	FC Vaslui v Sporting CP (18:00 BST)	4.18	3.45	2.1	100.53 %
	Lazio v FC Zürich (18:00 BST)	1.57	4.2	6.52	102.84 %
	Legia Warszawa v Rapid Bucuresti (18:00 BST)	2.02	3.4	4.1	103.31 %
	Maccabi Tel Aviv v Stoke City (18:00 BST)	2.94	3.3	2.5	104.32 %
	Paris Saint-Germain v Slovan Bratislava (18:00 BST)	1.2	7	21	102.38 %
	PSV Eindhoven v Hapoel Tel Aviv (18:00 BST)	1.27	6	13.5	102.81 %
	Shamrock Rovers v PAOK (18:00 BST)	5	3.7	1.91	99.38 %
	Vorskla Poltava v Standard de Liège (18:00 BST)	2.88	3.3	2.6	103.49 %
	AEK Athens v Lokomotiv Moscow (20:05 BST)	4.2	3.5	1.96	103.40 %
	Anderlecht v SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz (20:05 BST)	1.3	5.6	11	103.87 %
	Atlético Madrid v Udinese (20:05 BST)	1.66	3.9	6.2	101.77 %
	Birmingham City v Club Brugge (20:05 BST)	2.5	3.35	3.2	101.10 %
	Celtic v Stade Rennais (20:05 BST)	2.46	3.4	3.1	102.32 %
	FC Schalke 04 v AEK Larnaca (20:05 BST)	1.15	9	21	102.83 %
	FC Twente v Odense BK (20:05 BST)	1.21	6	15	105.98 %
	FK Austria Wien v AZ Alkmaar (20:05 BST)	3.65	3.4	2.1	104.43 %
	Fulham v Wisla Kraków (20:05 BST)	1.36	5.4	11	100.94 %
	Metalist Kharkiv v Malmö FF (20:05 BST)	1.28	5.9	13.5	102.48 %
	Sporting de Braga v NK Maribor (20:05 BST)	1.26	6.5	11	103.84 %
	Steaua Bucuresti v Maccabi Haifa (20:05 BST)	2.34	3.3	3.07	105.61 %

[Northwestpunter]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November One team stands out for me. They have a great shout of winning and they are clearly the wrong price. AZ67 ALKMAAR -0 & -0.5 1.81 (SBOBET) AZ Alkmaar are 4pts clear at the top of the Dutch League with just one defeat to their name all season. They have started their Europa League campaign with one win and two draws - comfortably beating Group G whipping boys, Malmo 4-1 at home in their opening game, before gaining a creditable 1-1 draw away in the Ukraine against a very strong Metalist Kharkov side (who are unbeaten both domestically and in Europe this season, and who recently beat Champions Shaktar Donetsk on their own ground). Last time out Alkmaar were around the 1.33 - 1.36 mark to beat Austria Vienna at home, and they were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw. However after conceding 2 early goals against the run of play, the Dutch side dominated virtually all of the match, missing chance after chance, before finally scoring twice in the final 10mins. On another day, if they had taken their chances (which they usually do), they would have won 4-2 or 5-2. That 2-2 draw leaves Alkmaar just 1pt ahead of Austria Vienna in Group G and they will want to win in Vienna to make amends, and also to give themselves the comfort of a 4pt cushion over their Austrian rivals with just 2 games to play, and the virtual certainty of qualification into the knockout stages. A defeat in Vienna could make qualification difficult, and even a draw could leave the Austrians still in with a chance of qualification at Alkmaar's expense - especially as the Dutch side's final game is against Group Leaders Metalist. There is a gap in class between these two sides (the best sides in Holland are quite a bit stronger than the best sides in Austria) and I made Alkmaar no bigger than 1.80 to win in Vienna. On the -0 & -0.5 Line they should be around 1.60!!!! Bet 770 are amazingly going 23/20 (2.15) and a number of other Firms are 2.10 or 2.05 that is serious value! I think that many Bookmakers have read too much into the 2-2 draw between the teams the other week and they assume that there is not as much between the teams as there is. I expect the price to shorten over the coming days.

[Kiddo112]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

One team stands out for me. They have a great shout of winning and they are clearly the wrong price. AZ67 ALKMAAR -0 & -0.5 1.81 (SBOBET) AZ Alkmaar are 4pts clear at the top of the Dutch League with just one defeat to their name all season. They have started their Europa League campaign with one win and two draws - comfortably beating Group G whipping boys, Malmo 4-1 at home in their opening game, before gaining a creditable 1-1 draw away in the Ukraine against a very strong Metalist Kharkov side (who are unbeaten both domestically and in Europe this season, and who recently beat Champions Shaktar Donetsk on their own ground). Last time out Alkmaar were around the 1.33 - 1.36 mark to beat Austria Vienna at home, and they were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw. However after conceding 2 early goals against the run of play, the Dutch side dominated virtually all of the match, missing chance after chance, before finally scoring twice in the final 10mins. On another day, if they had taken their chances (which they usually do), they would have won 4-2 or 5-2. That 2-2 draw leaves Alkmaar just 1pt ahead of Austria Vienna in Group G and they will want to win in Vienna to make amends, and also to give themselves the comfort of a 4pt cushion over their Austrian rivals with just 2 games to play, and the virtual certainty of qualification into the knockout stages. A defeat in Vienna could make qualification difficult, and even a draw could leave the Austrians still in with a chance of qualification at Alkmaar's expense - especially as the Dutch side's final game is against Group Leaders Metalist. There is a gap in class between these two sides (the best sides in Holland are quite a bit stronger than the best sides in Austria) and I made Alkmaar no bigger than 1.80 to win in Vienna. On the -0 & -0.5 Line they should be around 1.60!!!! Bet 770 are amazingly going 23/20 (2.15) and a number of other Firms are 2.10 or 2.05 that is serious value! I think that many Bookmakers have read too much into the 2-2 draw between the teams the other week and they assume that there is not as much between the teams as there is. I expect the price to shorten over the coming days.

Just my tuppence. AZ played away at Dordrecht in the Dutch Cup on Thursday, and while they eventually won 3-2 in extra time, I thought they were unconvincing. They were pegged back from 2-0, and I felt that they looked pretty tired. Think their EL exploits may be starting to take their toll. Will wait and see how they go away at Hercules tomorrow to see if it was just a one off performance or whether they may be getting a bit leggy. Prior to the Ajax result (2-2 draw in Amsterdam where they led 2-0), I understand a lot of the dutch media were unconvinced by them as the fixture list had been kind to them. So perhaps the 4 point lead at the top is not quite what it appears at first glance??

[baggio]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Tottenham at 5.2?

[Northwestpunter]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

Just my tuppence. AZ played away at Dordrecht in the Dutch Cup on Thursday' date=' and while they eventually won 3-2 in extra time, I thought they were unconvincing. They were pegged back from 2-0, and I felt that they looked pretty tired. Think their EL exploits may be starting to take their toll. Will wait and see how they go away at Hercules tomorrow to see if it was just a one off performance or whether they may be getting a bit leggy. Prior to the Ajax result (2-2 draw in Amsterdam where they led 2-0), I understand a lot of the dutch media were unconvinced by them as the fixture list had been kind to them. So perhaps the 4 point lead at the top is not quite what it appears at first glance??[/quote'] I take your point about AZ throwing in the odd unconvincing performance of late - with their Europe League exploits - they have played a lot of games already this season. Personally (and it's all just a matter of opinion) I would rate AZ as probably the 3rd or 4th best side in Holland at the moment, (despite extending their lead to 6pts, after beating Heracles on Sunday) - probably slightly behind Ajax and PSV - and very similar to FC Twente. I'm not sure that the fixture list has been kind though. After the first 11 games of the League season, AZ now have a 6pt lead and they have already played Ajax, PSV, FC Twente, Feyenoord and Vitesse (the other 5 teams that make up the top 6 in Holland!). Meanwhile, Thursday's opponents Austria Vienna held onto 2nd place in their domestic League, after a disappointing 2-2 draw away at bottom club Kapfenburger SV. I would currently assess Austria Vienna as probably the 3rd or 4th best side in the Austrian League (behind Red Bull Salzburg and Admira Wacker, and probably about the same as city rivals Rapid Vienna). As there is undeniably a sizeable gap betwwen the standard of the Dutch League and the Austrian League, you would expect a top 4 side in Holland to be around 1.33 -1.36 (1.4 or 1.5 goals superior in spread terms) on the -0.5 line to beat a top 4 Austrian side at home, and - as Home advantage in Europe is worth around 0.4 goals - that translates into a top 4 Dutch side being around 1.8 or 1.75 (0.6 or 0.7 goals superior in spread terms) when they play away to a top 4 Austrian side - therefore odds of 2.1 certainly represents value. I'm expecting an open game on Thursday night (as the Austrians really need to win if they are to qualify for the knockout stages) -and that should, providing they take their chances, play into AZ's hands. This game is all about different opinions - no-one gets it right all the time, and no-one gets it wrong all the time. Good luck to all this week.

[GreekExperts]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November SHAMROCK ROVERS-PAOK PICK:PAOK ODDS:1.99 PINNACLE Europa League,Group A Stadium Tallaght,Capacity 8.513 Tottenham 7 Paok 5 Rubin 4 Shamrock 0 This is the 4th match for this group and a very important for the visitors who want the win to keep the advantage from rubin for the 2nd place after the away draw at kazan. In the first game between the 2 teams paok made a difficult win with 2-1 and with a performance that didnt impress at all. Paok is coming from a home loss for the greek league against panathinaikos with 1-3 in a very bad game for the home team and the atmosphere is very bad for coach boloni but also for the players and another failure will increase a lot the criticism for paok and that situation make the win necessary for many reasons. Shamrock at the other side celebrates the 17th irish title and everyone around the team are very happy for this achievement. Now without realistic hopes for something good in europa league but always a passionate and fighting team,shamrock will has the opportunity to make this match a festival for the fans to celebrate once more the title and to play a good game without stress. We predict a very interesting match with good atmosphere and passion but the visitors look desperate for the win and although have some injuries we think that paok is better team and more motivated and capable to take the 3 important points not only for the fight of qualifying from the group but also to increase the teams morale and we are going to risk on that.

[Northwestpunter]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November You beat me to it! PAOK Salonica -0.5 @ 1.99 (Pinnacle) This price has been drifting in the last few days, and has now reached a level where PAOK are definite value. At time of writing virtually all UK and European Firms are around 1.8 (4/5 in fractions), or 1.72 (8/11) about the away win - which is the correct price. However there has been money for Shamrock with the Asian Firms and that has brought about value on PAOK. 1.95 on Betfair or Betdaq is also value. Despite an unimpressive 2-1 Home win over Shamrock, there is a gap in class between these two sides. PAOK are not the sort of side who post many 3 or 4 goal maulings, even against inferior teams, so I only expect a 0-1, 1-2 or 0-2 scoreline here. The crowd will be passionate, Shamrock will give everything, but really it shouldn't be enough, PAOK extra quality should tell in the end, at what is now a tasty, value price.

[GreekExperts]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November AEK-LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW PICK:LOKOMOTIV+0 ODDS:1.43 10BET Europa League,Group L Stadium OAKA,Capacity 69.618 Anderlecht 9 Lokomotiv 6 Sturm 3 Aek 0 This is the 4th match for this group and the interesting seems to be one sided as aek looks that dont has hopes to qualifies and only lokomotiv has motive because with a win will be probably in the next round. Aek is coming from a great performance and a home win for the greek league against aris with 3-0 and showed to overcome the latest crisis. Now without hopes for something in europe and with a very big game next sunday against panathinaikos,coach kostenoglou decided to rest some important players such as dellas,lymberopoulos,kafes,vargas and karambelas and its obvious that noone around the team interest about this match. Lokomotiv is coming from a big loss against spartak moscow with 3-0 a result that hurts the team in the league table but also in the morale and now want to give an instant response. For this match lokomotiv without caicedo. In the first match lokomtiv won with 3-1 but didnt impress at all but showed that has more quality than aek. All in all aek appears to have this match without interest and the players will have their minds at the next big match for greek league,lokomotiv is better team and capable to win and will be a big surprise for us if at least dont get a draw and we are going to bet on the away win with this cover.

[Lodge]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November 2 Picks for me: Athletico vs Udinese Under 2.5 @ 1.9 Rubin vs Spurs Under 2.5 @ 1.85 I did just write out my full views on these games then bloody pressed the wrong button on my keyboard :wall Anyway i'll keep it short: I think Spurs come to Rubin in the hope of getting a draw or nicking a win like the return leg. Spurs will have a slightly stronger side this time round due to the return to fitness of a couple of players. Sandro is likely to start in a DM role which will definatly be a big advantage, We also have a couple of defenders back so Jake Livermore shouldnt have to start at CB again :lol Gallas and Corluka could return in his place however if tomorrow evening is too soon for them, Kaboul could play alongside Bassong. Up top we'll have Pav and Defoe and while both of them carry a goal threat i think there unlikely to run riot here. I imagine the game will be similar to the one at the lane, a low scoring affair. I think the Atletico - Udinese game also has the potential of unders. Athletico are a strong side at home, however Udinese are a team that know how to defend and i believe they could cancel each other out here slightly. Udinese dont need to win, i think they would be happy with a draw here, so i predict a tight game.

[Kiddo112]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Redknapp not in Russia with the team: " Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp will undergo minor heart surgery today. The 64-year-old went to hospital on Tuesday night to undergo tests and will now have an operation on a minor blockage in one of his arteries, it is reported. Tottenham confirmed on Tuesday night that the former West Ham manager was set to undergo a "medical procedure" that would rule him out of the club's trip to Rubin Kazan this week. Assistant manager Kevin Bond and first-team coach Joe Jordan will take charge of the team for tomorrow night's Europa League match in Russia."

[pg_yid]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

2 Picks for me: Athletico vs Udinese Under 2.5 @ 1.9 Rubin vs Spurs Under 2.5 @ 1.85 I did just write out my full views on these games then bloody pressed the wrong button on my keyboard :wall Anyway i'll keep it short: I think Spurs come to Rubin in the hope of getting a draw or nicking a win like the return leg. Spurs will have a slightly stronger side this time round due to the return to fitness of a couple of players. Sandro is likely to start in a DM role which will definatly be a big advantage, We also have a couple of defenders back so Jake Livermore shouldnt have to start at CB again :lol Gallas and Corluka could return in his place however if tomorrow evening is too soon for them, Kaboul could play alongside Bassong. Up top we'll have Pav and Defoe and while both of them carry a goal threat i think there unlikely to run riot here. I imagine the game will be similar to the one at the lane, a low scoring affair. I think the Atletico - Udinese game also has the potential of unders. Athletico are a strong side at home, however Udinese are a team that know how to defend and i believe they could cancel each other out here slightly. Udinese dont need to win, i think they would be happy with a draw here, so i predict a tight game.

I agree with unders for Spurs. If you look at the times we have played our second string team, then all except one has finished unders, in fact all except one has finished under 1.5. 0-0 vs Hearts second leg, 0-0 vs PAOK, 0-0 vs Stoke, 1-0 vs Rubin Kazan. The only overs was the 3-1 win over Shamrock. It is a difficult place to go without a full strength side. A draw would be a very good result in the circumstances and I can't see us taking too many risks.

[Itachi1]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Anyone knows if Udinese will be playing full team? Atl Madrid are a bit struggling at the moment altough they lost last match. But Udinese @6 B365 is a great price!!

[ninimika]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November To our english friends, i really like to have your view on Stoke @ 2.5 ? "Stoke manager Tony Pulis is planning to name a strong side for their Europa League game at Maccabi Tel Aviv"

[Lodge]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Further to my earlier comment on the Spurs game. Sandro has not travelled, probably giving Jake Livermore another start. Gallas is confirmed to play which is obviously a big plus. Danny Rose and Gio Dos Santos are both out injured. I suspect the team to be: Cudicini ???, Gallas, Bassong, Townsend Falque, Carroll, Livermore, Pienaar Defoe, Pav Not sure who will slot in at RB. The rest of the squad is: Gomes, Waller-Lassen, Stewart, Barthram, Fredericks, Nicholson, Parrett, Kane, Lancaster, Pritchard. I know that Kevin Stewart and Jack Barthram are both defenders but neither has made a senior appearance..... Still confident on unders, i feel we may get beat here though

[Capricorno]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November How do you guys rate Fulham -1.5 AHC/EH -1 @~2.00 ? Ive been debating this one for a while, but can't find much via google on Wisla's line-up. Fulham are playing a strong squad and are dangerous @ the cottage. I know they lost the reverse 1-0, but that was with 10 men. Wisla are horrible away from home as their 1-4 whooping by Twente shows. I rate Fulham on the same level as Twente. I can easily see a 0-2 or something along those lines.

[keta82]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November I think that Rennais can get 3 points in Glasgow.Will they play with full squad?

[Dylan]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

Anyone knows if Udinese will be playing full team? Atl Madrid are a bit struggling at the moment altough they lost last match. But Udinese @6 B365 is a great price!!

As they have so far in this tournament Udinese have taken a bit of weaker team Madrid. There is no Domizzi, Pinzi or Di Natalie all of whom are first choice players normally. Torje is also not in the Europa League squad so will also miss out. The big concern for me with this Udinese tam would be if they go a goal down, as they just don't have enough attacking intent to chase the game. There is likely to be very few options to come off the bench and indeed Guidolin might have a few untested youngsters on there. We saw this against a really poor Celtic side, where they went a goal down and were fortunate to get a lucky penalty to take a point. However if they can hold on for long enough you never know they might sneak the win as they did in the reverse fixture scoring in the 88 and 90th minutes, and the winner vs Rennes was also a late one I recall. Personally I don't see anything worth betting on in this match but hopefully this info helps. :ok

[Lodge]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

One team stands out for me. They have a great shout of winning and they are clearly the wrong price. AZ67 ALKMAAR -0 & -0.5 1.81 (SBOBET) AZ Alkmaar are 4pts clear at the top of the Dutch League with just one defeat to their name all season. They have started their Europa League campaign with one win and two draws - comfortably beating Group G whipping boys, Malmo 4-1 at home in their opening game, before gaining a creditable 1-1 draw away in the Ukraine against a very strong Metalist Kharkov side (who are unbeaten both domestically and in Europe this season, and who recently beat Champions Shaktar Donetsk on their own ground). Last time out Alkmaar were around the 1.33 - 1.36 mark to beat Austria Vienna at home, and they were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw. However after conceding 2 early goals against the run of play, the Dutch side dominated virtually all of the match, missing chance after chance, before finally scoring twice in the final 10mins. On another day, if they had taken their chances (which they usually do), they would have won 4-2 or 5-2. That 2-2 draw leaves Alkmaar just 1pt ahead of Austria Vienna in Group G and they will want to win in Vienna to make amends, and also to give themselves the comfort of a 4pt cushion over their Austrian rivals with just 2 games to play, and the virtual certainty of qualification into the knockout stages. A defeat in Vienna could make qualification difficult, and even a draw could leave the Austrians still in with a chance of qualification at Alkmaar's expense - especially as the Dutch side's final game is against Group Leaders Metalist. There is a gap in class between these two sides (the best sides in Holland are quite a bit stronger than the best sides in Austria) and I made Alkmaar no bigger than 1.80 to win in Vienna. On the -0 & -0.5 Line they should be around 1.60!!!! Bet 770 are amazingly going 23/20 (2.15) and a number of other Firms are 2.10 or 2.05 that is serious value! I think that many Bookmakers have read too much into the 2-2 draw between the teams the other week and they assume that there is not as much between the teams as there is. I expect the price to shorten over the coming days.

Nice write up. Just having a look at stats for this game. AZ have not won any of there last 10 Europa League away games, losing 6 and drawing 4. Might give a slight indication of the slightly high odds. I was going to follow untill i saw this stat!

[Lodge]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Just have another quick look over the fixtures and decided i'm going to take a small punt on Birmingham (-0.25) @ 1.975 I was one of the many punters on here that backed Brugges in the return leg a couple of weeks back and they dissapointed big time. I watched the match and dont really remember them creating much in front of goal, Birmingham just sat back and hit them on the break, which worked well. Birmingham are on a good run of form at the moment (unbeaten in 8 games) and i think they've got what it takes to do the double over the Brugge.

[Wjtk87]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

How do you guys rate Fulham -1.5 AHC/EH -1 @~2.00 ? Ive been debating this one for a while, but can't find much via google on Wisla's line-up. Fulham are playing a strong squad and are dangerous @ the cottage. I know they lost the reverse 1-0, but that was with 10 men. Wisla are horrible away from home as their 1-4 whooping by Twente shows. I rate Fulham on the same level as Twente. I can easily see a 0-2 or something along those lines.

Wisla will play without two most important players: Melikson and Malecki. In their last 4 games in Polish league they lost two (one against Legia - the best Polish team at the moment and the second one just 4 days ago to weak Podbeskidzie) and won two, but they got a lot of help from referees in both of them. I am confident Fulham will win, most likely high. Fulham -1.5 @ 1.917 Pinnacle 10/10

[Hitch]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

2 Picks for me: Athletico vs Udinese Under 2.5 @ 1.9 Rubin vs Spurs Under 2.5 @ 1.85 I did just write out my full views on these games then bloody pressed the wrong button on my keyboard :wall

I've decided to take follow your picks and I added a couple of more of those same 2 fixtures based on your reasoning as well as past results for both teams in this competition which have mostly gone Under in the relative home and away fixtures. I've added 2 Multiples: 1- Atletico vs Udinese Under 2.5 AND Rubin vs Spurs Under 2.5 @ 3.56 with betfair. 2- Atletico vs Udinese Under 3.5 AND Rubin vs Spurs Under 3.5 @ 1.76 to cover the first bet. Good luck to us :) :hope

[heniek31]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November I will have some of Salzburg tomorrow @ around 3.6. They were very unlucky leading 2-0 away at Bilbao and drawing in the end. Back home, they are very strong and unbeaten in 15 games. Bilbao had very busy schedule. This is 3rd game in a week. They have few players out and as they will play Barcelona next in their league, few more will be rested for sure.

[Jase82]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

Further to my earlier comment on the Spurs game. Sandro has not travelled, probably giving Jake Livermore another start. Gallas is confirmed to play which is obviously a big plus. Danny Rose and Gio Dos Santos are both out injured. I suspect the team to be: Cudicini ???, Gallas, Bassong, Townsend Falque, Carroll, Livermore, Pienaar Defoe, Pav Not sure who will slot in at RB. The rest of the squad is: Gomes, Waller-Lassen, Stewart, Barthram, Fredericks, Nicholson, Parrett, Kane, Lancaster, Pritchard. I know that Kevin Stewart and Jack Barthram are both defenders but neither has made a senior appearance..... Still confident on unders, i feel we may get beat here though

Can Gallas slot in at RB with Livermore in defense again? :unsure

[Feduloff]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Stoke boss Tony Pulis "We feel it will be a really tough game for us and we'll put a strong team out. We played Monday night, we play Thursday and we play Sunday but then it's international break so the players who aren't involved in international duty can have a few days off." As well as the blow of losing the game on Monday, Pulis also saw captain Ryan Shawcross and full-back Marc Wilson pick up injuries that have prevented them travelling to Tel Aviv. Stoke without motivation in this game. 1X 1.75 better than X2 1.45

[nicko]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November This League on 1X2 is more difficult to me than JPT, Carling Cup, Holland Second, etc, etc...You watch teams from the top Euro Leagues fighting over 6 months to get a spot in the Europa League, and once in there - often use youth team players, non-regulars, experimental tactics. From a fan's point of view it makes no sense and it is very disappointing, often enough...I am not sure the quote is full, but I remember Big Sam A when with Bolton saying that 2-3 places higher in EPL brings a lot more money to the Club than winning the Carling Cup. We are facing a similar situation here, as above all it is all about money. The paradox is that the bigger Clubs are resting often players here in order to be stronger in the local League and hopefully qualify for Europa League again next year, when, guess what - they will be resting better players often again... Fact One - the money in the Europa League are far less than in CL, so is the interest of the bigger Clubs. By the time some of these bigger Clubs realize that they can not make it to the CL spot in their domestic League, they might be out of Europa League, where only the final 8 Clubs ( Quarter Finals ) expect some substantial income. The reasons such Clubs can be out of Europa League are many - lack of motivation, using non-regulars, ignoring the Cup games because of important home games coming, etc. Often enough some of the bigger Clubs get knocked out by much smaller opponents, for the reverse reasons - smaller Clubs need cash just as bad, but the standards are different - what is nothing money-wise to Atletico Madrid is a major financial boost for CSKA Sofia ( for example )... To make Fact One easy to understand all we have to do is look at the list of the Clubs who made it to the Final 16, or worse - to the Final 8 in this Cup in the past 10 years ( regardless of the fact it was UEFA Cup previously ). You often find Clubs, who simply are miles away from Europe's Elite...and despite the fact that this Cup is further powered up by those teams who drop out of CL as number 3 in their Groups. Which brings me to Fact Two - ''smaller'' Clubs, especially from Eastern and Central Europe ( and often Scandinavian countries ) approach this Cup much more serious - they need the cash, smaller than CL, but much help to them. They also need competative games in December, and if they go though - in March, April, May, when their leagues start ( in some cases only though ). Russia and Ukraine always had class - how ''small'' are Kyiv, Shakhtar, CSKA Moscow, Zenith, Rubin, Spartak? So does Romania and Poland despite some ups and downs in the years. Austrian, Swedish, Danish, Swiss teams can always deliver surprises. Serbia and Croatia are countries that deliver IMO more talent to Europe than most countries, unfortunately the ''jewels'' get sold quickly, but their youth programs obviously work excellent. Again - look at the list of the final 18 in this Cup in the past years... Fact Three - Champions League is always in the spot light, often enough with some games even during the qualifying rounds. Europa League isn't, at least not until the Quarter Finals. The doors are wide open for corruption, although most people take them as ''surprise'' results. The little attention this Cup gets in the early stages is one of the reasons. The second is that it involves Clubs with limited budgets especially in the early stages ( when control from UEFA is poor ), and the number of the ''surprise results'' is massive. No need for examples, check stats - the highest odds are for HT/FT full turnovers ( Home/Away or Away/Home ) and for Home or Away/Draw. It happens so often here that it rings a bell loud. Some might say coincidence. Some might say it was the nature of the specific game. Moderators here might delete this post. I will just quote roughly what Platini said himself - on some weeks UEFA HAS SERIOUS DOUBTS ON AS MANY AS 30% OF THE GAMES...Of course the quote is not exact, but the message was clear. Of course logical things are also common, but are they common enough? Porto won this Cup with such ease last year that it was scary. True, last year Porto was purely a CL material, if they were in the competition where the belonged, IMO they would have made it at least to the final 8. on the other side I remember the last time Parma got relegated. All efforts of the team were in the local league, in hope to survive. Yet with second-string players and youth material they were very unlucky not to make it to the Final in this Cup....Very unlucky! In short - lower your stakes in the Group stage folks! It looks easy enough ( but it is not ) - we open uefa.com, check the standings and say ''this is it''. We also add our biased opinion on the quality of each league, and again say ''this is it''. It is not that easy - how many of us here were on Club Brugge to beat B'ham last round? I was...How many took -1,5 AH or higher on AZ Alkmaar to win vs an Austrian team last round? I was. Just to name a few... GL all

[Dylan]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Just a small one for tonight. Fulham vs Wisla - Fulham -1 2.0 at Ladbrokes (2 units) All the talk coming from the Fulham camp this week is that they will field a strong side in this match, and want to make amends for the events in the reverse fixture a couple of weeks ago. In that game Fulham looked reasonably comfortable before the sending off, and weren't overly troubled after it, going down by just the one goal. There will be no Senderos for Fulham tonight which is a bonus, and although they have a couple of other injuries, all of their key attacking players are likely to feature, with the exception of the suspended Dembele. Sounds like Wisla are struggling a bit with form lately and have a couple of key injuries so I feel it should be a relativly simple game for the hosts tonight. :hope

[Wittek]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

Just a small one for tonight. Fulham vs Wisla - Fulham -1 2.0 at Ladbrokes (2 units) All the talk coming from the Fulham camp this week is that they will field a strong side in this match, and want to make amends for the events in the reverse fixture a couple of weeks ago. In that game Fulham looked reasonably comfortable before the sending off, and weren't overly troubled after it, going down by just the one goal. There will be no Senderos for Fulham tonight which is a bonus, and although they have a couple of other injuries, all of their key attacking players are likely to feature, with the exception of the suspended Dembele. Sounds like Wisla are struggling a bit with form lately and have a couple of key injuries so I feel it should be a relativly simple game for the hosts tonight. :hope

I know little English league because I never watch games on TV, while the Polish league every week I see all the matches live TV Wisla today has a lot of absences, Malecki-Melikson injured for a long time and have recently been injured-Jirsak-Bunoza Sobolewski, Chavez is also disqualified and puolo not play, there must also be said that yesterday at the airport upon arrival in London of the three players Wisla Serbs were detained for visa problems and have not been able to train and we will not know if today Jovanovic and-play Iliev Jovanić.Quello I can say is that Wisla is not going through good time, they lost Saturday at home against newly promoted team never pull porta.Domenica Wisla has the biggest game of the season or the derby against Krakow will be played in the stadium of fans of Wisla Cracovia.Ai the game tonight does not affect anything, but very interested in the derby, where the coach after the last bad performance Maksant it risks being esonerato.Non news of which team I go into field for Fulham but I think if Fulham will play to win this match ends with a large victory for the hosts.

[Wittek]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November Wisla should play with this lineup, the defense is playing full emergence of a young boy and forward plays Boguski that has never played in the league, midfield unpublished Pareiko - Lamey, Jaliens, Czekaj, Paljić - Wilk, Nunez, Garguła - Kirm, Biton, Boguski.

[Lodge]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November

Can Gallas slot in at RB with Livermore in defense again? :unsure

Yes, this is definitely a possibility. I dont think it does Livermore any good playing him out of position though, he was certainly exposed a few times a couple of weeks ago at CB. Would also mean throwing another youngster in at CM... Would much rather see Gallas at CB for my unders bet :unsure

[Itachi1]

Re: UEFA Europa League > 3rd November My selections for today are Birmingham @2.2 FC Salzburg DNB @2.25 Double @4.95 Bet365 Reasoning: Birmingham are in good form in the championship especially at home! Also Birmingham were always getting the underdog look by the bookmakers because they play in a championship division. However they always surprised in Europe till now. They are currently sharing top spot with Club Brugge and a win at home will give them a comfortable lead. Birmingham beat Club Brugge in their ground and i see them winning again today. FC Salzburg are really strong at home. They have an unbeaten run of 14matches at home if im not mistaken. They were leading Atl Bilabo 2-0 away after 2 goals from Bilbao led to a draw. On the other hand, Bilbao seem to have found form again and are getting some good results. Therefore i was cautious and saw values on a dnb @2.25. Good luck ppl ;);)