Europa League > September 20

[ultravires]

Re: Europa League > September 20 I am all over Anzhi DNB tonight as well. A lot of good words already written so I'll keep it short. I am not entirely sure whether Di Natale will get rested or not. Having put him in the squad, and expecting a tough match, I would Guidolin would play him. However, the precedent is almost certainly with resting him in the EL. Udinese are also set to play Milan at the weekend, which is still a big match despite their state at the moment. I am happy to play the DNB based on Di Natale starting the match anyway. If he doesn't play and we see Barretto and Fabbrini up front then I will go in deeper on Anzhi. Udinese would have almost no chance of winning with those two IMO. They have a decent enough team to not get smashed by Anzhi, but going forward they will have serious problems even with Di Natale on the pitch. He is a finisher, and cannot make up for the lack of class in midfield. The atmosphere at the club is one on a rapid decline. I can't imagine many fans turning up, and it will be a rough night all-round. I have never watched Anzhi, but am familiar with some of their players. This bet is all about fading Udinese anyway. Anzhi DNB - 1.775 - 6 points - Bet365 IF Di Natale does not start I will add a little more to the DNB, and also take Anzhi win if I have not been shafted by the odds.

[ultravires]

Re: Europa League > September 20 I am very interested to watch Lazio tonight. They have been dreadful in their recent European campaigns, but there is a sense of optimism this time out. Though the odds on Tottenham are a bit short, I can't bring myself to back Lazio. I can almost see the familiar sight of a decent EPL side physically steamrolling a Serie A side. Players like Candreva, Gonzalez and Mauri could very possibly get swamped if Tottenham set the right tempo. Hernanes is the classiest player on that pitch, but if those around him fold, then he will get swamped as well. Their back 4 cannot expect to hold tight for 90 minutes. The extent of the Spurs rotation will be key. As I understand, they are going to take this competition reasonably seriously. I hope I am being pessimistic, but I just can't feel a Lazio result here tonight. It just doesn't happen!

[Dylan]

Re: Europa League > September 20 Whilst you’re all correct that Udinese are a bit miserable this season, don’t forget that they essentially drew both games against Braga in that CL qualifier. Indeed their style of play & personel may be better suited to European matches than domestic games at the moment. If Anzhi, making their debut on the European stage are a little bit cautious this will play nicely into Udinese hands, as they will be happy to soak up pressure and then try to snatch a goal as the game goes on. I think this is going to be a pretty even game in all honesty, Hiddink is a wily enough manager to know that a point on the road is a good result in Europe, especially in a tough-ish group, so I’m not sure he’ll force the game that much. Anzhi don’t deserve to be as such clear favourites as they are here that’s for sure. Maybe the Anzhi DNB is worth a go, but I wouldn't take them on the outright at all.

[Georgik]

Re: Europa League > September 20 For me Anzhi is the pick for this round ... great odds on them, they are in great form domestically whilist Udine are still recovering from their UCL exit, in Serie A they threw away a 2-0 lead at one of the relegation contenders (Siena). I'll go for Anzhi in this game, high confidence in them ... also handicap is worth a shot

[nicko]

Re: Europa League > September 20 I can't pass odds of 2,00 for the Over in Copenhagen. This is too high for a game with Scandinavian teams involved. I saw Molde twice in Europe so far and they looked good and dangerous to me at all time. They can score in games with better competition involved...In my opinion they are going to Denmark for a point, I expect them to start with one man forward - the Norwegian Championship is in its final quarter, and it looks very tough at the top, so Molde will try to play tight - and so far the game looks underish. FC Copenhagen are in Europe for ages, no need to teach them that a win and the points here is what counts - rushing forward recklessly is out of question. Makes the Under look even stronger... Still, I am looking at a passionate game, where a goal in the first half can do a full switch in tactics in the final 45 minutes. If Molde score first I see the hosts coming back strong - they helped me well fully recovering in the second half in 2 games domestically - it is good to follow FC Copehagen games in-play.... If Copenhagen score first ( and early ), Molde has to open up, and then the game can go Over long before the end. In any case these are odds way too high to miss, with the HW priced IMO low...bet 365, medium stake. Another well-priced Over is in Istanbul, I took it at 2,075, with a CS cover 1-1, to which Fenerbahce seem ''addicted'' so far in Europe. I have learned the hard way French teams can surpise with Overs in Europe, despite the relatively low-scoring domestic League. Both teams have good defensive records at home so far, but that as a rule is irrelevant in Europe, not to mention that outside Montpellier the guests here had no real hard challenge in class...I saw Fener turning the game with Mersin, and if I saw it, so did the Marseille Manager - guests can score here. I also watched both Fener games with Spartak Moscow - especially in the first game only a great goal-keeping prevented the game from going over 4-5 goals...Both teams with good attacking options, can't see the home team resting any players, so again - odds too high to miss, but with a safety cover... The Over in Twente dropped to a joke 1,57, so in-play for me...Over 3,5 tempted me for a bit, but I got myself ''burnt'' here last year - with over 10 open chances to score between both teams it ended 1-1...Still considering Goals in Udine, I am also leaning towards the guests, but even a ''reduced'' Italian side tactically stands better than Alkmaar. In fact I can see hosts scoring here first and Anzhi recovering...Not sure, the Over at 2,025 is a bit low for me, so for now I will wait for better odds... GL all

[lazynko]

Re: Europa League > September 20 Viktoria Plzen - Academica Coimbra - Viktoria Plzen -0,75AH @2.00 PaddyPower This one tempts me a lot, it´s probably my favourite bet of this round. Odds are dropping, some bookies were starting with 2.30 for -0,75AH, and now they are under 2.00. All facts stand by home team. After 14 rounds of Czech league, Plzen is at first place of the table with 10 wins, playing really well. They also managed to beat 3 different opponents in qualification rounds of EL (Rustavi, Ruch Chorzow, Lokeren). It´s important to say that, because if we look at Academica, they have already played just 5 competitive matches (without single win), and that is big difference in comparison with Plzen. Academica is in european cups after long 41 years, they ended at 13th position in league, but they had managed to win Portuguese Cup which qualified them for the EL. They simply lack experience from these kind of matches, what may be another disadvantage against Plzen, which had played in group stage of CL last season! And it´s another story that they played pretty well, especially at home .. so another advantage - home pitch! Plzen build new stadium which is sold for tonight´s match at the moment. If we look at their home european matches last season, there is just one loss against Barcelona (after stupid red card), pretty solid draws against Schalke 04 or AC Milan. So I really wouldn´t back their opponents at Plzen´s pitch. Home side know that Academica is definitely the easiest opponent in this group containing Atletico Madrid and Hapoel, so this three points are must, if they want to reach their goal - promotion to next round. Good luck:hope

[nicko]

Re: Europa League > September 20 I followed the post above on Victoria and added Over 2,5 Goals in Genk at 2,00 - in my opinion a great price - with Genk I will go Over in almost any game ! Odds are way too high for attacking sides like this...

[KeepYaSwag]

Re: Europa League > September 20 I think so.. Internazionale v Rubin Kazan Internazionale of Stramaccioni is a good team, it's better than Rubin Kazan. In the last interview Stramaccioni said that they want to win this match to show their strenght and to star in the best way this League. Also, Internazionale has never won at San Siro in this season and it must be the first time. While, Rubin is a good team but it is not as a few years ago, when it played the Champions League. So, I pick 1 dropped to 1.83 on Bet365.

[McNasara]

Re: Europa League > September 20

[NumZie]

Re: Europa League > September 20

apart from the old joke of " never lay the young boys " and that they play on a dodgey pitch I know bugger all about them. Are they good enough here ? any info on them be much appreciated

I see a lot of people backing Young Boys purely on the missing quality of the Liverpool squad. I saw Young Boys in the two games against FC Midtjylland from Denmark in the play-off round. They won 3-0 in Denmark and lost 2-0 at home. As many other Danish team learning from the financial crisis, Midtjylland is also primarily consisting of very young players. As far as I remember, they fielded 11 players in the 2nd match with an average age of around 21. They actually did okay in the first game, but big defensive mistakes made Young Boys travel home with a too-high victory. In the second game Young Boys didn't show very much. I wasn't impressed with the way they played. Being matched by a young, Danish team doesn't show much quality. Their attack was mainly formed by Bobadilla and Farnerud - neither looked on top of their form back then. I won't bet on the game as I don't know how the Reds young guys would perform (but the Reds older guys certainly didn't as well :)) - just to let you know that I don't see much quality in the Swiss side.

[NumZie]

Re: Europa League > September 20

I can't pass odds of 2' date=00 for the Over in Copenhagen. This is too high for a game with Scandinavian teams involved. I saw Molde twice in Europe so far and they looked good and dangerous to me at all time. They can score in games with better competition involved...In my opinion they are going to Denmark for a point, I expect them to start with one man forward - the Norwegian Championship is in its final quarter, and it looks very tough at the top, so Molde will try to play tight - and so far the game looks underish. FC Copenhagen are in Europe for ages, no need to teach them that a win and the points here is what counts - rushing forward recklessly is out of question. Makes the Under look even stronger... Still, I am looking at a passionate game, where a goal in the first half can do a full switch in tactics in the final 45 minutes. If Molde score first I see the hosts coming back strong - they helped me well fully recovering in the second half in 2 games domestically - it is good to follow FC Copehagen games in-play.... If Copenhagen score first ( and early ), Molde has to open up, and then the game can go Over long before the end. In any case these are odds way too high to miss, with the HW priced IMO low...bet 365, medium stake.

I'm not sure about this one. Copenhagen drew 0-0 with Club Brügge in their first qualifying round and beat Lille 1-0 in the 2nd round. Normally they don't just open up in European matches as you also mention. Odds on home side certainly without value. I see a boring 1-0 or maybe 1-1 game the most likely outcome.

[BetMan.UA]

Re: Europa League > September 20

I think that we cannot compare Dutch and Ukrainian leagues and because of the PSV's form and their experienced players i think they will take the 3 points here.

I don't think so!!! Ukrainian league is much better! But experience after all will serve to PSV... Dnepr has very bad defense. BTTS - my stake here (1-2, 1-1, 2-2) Also I like Viktoria Plzen v Academica - Viktoria Plzen @ 1.67 Lyon v Sparta Prague - Lyon @ 1.50

[basel1893]

YB-Liverpool Hello together and greetings from the only Swiss-Football-City called Basel... Have to say that i'm reading PL since a couple of months and now i have decided to write also down my picks here. Maybe i can help you a little bit in swiss football and in all the german speaking leagues. So i would take a look on the game between Young Boys and Liverpool. First, Young Boys have changed their ground from artifical to natural grass. so the ground is no reason to bet on young boys! Young Boys is behind Basel the second best team in Switzerland together with FC Sion. They have quality in their team and in my opinion they can make a good result against Liverpool if the Reds play with the best team. Since i read that Liverpool will rest lots of players for me the odds on Young Boys are a nice present. If you look back to the 2010/2011 campaign, YB made some very good Results at home in European League and won against Tottenham 3:2 after a 3:0 lead. At the moment they sold 29'000 Tickets and it looks that the Stadion is sold out with 31'120 Supporters (but lots of glory hunters...). YB is at the moment not very solid. After good games they show also some very bad games. But against the big name Liverpool they only can win and they play without pressure and that is a mainfactor for me. YB always play great when they have no pressure and they always crash when they have a "must win game"... The probably Line Up for Young Boys looks like: Wölfli - Sutter, Ojala, Veskovac, Raimondi - Spycher - Zarate, Farnerud, Ch. Schneuwly, Nuzzolo - Bobadilla. The only big missing is Alain Nef. So i bet 9/10 at 2.70 YB! Maybe the Over is also an opinion. YB has a good attacking and cunter game but they are not that solid in the defense! Sorry for my english but i hope my post will help you guys!

[Halav]

Re: Europa League > September 20 not overestimate Lazio and do not underestimate Udinese my 2 cents :zzz

[HastGill1]

Re: Europa League > September 20 More like 1 cent..we need a bit more than that mate.

[azzurini1976]

Re: Europa League > September 20 Some thoughts about todays games in Europa league concerning Italian teams: Lazio: coach Petkovic said he will not rotate his team so the best Lazio have should play. My thoughts: no way he can change mentality, Lazio does not give a rats ass about Europa league. Prediction: Spurs win valued @ around evens is decent one Udinese: Team is anounced, Di Natale is there, as are all strongest available (also some injured): My thoughts: Strong rotation, no motivation again from Italian team, Di Natale maybe in 70th minute Prediction: Anzhi on 0 AH looks like a very solid bet to me, Russians with different approach and Etoo happy to be back in Italy. Inter: Predicted lineup: Handanovic; Jonathan, Silvestre, Samuel, Nagatomo; Zanetti, Gargano, Pereira; Livaja, Cassano, Coutinho My thougts: Read up. Predcition: no value in -0.5 for Inter, no creativity do mean under 2.5 @ 1.84 should be worth a shot (read: decent bet) Napoli: Hamsik and Cavani are 99% on bench, also some other rotations are possible My thoughts: Napoli at least for me, looks like only Italian club from mentioned ones, who could at least try and win this game. Prediction:I dont know crap about AIK, hcp is huge, no bet by a long way.

[AZAlkmaar2]

Re: Europa League > September 20

How did you reach this conclusion that we cannot compare Ukrainian and Dutch league? Actually, according to UEFA rankings, Ukrainian league is considered stronger at the moment - Ukraine's country coefficient ranks them at 7th place in Europe, just one place above Netherlands. Now let's quickly see the results when Dutch teams met Ukrainian in the last year: - Metalist-AZ 1:1; AZ - Metalist 1:1 (Europa League 2011) - Dynamo Kyiv - Feyenoord 2:1; Feyenoord - Dinamo 0:1 (CL 2012) This does not look like Dutch domination, does it?! You are right that PSV are humiliating their opponents, but only when they play at home. Their away form is not that impressive - they lost both to Waalwijk and Utrecht, and they managed just one away victory - to Groningen. And I am quite confident that the smashing of Zeta Golubovci is representative of absolutely nothing with regards to the match with Dnipro. Last year's away record of PSV is also not impressive at all: 6-5-6. Dnipro show great form at home and I think that definitely the value in this game is in their hands. It would be very hard to get them beaten at their own stadium, and at this very high prices for Dnipro punters have a wide maneuvering options - besides straight win, they can also go for Dnipro DNB and even "Dnipro or Draw" at good price.

One side note for these comments. First off all, overall the young Feyenoord squad deserved to go through to the next round over two matches against Kiev. They wasted a lot of chances in both games. The fact that a stripped Feyenoord squad was better than Dynamo Kiev should be taken into serious consideration. Feyenoord lost 4 key players with El Ahmadi, Vlaar (both Aston Villa), Guidetti (return Man City) en Bakkal. They replaced them with youngsters from the Dutch League with little or no European experience. About Anji: I saw them in 4 matches now (2 against Vitesse and 2 against my club AZ Alkmaar) and it's not like they outplayed their opponents in one of these matches. When I look at the matches against AZ Alkmaar the teams were pretty balanced in Russia, with Anji as a lucky winner. In Alkmaar AZ dominated 60 minutes of the game, but Anji scored twice on the counter attack. After that AZ just started to rush forward which resulted in 3 more goals in the last 5 to 10 minutes.

[blackcrow]

Re: Europa League > September 20 Anzhi Makhachkala @ 2.50 sportsbet Anzhi Makhackkala will look to continue their fine form in this tournament as they have scoed 11 goals and dod not concede in their three away games, beating Honved 4-0, Vitesse 2-0 and AZ Alkmaar 5-0. They have a very good coach in Huddink as well as Etoo up front to score goals, but they have several other good players that have been brought in this season to strengthen their squad. Like them to beat Udinese who look all over the place, losing 2-1 at Fiorentina, losing 4-1 at home to Juventus and drawing 2-2 at Siena in their three Serie A games this season. With reports that they will rest some players in order to get their domestic form up, especially with Milan at home on Sunday, then doubt that they are too worried about this game right now. Like the away side here who should show more motivation for this game Young Boys - Liverpool over 2.5 @ 2.20 pinnacle Young Boys will like their chances of scoring a depleted Liverpool side who, even with their main defenders, have been conceding goals this season. With their second string defence in, then doubt that they can keep them out, especially as they have been scoring goals in the Swiss League. Liverpool should still have some quality in the middle of the park, with Sahin, Shelvey and Downing likely to play, while up front, Pacheco, Morgan and Yesil have opportunities to impress, and considering that YB defender Nef is out suspended for this game, then like LIverpool to also score here. They have been creating chances in their game but have found it hard to finish them off, but with some blood up front, then maybe they can score and press their claims to start against Man Utd. Both sides like to play and doubt that they will hold back, which sets up the possibility of goals in this game Fenerbahce - Marseille over 2.5 @ 2.14 pinnacle Fenerbahce have started their domestice wins well with two home wins and two away draws, and playing Marseille will hold no fear for them as they will look to attack from the start. They were bundled out of the Champions League qualifiers by Spartak Moscow, and in these games, and the previous games against Vaslui, it was notable that they scored in each of these four games, but also they conceded in each of them. Marseille have made a very good start in Lique 1, where they have won 1-0 in each of their three away games. They did beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-1 on the road before drawing 0-0 with them at home, while in the previous round of the EL qualifiers, they drew 1-1 at Eskisehirspor before beating them 3-0 at home. Eskeisehirspor play in the Tirkish league as well, and are running 9th, two points behind Fenerbahce, so like their chances of scoring on Marseille as well. Both teams to score and then both teams push for the third goal Racing Genk - Videoton over 2.5 @ 2.00 pinnacle Racing Genk have scored and conceded in 5 of their last 7 home games in the Belgium league as well as beating Aktobe 2-1 at home (and also winning 2-1 away) and Luzern 2-0 at home (lost 2-1 away). Though they have shown that they can score, they have also conceded, and believe that they will also concede to Videoton. Videoton have scored and conceded in 3 of their last 4 games in the Hungarian League while they also beat Gent 3-0 away in a prevous EL qualifier, and Gent is on the same number of points as Genk in the Belgium League. Like both teams to score here, with both teams looking for the third goal to send it over Inter Milan - Rubin Kazan over 2.5 @ 2.10 pinnacle Inter would be much shorter favourites for this game, but with several key players missing, then the gap between the two sides is lessened. They have won 3 of their 3 games in Serie A, beating Pescara 3-0 away, then losing 3-1 at home to Roma and then beating Torino 2-0 away. In the two previous home games in the EL qualifiers, they dropped off their intensity and struggled to play to what was expected of them, losing 2-0 to Hajduk, and drawin 2-2 with Vaslui, both teams that they should normally beat quite easily. Rubin Kazan will like their chances of scoring then as they have scored in 7 of their last 8 games in the Russia League, but they have conceded in 7 of these games, with 6 of these 8 games going over. Like both teams to score and a third as well Partizan Belgrade - Neftchi over 2.5 @ 2.01 pinnacle Partizan has scored and conceded in 3 of their last 4 games in the Serbian League, while they beat Valletta 4-1 away and 3-1 at home, but were beaten AEL Limassol 1-0 at home and away in the CL qualifiers. In the EL qualifers, they lost 3-2 at Tromzo and then beat them 1-0 at home to progress on the away goals rule, and though they have shown that they can score, their defence is not solid enough not to concede. Neftchi beat Zestafoni 3-0 at home and then drew 2-2 away in the CL qualifiers, but then were knocked out by Ironi Kiryat Shmona, losing 4-0 away and the drawing 2-2 at home. In the EL qualfiers, they drew 1-1 at home to APOEL but then beat them 3-1 away. Like Partizan, they have shown that they can score but also concede, so like both teams to do so here, and look for a third one, considering that they need all 3 points with the likes of Inter Milan and Rubin Kazan in their group

[Jug]

Re: Europa League > September 20

What do you think about Fenerbache v Marseille ?

Looks like Alex will be starting for Fenerbahce which is good news for them as he is the creative genius behind the team. Always picks out the right passes and plays the killer ball. Rest of the (predicted) line up: Volkan, Gökhan, Yobo, Bekir, Hasan Ali, Mehmet Topal, Meireles, Cristian, Mehmet Topuz, Alex, Sow Bekir is a horrible defender so he really needs to pick up his game for tonight. Gokhan on his day is an excellent fullback who makes amazing runs down the right hand side. Yobo is a solid defender while Hasan Ali is still trying to find his feet. He's a young fullback who's getting used to the big stage. Midfield - Cristian scored the winner against Mersin over the weekend and boy what a goal it was. Should fire him up for tonight. But if Fenerbahce play anything like they did in the 2nd half against Mersin they will be in trouble. Sow is a good striker and replaces the injured Kuyt, should have some great chances in front of goal with Alex behind him supplying through balls. Marseille had trouble playing against Eskisehirspor in Turkey as they couldn't come out of their own half so Fenerbahce is much tougher test. If Fenerbahce are up for it and they don't see any stupid subs, Fenerbahce could take this

[McNasara]

Re: Europa League > September 20

Afternoon Gentlemen, Starting to dip my toes back in the water after taking a long sabbatical from having a wager.

I think so...

Hello together and greetings from the only Swiss-Football-City called Basel... Have to say that i'm reading PL since a couple of months and now i have decided to write also down my picks here. Maybe i can help you a little bit in swiss football and in all the german speaking leagues.

welcome and welcome back to the PL ;)

[basel1893]

Twente vs. Hannover 96 In Germany they suppose to play with this squads: Twente: Mihaylov - Rosales, Wisgerhof, Douglas, Braafheid - Brama, Gutierrez, Schilder - Tadic, Castaignos, Chadli Hannover: Zieler - Cherundolo, Eggimann, Haggui, Rausch - Andreasen, da Silvo Pinto - Stindl, Huszti - Schlaudraff, Sobiech Both teams played very well in their leagues. But Hannover impressed me a little bit more and i remeber the last season when they did very well in Europa League. Coach Slomka said that H96 will take the Europa League very serious and will go as far as possible. I expect a very close game with lots of goals. Both teams play very offensive and look a little bit shaky in defense. So Hannover played this weekend 3:2 against Bremen. Bevor they had a 4:0 win away at Wolfsburg, a 5:1 against Slask Wroclaw and a 2:2 draw against Schalke. Also Twente made and get lots of goals... 6:2 win in Tilburg, 1:0 against Venlo, 3:1 win in Nijmegen and a 1:3 (away) and 4:1 (home) against Bursaspor. So i expect lots of chances here. Over 3.5 at 2.75 8/10 at bet365 My feelings say also that i should go on away win or DNB Hannover...

[RedDevil92]

Re: Europa League > September 20 Value on Metallist +0.5. Leverkusen didn't convince me so far. The Ukraine side did extremely well in the past of the Europa League when they played away from home. I definitely can see them getting at least a point here, so my call is +0,5 Metallist.

[KeepYaSwag]

Re: Europa League > September 20

Looks like Alex will be starting for Fenerbahce which is good news for them as he is the creative genius behind the team. Always picks out the right passes and plays the killer ball. Rest of the (predicted) line up: Volkan, Gökhan, Yobo, Bekir, Hasan Ali, Mehmet Topal, Meireles, Cristian, Mehmet Topuz, Alex, Sow Bekir is a horrible defender so he really needs to pick up his game for tonight. Gokhan on his day is an excellent fullback who makes amazing runs down the right hand side. Yobo is a solid defender while Hasan Ali is still trying to find his feet. He's a young fullback who's getting used to the big stage. Midfield - Cristian scored the winner against Mersin over the weekend and boy what a goal it was. Should fire him up for tonight. But if Fenerbahce play anything like they did in the 2nd half against Mersin they will be in trouble. Sow is a good striker and replaces the injured Kuyt, should have some great chances in front of goal with Alex behind him supplying through balls. Marseille had trouble playing against Eskisehirspor in Turkey as they couldn't come out of their own half so Fenerbahce is much tougher test. If Fenerbahce are up for it and they don't see any stupid subs, Fenerbahce could take this

Mmm.. Yes, I think that your words are right. But I prefer to pick '' Fenerbache or Draw '' ( 1.40 on Bet365 ). With it I take: Napoli v AIK 1 ( 1.35 on Bet365 ) Viktoria Plzen v Academica 1 ( 1.70 on Bet365 ) Lione v S. Praga 1 ( 1.45 on Bet365 ) Athletic Bilbao v Hapoel KS 1 ( 1.22 on Bet365 )

[KeepYaSwag]

Re: Europa League > September 20

Napoli: Hamsik and Cavani are 99% on bench, also some other rotations are possible My thoughts: Napoli at least for me, looks like only Italian club from mentioned ones, who could at least try and win this game. Prediction:I dont know crap about AIK, hcp is huge, no bet by a long way.

I live in Naples and I'm a true fan. So, I can talk about it. Napoli will play with the backups, perhaps the only Cannavaro will play. Nonetheless I pick it 'cause Napoli's backups are young, so they want to show their value and their strenght. While AIK is a good team ( it won at Mosca with 2 goals ) but Mazzarri is a very good head coach and I think that he knows how AIK Solna plays. So, I pick Napoli at 1.40 at Bet365.

[nicko]

Re: Europa League > September 20 The Over 2,5 Goals in Copenhagen gone down to 1,85 ( from 2.025 this morning ) with the Asians and 1,80 with bet365 regular odds. I hope my logic was right...

[nicko]

Re: Europa League > September 20

Value on Metallist +0.5. Leverkusen didn't convince me so far. The Ukraine side did extremely well in the past of the Europa League when they played away from home. I definitely can see them getting at least a point here' date= so my call is +0,5 Metallist.

Strong point, I picked Goal/Goal in this one @ 1,83 this morning as I can see Metalist scoring at least once. Those Latin Americans they have have great moments and Leverkusen might have a major problem stopping them. With that in mind though we have a German side that hardly misses a Euro Season, and the game looks good for Goals... GL

[basel1893]

Sporting vs. Basel So this is the emotional game and bet for me. Basel is my team and i do not like to bet against them. But the good thing is, if they lose i have something to be a little bit happier then others, because i make money,,, lol In Basel there are no expectations today... we lost lots of players during the summer and at the moment the team is not that balanced and still on searching how to play. The results in the league are not that good and the cl-quali against cluj was dissapointing. Then today it's against Spoting and the history tell us, that we played several times against them and we never got something... 2008 we lost 0:2 in lisboa and 0:3 at home... we have four games against them and 0:8 goals... At the moment Basel is disastrous at the defence. Park and Steinhöfer make lots of mistakes and Sauro and Dragovic need a little bit more time in the center... In front we have Streller and Frei and they can score every time but i think we also get some goals against us. Sure this is another Sporting yet and they have problems in the league but still a good team. Then they have a very good statistic in european cups during the last couple of games. 13 games 12 wins and 1 draw! Possible Line up: Sporting: Rui Patrizio; Cédric, Boulahrouz, Rojo, Pranjic; Gelson Fernandes, Elias; Carrillo, Izmailov; van Wolfswinkel. FCB: Sommer; Steinhöfer, Sauro, Dragovic, Park; M. Salah, Diaz, Cabral, Stocker; A. Frei, Streller. Maybe Basel Coach Vogel will rest Diaz and F. Frei will start... I go for following bets: Sporting -1/-1.5 at 2.350 (Bet365) 5/10 BTS: 1.90 (Bet365)

[RocknRolla]

Re: Sporting vs. Basel You can all notice nicko's posts in the thread, but nothing more useful than one post from last year by him! Here it is 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? Portowon 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 Parmagot 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 Thank you nicko, and good luck all today ;)

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Sporting vs. Basel

You can all notice nicko's posts in the thread, but nothing more useful than one post from last year by him! Here it is 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? Portowon 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 Parmagot 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 Thank you nicko, and good luck all today ;)

Agreed, top class post that. Really need to be sure of team strength before any money goes down. :ok

[Jase82]

Re: Europa League > September 20 I really can't see any of the British based sides getting anything more than a point tonight. Newcastle face a trip to Maritimo missing a few first team regulars, while Liverpool face that trip to Young Boys in Switzerland. Regardless of the differing qualities of either Young Boys or Maritimo I really think both Liverpool and Newcastle have bigger priorities. Unfotrunately the prices on both home sides have been hammered into submission. I'll be happy to still back Lazio + 0.5 @ 1.92 - Betfair. Despite the noises being made by AVB on how seriously they are taking this competition I really think they too have bigger fish to fry this year, and a prolonged European campaign won't do them any good. Even more so when you consider the fact their squad is looking a lot lighter now. Harry Redknapp gave the Europa League literally no importance whatsoever, and I think that sort of thinking will carry over to tonight. Lazio are no mugs, so I don't feel they should be over 4, and I also feel too much is being made of what people have had to say regarding Spurs and the Europa league. Notably AVB's comments about how seriously they are taking the competition etc.... Both the other games involving Liverpool and Newcastle look like tight under'ish games to me. Both are resting players, and both look quite weak going forward due to those absences. I'd expect though fot both Liverpool and Newcastle to play for a draw. Knowing that they can take their opponents back home in the second leg where they can win the tie comfortably. Elswehere, another Ilike the look of is Sporting Lisbon V Basle Both to score @ 2 - William Hill. I was surprised to see this priced up so attractively because games involving Basle are usually pretty high scoring. The bookies all seem to favour Lisbon much higher here than Basle, which I think is probably a little unfair. Although they were knocked out of the Champions League by Cluj, Basle have still had some decent results in Europe over the years, and always seem to be the underdogs because they come from little Switzerland. Bottom line here is that I think they have a fairly good chance of scoring at least one, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this end 1-1 or something as Lisbon find their feet.