Newcastle beat Sydney 0-4 with ease. West Ham are due to play Sydney at some point and should win easily. They play Wellington today.

3-1 to bayern leverkusen continued their good goalscoring record in friendlies.

“and ordinarily I would advocate laying any team leading 4-0 at halftime.” I suggested about 0-4 first leg leaders Ludogorets with the match done and dusted, and 1-1 it finished. Speculative but a nice 1.35 lay if you were so inclined.

5-0 only to Flora Tallin and they were offering 1.1 about a single goal before halftime which was extremely good value in these eyes so I took it.The goal came quickly.

A lovely DRT for Ze Germans U19 as Serbia took the lead. 1st entry point. Germany equalised. Trade out. Serbia took the lead 1-2 at the break.  2nd entry point. A long wait. Lay Serbia again near the end of the match. Full time 2-2 with a 91st minute Germany equaliser.

1-1 between Levadia and Prague in what was a dead rubber for the away side 7-0 ahead.

4-0 for karabakh and the 0-0 pre match lasted 15 minutes.

Another nice DRT for Anderlecht who huffed and puffed against Deinze. 0-0 at halftime and the Anderlecht goal eventually came in the 68th minute. It was an illiquid market though.

Zenit were too strong for Derby and won 0-2  keeping another clean sheet as I noted in my research.

Osnabruck took the lead against Dortmund. Another good DRT saw Dortmund respond for a 1-1.

 

Very happy with my 0-0 back in the Maccabi match. 0-0 at halftime , 0-0 at the hour mark. Maccabi opened the scoring with a penalty and won 2-0.

QPR beat Rot-Weiss 0-1.

Another great 0-0 pre-match as The NEw Saints kept Slovan quiet for 74 minutes but were always vulnerable as they had trouble scoring. 0-2 it ended.

1-3 eventually for Partizan against HB who scored first.

 

On to today

 

830am – Wellington Phoenix v West Ham  – 1.43

Standout stats

West Ham

  • 4 consecutive draws in friendlies
  • only 1 loss in 12 friendlies
Wellington
  • only 1 win in 8 matches

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • very limited stats but a West Ham team anywhere near its first team will have this lot for breakfast.

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11am – Tokushima v Urawa  – 1.23 away

Standout stats

  • 18th v 1st in the Japanese J league
  • Urawa won 4-3 last head to head.
Tokushima
  • only 1 win all season.
  • 2 draws in their last 3 matches
  • only 2 clean sheets all season
  • failed to score in 11 this season
  • have failed to score in 6 of their 7 home matches
  • lost 0-4 to 3rd at home, playing top today
Urawa reds
  • lost only 3 this season
  • 5 wins and a draw in their last 6 matches, all clean sheets
  • have failed to score in only 2 this season
  • 4 1-0 wins, and a 0-0 in their last 6 matches
  • losses have come at home to 2nd, and away v 5th and 6th
  • clean sheets away v 2nd bottom and 3rd bottom. Playing bottom today

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • back 0-0 pre match as insurance incase Tokushima have a 2nd consecutive home 0-0 and Urawa have a 0-0 as they did away to 3rd bottom.
  • Urawa should win 0-1, 0-2 and a clean sheet looks an obvious shout.

 

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5pm – HJK Helsinki v Rabotnicki  – 1.48 home

Standout stats

  • this is a Champions League ( CL) 2nd leg and it’s 0-0 from the first leg. Advantage Rabotnicki for me, a 0-1 or a score draw sees them through. I know HJK from research and they are solid in Finland, keeping a superb number of clean sheets.

HJK

  • unbeaten in 17 matches in all competitions, 14 of those with clean sheets
  • only 1 loss in 27 home matches and 7 consecutive home clean sheets
  • out against Nomme last year in the CL, and Celtic the year before

 

 

Rabotnicki

  • Macedonian club have drawn their last 3 in the CL, albeit 2 of those were 2008
  • with their last CL appearance in 2008, it is tough to research this side.


Profitable in-play opportunities

  • faith in the market here, and in HJK’s amazing home record and 7 consecutive home clean sheets to steer them clear? Note HJK cannot concede first, as they failed to score an away goal in the first leg.
  • If you have faith in HJK, then look at a 0-0, 1-0, 2-0 type of scoreline?
    I would speculate again on backing 0-0 pre match and hoping these 2 are defensively solid.
  • If this match is a draw coming to the final few minutes, lay the draw as HJK are out with any score draw.

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5pm – MuSA v Harma  – 1.15 home

Standout stats

  • Finnish friendly. Not sure which leagues these 2 are in.
    • 8 losses and a 1-1 draw for Harma, some losses were 4-0, 6-0, 6-0, 7-0, 3-7, 5-0 so it fits in with a 1.15 quite ( if the market is liquid)

 

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • 5-0 7-0 correct scores for an interest? I’m banging on the door with these lately. 10-0 shout ended 9-0 and 6-0 shout yesterday ended 5-0.
  • Don’t get carried away though! I don’t know these teams at all.
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5pm – Nomme JK Kalju II v Puuma Tallinn  – 1.09 home

Standout stats

  • 3rd v 10th in Esiliga A in Estonia.
  • Puuma have only 5 points after 19 matches
Nomme
  • only 2 wins in 10 but won their last 2 matches 7-1 and 1-0
  • 2-3-4-5-3-2-3-0-7 scored at home in 2014 in the league
Puuma
  • only 1 win in 26 matches
  • have lost 26 of their last 29 away matches

 

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • the odds are accurate here and maybe Nomme can replicate the recent 7 goals they scored at home in the league? Remember they are playing the bottom side today, with 26 losses in their last 29 aways.
  • Look perhaps for a goal before halftime and lay the 0-0 halftime score if still 0-0 after 25 minutes or so.
  • Speculative correct score? 7-0 starters, 5-1, 6-0 that kind of thing
  • again don’t get carried away, this is the Estonian version of the Championship.
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530pm – Heimstetten v 1860 Munich  – 1.26 away

Standout stats

  • Regionalliga v Bundesliga 2  in this German friendly
Heimstetten
  • only 1friendly on record,a 2-2
  • have scored and conceded in 9 of their last 10 matches in all competitions
1860 Munich
  • have lost their last 3 friendlies, 3-1 v St Gallen, 3-2 v Mgladbach, and 3-2 v Cardiff. Should be competitive against a Regionalliga side.
  • have lost their last 5 away friendlies

 

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • not much to go on at all and the short priced favourite has lost their last 5 away friendlies, albeit against stronger opponents than a Regionalliga side. Having scored 2 against Cardiff and Mgladbach, there is a hope 1860 can score at least 2 today against perceived weaker opponents.
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6pm – Numancia v Atl Madrid – 1.33 away

Standout stats

  • Segunda Division take on La Liga Champions

Numancia

  • only 2 wins in 14 in all competitions
  • have scored in their last 7 friendlies
  • won their last 2 friendlies 0-4 and 0-5 v Burgos and Arandina
  • Beat Real Valladolid in 2011 2-1

Atl Madrid

  • 11 wins and a 1-0 loss to Estudiantes in their last 12 friendlies
  • 3 clean sheets in their last 4 friendlies

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • friendlies are always tough to call ( dortmund for instance tend to win theirs but drew 1-1 , coming from behind, yesterday)
  • Atl Madrid have 11 wins in 12 friendlies but tough to gauge their opponents against today’s
  • Numancia tend to get a goal in friendlies, so hope they score first.

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630pm – Steaua Bucharest v Stromsgodset  – 1.53 home

Standout stats

  • 1-0 for Steaua and a precious away goal for this Champions League ( CL) 2nd leg tie.
Steaua
  • have conceded 1-1-0-1-0 in recent CL matches. A clean sheet tonight and they are through.
  • A score draw tonight and they are through
  • 4 draws at home in their last 5 home CL matches augurs well.  The only loss was v Chelsea
Stromsgodset
  • this is this Norwegian side’s first CL encounter so limited stats here

 

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • the know-how of Steaua to get them through. They haven’t been losing CL home matches ( unless meeting exceptional teams like Chelsea) and a replication of recent 1-1 draws will see them through. A 0-0, 1-0, 1-1 sees Steaua through.
  • Stroms need a 0-1 to regain parity , a 0-2 to go through or a score draw above 1-1
  • I would favour the nouse of the home side here who have CL experience to call upon.
  • This could be a tight one, so perhaps a 0-0 back to lay trade , backing 0-0 pre-match at its highest point and laying off if, as I hope, this is a protracted 0-0.
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630pm – Wolfsberger AC v Chelsea  – 1.35 away

Standout stats

 

  • many thanks to the Special Needs One for orchestrating a nice Chelsea recovery to win 2-3 and a lovely DRT against AFC Wimbledon

Wolfsberger

  • are an Austrian Bundesliga side.
  • they have not won their last 3 friendlies, losing to Split and Union Berlin. It seems a case of 4th time unlucky today.

Chelsea

  • easy assignments with a 0-5 win against Wycombe and a 2-3 v AFC where Chelsea were 2-0 down until the 74th minute. A great DRT

 

 

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • team news key for Chelsea. Likely a game of 2 halves and 2 different teams each half. Chelsea should win comfortably. They showed against AFC that they can extricate themselves from a precarious position , even in friendlies. More of the same tonight!

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7pm – NK Maribor v Zrinjski  – 1.43 home

Standout stats

  • this is another 2nd leg Champions League ( CL) match and at 0-0 all is to play for
  • Advantage Zrinkski as they are after the away goal that NK failed to score
NK
  • only 2 wins in their last 8 matches in all competitions
  • only 1 win in their last 9 CL matches. Plzen were too much for them in 2013. Easier assignment today?
  • have failed to score in 3 of their last 4 at home in the CL
Zrinjski
  • Bosnian side wish Dzecko was playing for them. They need an away goal and a 0-1, or score draw sees them through with the minimum of fuss.
  • limited CL form

 

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • in a tough day, this is another toughie to call. NK are having trouble scoring at home, Zrinjski are an unknown quantity.
  • Quite simply you are either with the 1.43 for NK or against it. Remember the away side need a single goal and ideally to score first to put NK in all sorts of bother.
  • I think if Zrinjski score first, I’d back 0-1, then lay them and back NK with split stakes ( so if you back 0-1 to win, say £50, then lay Zr for £25 liability and back NK with £25 stake.
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For reference only as the markets are terrible as I wrte.

 

 

730pm – Deveronvale v Inverness CT  – 1.11 away illiquid

 

 

730pm – Hartlepool v Sunderland  – illiquid

 

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745pm – St Patricks v Legia Warsaw  – 1.82 away


Standout stats

  • the Champions League( CL) 2nd leg. 1-1 from the first leg. A big surprise for the betting market which had Legia Warsaw as very short priced strong favourites.

St pats

  • have scored and conceded in their last 5 matches in all competitions
  • unbeaten in 8 in all competitions at home, winning 7 of those.
  • onlytheir 2nd Champions League match. St pats have the away goal and Legia only scored a 90th minute equaliser.

Legia Warsaw

  • no win in 4 in all competitions.
  • 5 consecutive draws now in the CL , score drawing 4 of those. A score draw over 1-1 will ensure Legia go through on away goals.
  • Legia’s last 2 away matches in the CL were 1-1 draws and in 2013 they conceded 1 goal in each of their 3 CL away matches

 

Profitable in-play opportunities

  • Permutations? With the away goal, St Pats need anything to nil to go through, 1-0, 0-0.
  • Any score draw over 1-1 and Legia go through. A 0-1 and Legia go through 2-1 on aggregate and both teams on parity away goals wise.
  • This has the feel of a tight match this evening. A 0-0, 0-1, 1-1 kind of vibe about it. Is 0-0 worth backing pre match as we did with success yesterday?

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