Monday’s Russian Premier League match looks like a rather one-sided contest as Akhmat Grozny (formerly Terek Grozny) host Arsenal Tula. Oleg Kononov’s Akhmat side have been on a bad run recently and have now lost three on the bounce – putting them ninth in the table after six games. It is still early in the season but they need to pick up again quickly to ensure they are still in the race for Europe come the end of the campaign. The Chechen side have been so reliable at the back in recent years but it has been a completely different…
These two sides have had contrasting starts to the season with Ipswich having won all three of their matches so far and Brentford picking up just one point from a possible nine. After losing a pre-season friendly 6-1 to Charlton Athletic, many were questioning why under-pressure manager Mick McCarthy was still in charge at Ipswich. However, McCarthy’s side have defied the odds to make a fantastic start to the campaign and they currently sit third in the table. McCarthy teams are generally known for the defensive solidity but it has been the opposite so far this campaign where goals have…
League leaders Manchester United travel to Swansea City on Saturday lunchtime in hope of extending their winning start to the season. Swansea just about stayed in the Premier League last term and survival is undoubtedly the aim this time around as well. The biggest news coming out of the South Wales club this week has been the departure of Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton for a fee of £45m. The Icelander was key to much of the Swans’ attacking play and was the league’s third-highest assist maker last season with 13 to his name. The former Spurs man will be hard…
Match-day one in the Bundesliga is finally upon us although Freiburg and Frankfurt will have to wait until Sunday to start their respective seasons. Both teams experienced relatively good campaigns last term and so both will now be looking to progress further this time around. As they were separated in the final table by just six points, overall, there wasn’t too much between these two last season and so it’s not all that surprising that there isn’t the greatest disparity in the betting ahead of this match. Having said that, at the prices, only one team stands out. At 6/4,…
After a couple of stagnant years, it’s fair to say that there was plenty of optimism floating around Lille at the start of the season. Under the guidance of Marco Bielsa, the man who has shaped some of today’s finest coaches, the club from the north of France were expected to thrive. Thrive is exactly what they did on match-day one when recording a comfortable 3-0 victory over Nantes; however, jubilation quickly turned to frustration as they were beaten 3-0 last time out by newly promoted Strasbourg. With a keeper sent off and a number of players injured early doors,…
These two sides had excellent results in their respective opening fixtures with Burnley recording a shock win at Chelsea whilst West Bromwich Albion eased past Bournemouth on home territory. With Burnley having not made many signings, along with the loss of a couple of key players, many fear for the club this campaign and expect them to finish in the bottom three. However, if opening day is anything to go by then they should be fine this season. Sean Dyche’s side have been known for their defensive steeliness over the last season or so which, unfortunately for them, has tended…
Having lost both of their opening matches, by scorelines of 3-0 and 4-1, it would be very easy to assume that Dijon are a team to oppose this season. After all, they avoided the drop by just a single point last time around and are fancied by many to fall out of the top-tier this season. Having said that, Olivier Dall’Oglio’s men, fixture wise, haven’t had the easiest of starts as they’ve faced both Marseille and Monaco in the opening two weeks, and have perhaps performed a fair bit better than the bare results suggest. In the betting, Rennes, who’re also…
After enjoying a fruitful campaign last season, one that saw them finish inside the top four for the second season running and thus earn a place in Champions League qualifying rounds, Nice have made a poor start to the current campaign. Two matches in and Lucian Favre’s men are without a win and, more embarrassingly, are without a single point to their name having lost to both St Etienne and Troyes. What’s more, the club from the French Riviera have a growing injury list and come into this fixture having both played (and lost) away from home in the Champions…
Friday’s Championship fixture sees a Midlands derby between Burton Albion and Birmingham City. This fixture was also played on a Friday last season with Burton Albion winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Lloyd Dyer and Jamie Ward. Burton arguably had the best season in their history last term as they defied the odds to finish above the Championship relegation zone. However, they have had a terrible start to their second campaign in the division and currently sit at the foot of the table. They are the only team in the league to not pick up a single league point so…
Friday’s Russian Premier League fixture sees two of the newly-promoted sides meet each other as Tosno host SKA Khabarovsk. SKA will have travelled 8,765km and through seven time zones just to get to the venue for this match. Tosno have been on a very good run of late and have won two of their last three outings, most recently recording a shock victory against in-form Lokomotiv Moscow. They will also feel they should have picked up at least a point against CSKA Moscow in the second of those three matches after they put in a good performance against the former…
Two Eastern European sides clash in this Europa League playoff tie as Krasnodar, one of the new kids on the block in Russian and European football, host Red Star Belgrade, who actually won the European Cup back in 1991. After starting the season with three consecutive wins, Krasnodar have hit a bit of a bump in the road lately and they have now failed to record back-to-back victories in their last five outings. However, they are still well in the battle for the European spots in the Russian Premier League as they sit fifth after six matches. Additionally, they have…
This tie might have been more competitive last season, however, Mancini’s arrival at Zenit has reinvigorated the club, making the tie look a little more one-sided. However, Utrecht will take hope from Israeli side Bnei Yehuda who managed to secure a 1-0 victory in the second leg of their qualifying tie against Zenit – although it obviously was not enough to take them through in the end. Utrecht won their opening Eredivisie match 3-0 on Friday which places them second in the division. However, they have only secured victory in one of their four Europa League games this season, scraping…
These promotion contenders, both of whom have managers with no previous Championship experience, have made good starts to the campaign with Wolves second in the league whilst Hull sit in fifth after two matches. Hull took a chance on former Russia boss Leonid Slutsky in the summer and so far it has worked out well with a respectable draw against Aston Villa in their opening match before battering Burton Albion 4-1 last time out. There is obviously a huge part of the season still left to go but Slutsky has a lot of winning experience from his time at CSKA…
These two sides have vastly different aims this season with Birmingham looking to push for the promotion spots whilst Bolton are simply looking to survive in the division following their promotion from League One last term. Birmingham managed to recover from going 1-0 down in the first minute against Bristol City at the weekend to record a 2-1 victory. They will no doubt be looking to make it an even better start to their home campaign on Tuesday night by picking up another three points against Bolton. Apart from their awful run under Gianfranco Zola last season, Blues have been…
Having come through a rather up and down tie against Ludogorets in the last round, Hapoel Be’er Sheva are now just one two-legged tie away from entering the Champions League proper for the first time in their existence. Slovenian side Maribor, who’re also bidding to make it through the group stages for the first time in their history, are all that stands in the way. Given the circumstances, this really is a huge occasion for both teams and so expect each of them to be raring to go. During qualifying so far, these two teams have created positive impressions. Both…
For many of the sides involved in the Champions League play-offs, this week’s round of matches will be their first taste of European football this season, but this is not the case for APOEL nor Slavia Prague. Both of these two teams have been involved in something of a summer slog as far as European football goes. In order to be involved in this final play-off tie, both have had to come through previous rounds; APOEL have already come through against both Dudelange and FC Viitorul while Slavia Praga got the better of BATE in the last round. From a…
After watching his side make something of a shaky start in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, Jurgen Klopp takes his men to Germany on Tuesday night to face Hoffenheim, one of last season’s surprise packages, not just in Germany but Europe on the whole, in the Champions League play-off. The German, who is no stranger to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena having visited it numerous times during his spell managing in the Bundesliga, will be hoping his team can acquit themselves better than they did at Vicarage Road just a few days ago. After all, if The Reds perform as they did…
These two sides have suffered poor starts to the season with both of them succumbing to a league and cup defeat respectively. A win for either side here would be a huge boost to kick-start the season. After nearly winning automatic promotion in the 2015/16 season, last season was a large disappointment for Walsall as they could only finish in 14th. Having said that, given the fact they have one of the lowest budgets in the division, that is actually not a bad final position. The Saddlers struggled in the final third last season and only found the back of…