PSG vs St Etienne

Is PSG coach Unai Emery already under pressure? The champions have lost already in Ligue 1 when they went down 3-1 against Monaco in their last game. They also have an interesting Champions League match against Arsenal next week which follows this match. But for now all eyes will be on PSG and how they can bounce back. They have of course lost David Luiz to Chelsea but Emery was set in his mind before the transfer that Luiz was not going to be part of PSG’s future plans anyway. Before the disaster at Monaco the club had kept clean sheets in their two opening games and the focus here will be to put in a professional job.
St Etienne have won 1 drawn 1 and lost 1 since the beginning of the season. The good news is that they have gone the last two games unbeaten although their last match was seen as a disappointment as they drew 0-0 with Toulouse at home.

PSG v St Etienne Head to Head

The recent head to head does not make easy reading for the away team where they have lost to PSG in the last five games. PSG have scored 9 goals in their last two home fixtures against Etienne conceding just a single goal. From the last ten fixtures there is a 50/50 chance of over 2.5 goals. From the last six fixtures PSG have only failed once to score at least 2 goals in this match.

PSG v St Etienne: Prediction

PSG have never been a great team when they have had a Champions League match looming just days after a league one. But they have significantly improved their mental strength through the years and they should be able to win this match. That doesn’t mean it will be with a big margin though. Etienne has proven that they are no pushovers and will have chances and possession at times, but PSG will just be too strong and should round up all three points with a professional if unspectacular victory.

PSG v St Etienne: Betting Tips

PSG to score at least 2 goals at 4/11 (1.36)
Jese to score anytime for PSG at 7/5.

Croatia vs Turkey

Croatia will host Turkey on 5th September 2016, as World Cup qualifiers game for Russia 2018 begins.

Croatia had a good outing in the summer European Championship, they were unbeaten in the group stages. They finished top of their group with 7 points, winning 2 of the group stage games which includes a 1-0 win against Turkey. They were unfortunate to lose to Portugal in the 2nd round. Quaresma’s extra time goal was enough to kick Croatia out of the competition. They now hope to produce a good performance at home to start this campaign with a win.

Turkey left the European championship early, after losing two games in the groups stages which include a 1-0 loss to Croatia. They also lost 3-0 to Spain, before winning their final game against Czech. Their last game was a goalless draw against Turkey on Wednesday. Turkey will be hoping for a revenge on the Croatians, as they contributed to their early exit in the summer championship.
Croatia vs Turkey: Head to Head

    Croatia are the better side when comparing the Head to Head stats, they have won 3 games and lost just once to Turkey.
    Turkey’s only win against Croatia have come on Croatian soil, which is the only win between the two teams on Croatian soil.
    Croatia’s 3 victories over Turkey have all been on Turkish home ground.
    Croatia have scored 9 goals against Turkey and conceded 4.

Croatia vs Turkey: Prediction

Croatia’s recent record have been good, they have won 3 of their last 5 games which includes a 10-0 Thrashing against San Marino. They lost 1 and drawn 1.

Turkey are not bad in performance, despite leaving the Euro Championship early, they are unbeaten in their last 2 games. Also they have kept clean sheets in in their last 2 games.
Croatia vs Turkey: Betting Tips

Both teams to score at 6/5 (2.20)
Over 2.5 goals at 6/5 (2.20).

Real Madrid vs Celta

Real has started their season in a perfect manner, since the team already won the European Super Cup finale against Sevilla, without performing that well during the match since they have won the match only after having a man more on the field and after extra-time player. Two weeks later, LaLiga has started for them and the team showed much more determined performance in a 3:0 away victory against Real Sociedad.

They showed full dominance for all ninety minutes on the field, since the team took the lead already in second minute via Bale, while Asension doubled up the lead in 40th minute. They lowered down the pace of the game in the second halftime, but still managed to score once more – again via Bale in fourth minute of additional time. Their aim is of course to win LaLiga title and anything but an easy victory here would be worrying result for their side.

Real should be playing in offensive 4-3-3 formation with Morata as central striker and Asensio and Bale next to him. Pepe is now close to the full fitness as central back position, but Raphael Varane could be preferred. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are still out injured, as well as goalkeeper Keylor Navas and defender Fabio Coentrao, but midfielder Luka Modric is set to start after serving his suspension. Marco Asensio should also start after scoring a goal last weekend.


Celta, on the other side, comes from quite shocking result in the season opening game, as the team suffered narrow 1:0 defeat at home against newly promoted Leganes. Players from Vigo had more of the ball possession during the whole game, but created very little number of real chances in front of opponentes goal. They tried with a lot of passes, but it’s obvious that the team will need a lot more time in order to start playing together well.

Visiting side patiently waited for counter attacks and that tactics paid off for them, when the team scored the only goal in 75th minute via Diaz, while the hosts were especially unable to react from that point on. Even though Celta had some promising results during the pre-season, what the team showed in the first round is far away from the battle for European positions and will surely need to improve a lot in order to have a positive season.

Celta Vigo is set to play in 4-2-3-1 formation with Aspas as number nine and Sisto, Orellana and Bongonda as offensive midfielders. Offensive Iago Aspas should be fit to start here, despite suffering an injury during the midweek. Pablo Hernandez could be on the bench this time, while injured remain forward Claudio Beauvue and goalkeeper Ruben Blanco. Gustavo Cabral is likely to start the game at the expense of Sergi Gomez.

    Real Madrid have scored at least 3 goals in 12 of their last 13 home matches (La Liga).
    Real Madrid have scored at least 3 goals in their last 4 matches against Celta Vigo.

Home side started the season in the best possible way and their key offensive players seem to be in the right form. Bale has scored twice, Asensio seems to be in fine form as well, while the players of Celta didn’t impress in the first round and this one should only be much more difficult for them. I have no doubts that Real will be able to get a two goals margin victory at least.
Bet: Real Madrid -2 Asian handicap @ 1.96

Burton Albion vs Derby County

Burton Albion vs Derby County
Championship action for me in a game that will see Championship new boys Burton Albion host promotion hopefuls Derby County. The game will be played at Pirelli Stadium, Burton and will kick off at 19:45 (UK Time).

The hosts head into the Friday night game on the back of a 5-0 drubbing at home against Liverpool in the cup. I know that Liverpool played a strong team, however, I would have expected Burton to put up more of a fight! Their league form hasn’t been too bad considering that they are new to the league and it wasn’t too long ago that they were in League two!! Since Jimmy Floyd-Hasslebaink left Burton for QPR I thought they would struggle. They still seem to attack very well, however, their defending isn’t great.

Burton have currently got 4 points from 4 games, 1 win and 1 draw. The win came as a surprise as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1. This was very frustrating for me as I had a £1 bet on a 9-fold and only Sheffield Wednesday let me down for over £4,500!! Their defeats have all seen plenty of goals so I would expect there to be goals, however, their opponents Derby have looked solid in defence. Derby currently sit on 5 points and sit very low in the league considering the quality of players they have available!


Derby head into the game with a win, 2 draws and a loss. What strikes me is the fact that their 4 games have seen just 3 goals in total! 2 x 0-0 draws included vs Brighton and Villa.

I think a win for Derby now will kick start their season and set them on a great run, I expect that Derby will head into this game knowing that a win is very possible! Derby also played this week in the cup and managed to progress on penalties vs Carlisle, not a great result, however, they managed to get through and that’s the main thing.

I’ll be backing a Derby win in this game as I think they will finally come good. I think a price of 2.20 with Marathonbet is a huge price considering the difference in quality. I just hope Derby turn up :) Good luck all.
Bet: Derby win @2.22

Maribor vs Gabala

Qabala leading 3-1 after the 1st match. Maribor took the lead but deserved to lose and clearly were 2nd best.


Maribor struggle for goals these days, they actually lost their last 3 games including a 0-2 at the weekend vs a weak Slovenian team.


Maribor really don't have much threat in attack which is a big problem when they need to score at least 2 goals here. Veteran striker Tabaras is their best bet but he has seen better days. They have only scored 1 goal in any european game this season.


Maribor won 1-0 and drew 0-0 in their two home ties this season, both teams they faced weaker than Qabala. Azeri teams are getting stronger each year. Qabala already knocked out French team Lille and last year eliminated Panathnikos, I see a really tough game for Maribor where they cant stop Qabala from scoring.

Pick     Qabala +0.5AH Odds 1.84     Stake 8

Podbeskidzie vs Chojniczanka

			Podbeskidzie got relegated last term from Ekstraklasa, after spending several years in Polish top flight. Their main objective for this season is to win promotion. They started well, with 10 points in 4 games. Podbeskidzie have conceded just 1 goal so far, but that's misleading because their defence isn't so good, even in the recent match against Chrobry (2:0) they lallowed their opponents to create many goalscoring opportunities. Chojniczanka are one of the better teams in this league and they're playing offensive football. In total, there were 17 goals scored in their 4 league matches. In my opinion this could be an open game with a couple of goals. Both Podbeskidzie and Chojniczanka have offensive-minded coaches and I think that both sides will be aiming for a win. Pick     over 2.50 goals Odds 2.04    Stake 8

Roma vs Porto

Roma took a draw from the first leg of play-off Champions League qualifying round played away to Porto and now the Italians are quite big favorites to progress further to the group stage. Maybe even more positive than their draw, was behaviour of the players during the game, since they weren’t outplayed, even though the Italians were playing with a man less since 41st minute when defender Vermaelen had to leave the field due second yellow card.

Italians took the lead in 21st minute with an own goal from Monteiro, which proved to be enough for them to get a positive result, but the Portuguese side was more dominant on the field once they had a player more, still without managing to completely turnover the result, only getting a draw thanks to a goal from Silva from a penalty spot in 61st minute. Italians were mostly defending towards the end, getting the result which they wanted in the end. As for the domestic league, they started with a victory over Udinese 4:0 at home and made a strong bid into the new season.

However, goals were scored only in last twenty-five minutes of the game, once the Romans upped the tempo scoring goals via Perotti (two from penalties), Dzeko and Salah in last ten minutes of the match. Home side won’t be able to count at defender Vermaelen (1/0) now who got the red card in the first leg and serves suspension here. Defenders Rudiger and full back Torosidis anyway didn’t play in the new season and remain injured, as well as midfielder Florenzi.


Porto did what they could in the first leg and were close to maybe score the second goal and get more positive outcome, however it seems that the team isn’t in their best offensive shape and that they’ll struggle to get through to the opponents defense in the second leg. Despite playing for more than fourty-five minutes with a player less, they could only level up the result from a penalty spot via Silva in 61st minute.

Even though they had more of play in second halftime, the team never scored the second one. As for the domestic league, they come from two consecutive victories at start, last one being on Saturday evening at home against Estoril with a narrow 1:0 result. Only goal was scored very late in the game, despite ball possession and superiority of the home side, in 84th minute again via Silva. No doubt that the team wants to progress further here, but in order to do so, they’ll have to employ a bit more defensive approach in comparison to what we used to see from them.

Visiting side won’t be able to count at midfielder Brahimi who didn’t play this season, but also at forwards Depoitre and Aboubakar who was their top scorer in the previous season.

    There have been under 2.5 goals scored in Porto’s last 3 games (UEFA Champions League).

Roma had their possession and chances while playing with eleven players, also had the lead as well. Now, again equal in number and with the help of their fans, I definitely see the home team getting a victory here after morale boosting finish against Udinese few days ago. I simply see the home team having way more options in attack.
Bet: Roma Wins @ 1.73