R. Bautista-Agut vs D. Thie

Bautista-Agut vs. Thiem / ATP Marseille – The first quarter-finals pair at the tournament in Marseille are Spaniard R. Bautista-Agut and Austrian D. Thiem. Bautista-Agut qualified for the quarter-finals after he defeated V. Pospisil by 2-0, while Thiem had an easier path toward the quarter-finals after D. Goffin surrendered the match in the first set at the score 5-1 in games. Begins: 20.02.2015 – 12:00 CET

R. Bautista-Agut
Agut is 16th ranked tennis player at the ATP list and he won two titles in his career, both last season at tournaments in s-Hertogenbosch and Stuttgart, where he defeated Becker and Rosola in finals. He started the season in Chennai, where he reached the semi-finals and lost to Bedene by 2-1, while in Auckland, at the Australian Open and in Rotterdam he couldn’t go further from second rounds when he lost to Mannarino, Muller and Monfils, respectivelly. He made one of the better results last season in Madrid where he reached the semi-finals in which he lost to Nadal. The second good result was the fourth round at the US Open whe he lost to Federer.

Regarding the match of the previous round in which Agut defeated Pospisil by 7-6, 6-4 in sets, it is important to say that the Canadian had expectedly served better, having 8 aces and 68% of successful first service, and 80% of points won after the first service. However, what made the decisive difference and brought victory to the Spaniard was number of points won after the second serve. Pospisil won only 6 of 21 points at his second serve, while Agut’s ratio was 19 out of 28.

D. Thiem
Thiem has made a significant progress in the ATP rankings previous year so he occupied 36th place in the middle of last season, which was also the best rating in his career. Somewhat weaker results that he made at the end of last year and beginning of this one downgraded him at his current 48th place, where this quarter-final is his best result this season. He had played in Auckland and at the Australian Open, where he couldn’t go further from first rounds, and was bit more successful in Rotterdam, where he lost a match of the second round to Stakhovsky.

The Austrian reached these quarter-finals quite easily because favoured Goffin has surrendered the match before the end of the first set. However, we must say that Thiem had up to that point an advantage of 5-1, but he had incredibly weak percentage of the first service of only 15%, i.e. just two won points. In contrast, the second service was at 91% or 10 out of 11.

R. Bautista-Agut – D. Thiem PICK
The only match so far between these two players had taken place this season at the Australian Open, and the Spaniard won it by 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 in sets. We will not list all statistics details from that match but we will say that the Spaniard had an advantage of 4% to 5%, which is completely in line with the final result. Young Austrian depends too much on the first serve, while Agut is simply more complete player and this is his main advantage, so we expect that he qualify for the semi-finals.

Pick: Bautista-Aguta wins

Stake: 5/10

Odds: 1.61

Deportivo vs Eibar

Deportivo vs. Eibar / La Liga – Match between two new La Liga teams opens this round. Only one of them expectedly fight to survive and that is the host, Deportivo, despite have two times more expensive team than Eibar, who has the smallest budget in the league but occupies an excellent eighth place. Six points separate them but this match can easily change that. Deportivo’s morale is high after the away victory in the last round and second match in a row that they didn’t lose, while Eibar didn’t win in the last three matches and it seems like they are in a small crisis. It is interesting that Deportivo had defeated Eibar in the first part of the season by 1-0, which was their only away victory until the last round, while last season in the Segunda a match between these two teams played in La Coruna ended as a draw, 1-1. Begins: 06.02.2015 – 20:45 CET

Deportivo
Deportivo plays considerably better in the second half of the season and that is why this team slowly but surely move away from the relegation zone and now have three points more than teams in it, and this match is a good opportunity to win new points. Deportivo lost only once is in five matches of the season continuation, by Barcelona at home, which was of course fully expected. They drew with Levante and Granada, direct competitors in the battle for survival, and had defeated stronger teams; Athletic at home and in the last round Rayo Vallecano away, when they demonstrated a very good game and the victory should have been higher than the final 2-1.

It has been proved that bringing of midfielder Borges during the winter break was the right move, because right this player had sank Rayo Vallecano with two goals, while recovered Lucas plays great. It seems that coach Fernandez has found the winning combination when it comes to the team, although there’s always a problem. Stopper Sydney is questionable and will probably be replaced by Insua, midfielder Rodriguez cannot play because of yellow cards so J. Dominguez will return in the team, while Farina and striker Helder Postiga are still out of action.

Probable lineups Deportivo: Fabri – Juanfran, Insua, Lopo, Luisinho – Alex, J. Dominguez – Borges, Lucas, Cavaleiro – Oriol Riera

Eibar
It can be said that Eibar is easing a bit lately, at least when it comes to the results. This team didn’t lose in the last three rounds but we must be aware against whom they played. Visiting draw with Cordoba, who is very good in the second part of the season, is not a bad result, and after that they were minimally defeated away by much stronger Real Sociedad, 1-0. In the last round they lost at home but to reigning champion Atletico, playing at a very difficult terrain, which didn’t suit them at all, although it was supposed to be their advantage.

Obviously, they started the match with too much respect and by the middle of the first half they were trailing behind for 3-0. In addition to being defeated this match cost them a lot in terms of availability of some players who will not be able to play this away match at Riazor. Excellent midfielder del Moral was injured and he is out of action, which is quite a handicap, while right and left winger, Lillo and Abraham are suspended because of yellow cards. This means at least three changes in the starting line-up which will surely be felt during the match.

Probable lineups Eibar: Irureta – Boveda, Anibarro, Raul Navas, Didac Vila – Errasti, Dani Garcia – Capa, Arruabarrena, Saul – Piovaccari

Deportivo – Eibar PICK
Everyone predict a tough match with few goals but it doesn’t have to be like that. Deportivo is currently very good and they scored four goals in the last two matches. Eibar’s efficiency is a bit squeaky, although this is true only for tough matches, so here we could see at least two goals.

Pick: over 2 goals

Stake: 6/10

Odds: 1.95

FC Augsburg vs 1899 Hoffenhei

FC Augsburg vs. 1899 Hoffenheim / Bundesliga – If we exclude the big derby that was played on Friday this is the most interesting match of the round, as these teams are direct competitors for places that lead to Europe. Currently are neighbours in the standings, Augsburg is sixth and that position leads into the Europa League, while Hoffenheim is one position below and has one point less. Common for both of them is that they are much more solid when playing at home, while as visitors they have the same of scored and conceded goals. Defeat followed by victory are the results that both teams made in the finish of the first part of the season.  Hoffenheim won their match played at the beginning of the season by 2-0 but have lost the last two away matches against Augsburg. Begins: 01.02.2015 – 17:30 CET

FC Augsburg
Augsburg was very good in the first part of the season i.e. their matches can be divided into two groups; good one to which belong matches mostly played at home and a bad one in which go matches played away. There’s no middle ground, as this team didn’t draw even once in the first part of the season, which is very interesting for the team that is in fact average and was expected to frequently draw. Victories and defeats are almost evenly distributed, with one victory more and one more scored goal. Special story is the home pitch and six victories, with two defeats by Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

The rest of visitors were defeated pretty easily, including Borussia M’gladbach at the end of the first part of the season. They made a turnover in that match and stayed in competition for European positions, which now wants to solidify. During the break brought they have brought two valuable reinforcements, midfielders Hojbjerg from Bayern, while striker Ji Dong has returned from Dortmund. Philp and de Jong have left the team, although they were not standard first team players so it can be said that are even stronger. They have problem with absences because of various reasons and goalie Hitz, Baba, Hong, Moravek, Matavz and Molders will not play in this match.

Probable lineups FC Augsburg: Manninger – Verhaegh, Callsen-Bracker, Klavan, Feulner – Baier – Esswein, Hojbjerg, Halil Altintop, To. Werner – Bobadilla

1899 Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim was very good too in the first part of the season, especially at the very beginning, when this team was long undefeated. However, before the break they lost five times but the overall impression is good and the seventh place demonstrates it the best, while they have just three points less than the third-placed team. They had concluded the first part of the season with a brilliant away victory over Hertha in Berlin by 5-0, although it was only the second away win, where they were not very successful. They again play efficient matches, although it was not like that at the beginning.

During the winter break stopper Vestergaard left the team and didn’t bring any new reinforcements, which was logical, because they have anyway a pretty good team. Currently are not much weakened, Kim is absent being at the Asian Cup with the national team of South Korea, while defender Sule is injured. Coach Gisdol has doubts about the position of the left back, where two players are possible Salihovic or Toljan, while it is unclear whether Szalai will be in the attack or somewhat faster Schipplock.

Probable lineups 1899 Hoffenheim: Baumann – Beck, Strobl, Bicakvic, Salihoviv (Toljan) – Polanski, Schwegler – Volland, Roberto Firmino, Elyounoussi – Szalai (Schipplock)

FC Augsburg – 1899 Hoffenheim PICK
If we said that both teams are much more successful as hosts then there is no reason to believe that Augsburg is not a slight favourite here. Indeed, they were good at home and will hardly lose now but it is possible that Hoffenheim pulls a draw.

Pick: Asian handicap 0 Augsburg

Stake: 6/10

Odds: 1.78

Liverpool vs West Ham

Liverpool continued with their highly unreliable performances, coming from exclusion in League Cup game away to Chelsea. After a 1:1 draw at home in the first game, they had a decent chance to progress further and get a positive result, which they generally did after second ninety minutes, but failed to respond in extra-time suffering a narrow 1:0 defeat due the only goal scored from Ivanovic in 94th minute.

Prior to that game, they had a goalless draw at home against Bolton last weekend, with the team having quite poor and uncreative performance against a level lower ranked side. This means that the team is without a goal scored in last two matches, but at least, coming from two straight victories in Premier League. They do have many draws, but are also on undefeated run in Premier League for six matches. They have also climbed up to eight position, being just four points away from sixth placed Arsenal and in case of a victory here, they could go really close to Champions League tickets this time. Mamadou Sakho limped off with a back injury against Chelsea, but should be fit for this match. Important Steven Gerrard is set to start at bench here, as he played all 120 minutes against the Blues. Central defender Kolo Toure (13/0) is still at African Cup of Nations, while injured remain quite unimportant full back Jon Flanagan (no performance yet in the season) and goalkeeper Bradley Jones (3/0).



West Ham, on the other side, comes from a narrow 1:0 victory on the road against Bristol City in FA Cup last Sunday, thanks to goal from Sakho in 81st minute. Even though it was a late minutes goal, the visiting side deserved their victory being much more concrete side during the game, while the pressure they made in last quarter was good enough for the final victory.

Prior to that game, West Ham took an easy 3:0 victory at home against Hull City two weeks before, ending a run of four matches with no victory in Premier League. Even so, they keep very high seventh position, being only three points away from Arsenal on sixth position and only four points away from Champions League placed Manchester United. Visitors have defenders James Collins, James Tomkins, Carl Jenkinson and Joey O’Brien all set as doubtful here, but most of them should get the fitness right on time for the match. Central midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate (19/1) is at African Cup of Nations.

Liverpool have seen over 2.5 goals in 9 of their last 10 matches against West Ham.
Liverpool are undefeated in their last 13 home matches against West Ham.
Liverpool has to be set as favorite here, but with the way they play and have probelms scoring, they should be nowhere close to such a strong favorites. West Ham looks quite confident at the moment and it won’t be much of the surprise in case the team walks away with all three points today.

Bet: West Ham +1 Asian handicap @ 1.83

Stade Rennes vs AS Saint-Etienn

Stade Rennes vs. AS Saint-Etienne / Ligue 1 – From this weekly program of the French Ligue 1 we have this time singled out one late afternoon match of the 21st round, which brings us the ninth Rennes and third St. Etienne, which currently has a 10 point lead. Otherwise, their last two duels, which were played in St. Etienne, ended without goals, while last year at this stadium the hosts celebrated with 3-1. Begins: 18.01.2015 – 17:00 CET

Stade Rennes
This is why the hosts are now hoping that they can come to a positive result against their great rivals, despite the fact that they are at this point in a much worse shape than them. The footballers of Rennes suffered three defeats and one draw in the championship, and his draw took place away at Evian in the last round, so they are very quickly spoiled all the good things they have done in October and November last year.

However, they are still holding the ninth position in the standings, with only four points behind the fifth Monaco, which means that they have not lost hope that they can get hold of Europe, while in the French Cup they recently passed in the fourth round after they celebrated over Dunkirk. On the other hand, in the League Cup after the victory over Creteil they were defeated five days ago in Bastia, with the provision that they finished the match with nine players, because defender Lenjani who just arrived and midfielder Konradsen were excluded. That is why they will now miss this league game with St. Etienne, as well as injured strikers Grosicki and Ntep, while defender M’Bengue who is currently at the African Cup of Nations.

Probable lineups Stade Rennes: Costil – Danze, Mexer, Armand, Diagne – Pajot, Fernandes, Doucoure – Bruls, Toivonen, Henrique

AS Saint-Etienne
As for St. Etienne, they were five days ago eliminated from the French League Cup after a home defeat by the reigning champion PSG, while they earlier successfully finished their performance in the National Cup, by celebrating over Nancy. But what is at the moment much more important for them is that they are not defeated in the championship since mid-October last year and so this match at Rennes comes to them after a stunning series of five wins and one draws.

It is therefore not surprising that they are at the moment on a high third position in Ligue 1, with only two points behind Marseille and another three in relation to the leading Lyon, which in fact means that the appetites of their fans are now maximally increased. However, coach Galtier is constantly trying to calm down the euphoria, because he is well aware that they will at some point experience the end of this positive series, especially since they lately have many problems with absences. So, defender Clerc and midfielders Corgnet and Cohade will have to miss this Sunday’s match due to injuries, while defender Pogba, midfielder Gradel and striker Diomande are at the African Cup of Nations.

Probable lineups AS Saint-Etienne: Ruffier – Theophile-Catherine, Sall, Perrin, Tabanou – Lemoine, Clement – Hamouma, Mollo, Monnet-Paquet – Erding

Stade Rennes vs. AS Saint-Etienne PICK
Even though St. Etienne is now in a much better shape than Rennes, these latest absences could leave a mark on their game, so in this small French derby it is perhaps the most realistic to expect a small number of goals.

Pick: under 2.5 goals

Newcastle vs Southampto

Newcastle vs. Southampton / Premier League – And for the very end of this Saturday’s program within the 22nd round of the English Premiership we have a duel between the 10th Newcastle and the third Southampton, which currently has 12 points more. In addition, the popular “Saints” have in the last two home matches against the “Magpies” celebrated with a convincing victory of 4-0, which only continued the tradition the hosts rarely lose points in their mutual clashes. Begins: 17.01.2015 – 18:30 CET

Newcastle
Specifically, Newcastle can also boasts that they at home have a number of six wins and two draws against Southampton, which certainly gives them a reason for optimism before this Saturday’s duel. But on the other hand, their current form does not go in their favour, because in the last two league rounds, they played only 3-3 at home against Burnley and were defeated away by Chelsea with 2-0, while in the meantime they were also eliminated from the FA Cup after the away defeat by Leicester.

It is because of these few poorer performances that we are all surprised why they have not brought any verified coaching new name to St. James Park after the departure of Pardew, but they gave the opportunity to his recent associate Carver. However, if they now lose points against Southampton, then we doubt that they will continue to delay bringing the new coach, because already at this point they probably lost all chances to reach some of the positions that lead to Europe. We should also add that defenders Ryan and Steven Taylor and midfielders de Jong and Obertan are not able to perform in this match due to injuries, while midfielder Tiote and striker Papis Cisse are both at the African Cup of Nations.

Probable lineups Newcastle: Krul – Janmaat, Williamson, Coloccini, Dummett – Anita, Colback – Cabella, Sissoko, Ameobi – Perez

Southampton
As for Southampton, they unlike the “Magpies” are welcoming this match of the 22nd round in an excellent mood, because they in the meantime restored their form with the start of the season, and thus recorded four wins and one draw in the last five League rounds, while three days ago in the FA Cup they also qualified in the fourth round, after celebrating as guests with 1-0 in a repeated match against Ipswich. Otherwise, they also defeated the great Manchester United with the same result last weekend at Old Trafford and took over the third position in the Premiership, along with the fact that they now have two points more.

Let us also add that coach Koeman in the FA Cup fielded a combined team, with the proviso that he primarily rested his key players in the attack, so they will now be much more prepared for this extremely important championship duel. As for the absences, this time due to injuries they cannot count on defender Alderweireld, midfielder Cork and strikers Rodriguez and disadvantages, while defender Yoshida is at the Asian Cup.

Probable lineups Southampton: Forster – Clyne, Gardos, Fonte, Bertrand – Wanyama, Schneiderlin – Ward-Prowse, Davis, Tadic – Pelle

Newcastle vs. Southampton PICK
Given that Southampton made this great series came largely thanks to their excellent performances in defence, we believe will be set up in a similar way in this away match against the always unpredictable Newcastle and therefore we expect a very hard and not very efficient match.

Pick: under 2.5 goals

Stake: 5/10

Odds: 1.80

Espanyol vs Celta Vigo

Espanyol vs. Celta Vigo / La Liga – The teams are positioned in the middle of the table and don’t play well lately, although both had won in the Cup. The difference is that victory in the Cup had brought the quarter finals for Espanyol, while Celta won but the victory was not enough to pass further. Espanyol lost the last two league matches, while Celta’s series without victories is even longer, although it drew in the last round. Celta has one point more but it hasn’t won Espanyol away for a long time, who had won the last five matches against Celta in front of its fans. Begins: 17.01.2015 – 22:00 CET

Espanyol
The things are not going well in the championship but they are compensating that with the Cup as Espanyol qualified last week for the quarterfinals eliminating no less than Valencia after the defeat in the first leg. They had made a pretty good result at the Mestalla as they lost by 2-1, but in spite of that they needed a good game in the second leg, which only a few expected after two straight defeats in the championship, one of which one was suffered at home by Eibar.

Even the team was almost completely changed compared to the one that mostly plays league matches but they were a bit lucky when the opponent was left with one less player on the pitch. They have taken the initiative, attacked and then coach Gonzalez sent in F. Caicedo, which proved to be a crucial moment as this player scored two goals and brought them to the quarterfinals. Now, despite the success, a different team will play and most of the heroes of the Cup will move on the bench, while the good news is that midfielder S. Sevilla is definitely ready.

Probable lineups Espanyol: Casilla – Arbilla, Colotto, Moreno, Fuentes – V. Sanchez, Canas – Montanes, S. Sevilla, Sergio Garcia – F. Caicedo

Celta Vigo
Something is finally moving toward the better when it comes to Celta, but the fans are still waiting that this team get back into the rhythm that they had at the start of the season, when they were really brilliant and when they lose very rarely. They are currently in a long series without a victory in the championship but the positive is that had at least scored a goal in the last round after a long time, and that happened against Valencia at home, which was enough for a draw 1-1. So, the series of defeats was interrupted as well as the series without a scored goal, while during the week they even managed to win in the Cup over Athletic Bilbao but it was in fact a consolation victory, because they in fact didn’t have a chance as they lost the first match at home by 4-2.

That is why 2-0 in Bilbao was not enough but at least it raised their self-confidence. What is bad are the problems with assembling the team as they will be quite weakened against Espanyol, especially on side positions, because Jonny Castro is suspended as well as Planas, while Hugo Mallo is injured. Apart from them there will be no forward Charles, also because of yellow cards, while Larrivey is too under suspension. That is why coach Berizzo will have to improvise and change players at certain positions.

Probable lineups Celta Vigo: S. Alvarez – Radoja, Cabral, Fontas, S. Gomez – B. Fernandez, A. Lopez – Krohn-Dehli, Orellana, Nolito – Santi Mina

Espanyol – Celta Vigo PICK
According to the standings and what they showed so far the match could be quite uncertain, but Espanyol is in a better shape and is full of self-confidence after the Cup. However, Celta has bigger problems with incapacitated players so the guests can hardly win.

Pick: Asian handicap 0 Espanyol

Stake: 6/10

Odds: 1.95