12.02. (Sat) 16:00 Liverpool - Wigan Athletic
After Raul Meireles hit his wonder strike at Wolves, Kenny Dalglish joked: "If he continues this way, he will win the Golden Shoe." Well, the Portuguese midfielder seems to have taken that comment seriously. Meireles has scored four times in the last five Liverpool games and interestingly three of those were first goals of the game, including the winner at Stamford Bridge last week. Scoring markets can be very conservative, since they generally take into account player's position and quality but not his current form. Thus odds on David Ngog scoring are shorter that those on Meireles and that really doesn't seem right!
Tip: Raul Meireles to score first @6.00
Match odds: Liverpool 1.36, Draw 4.60, Wigan 9.00
12.02. (Sat) 21:00 Saint Etienne - Olympique Lyonnais
This is one of the traditionally hottest derbies in France and impressively the teams are level on points and even have the same goal difference. Les Verts have a great home record with five wins and just one defeat in 10 matches, having scored in all of them. They are also coming into the fixture in good form, with wins in their last two games and their confidence will be sky-high remembering the lucky 1-0 win over their rivals away in the first round. Lyon took just a point from their last two games and they can hardly be considered favourites this time but the odds suggest differently. That's what we call a value bet, although the result is of course far from certain.
This is one of the traditionally hottest derbies in France and impressively the teams are level on points and even have the same goal difference. Les Verts have a great home record with five wins and just one defeat in 10 matches, having scored in all of them. They are also coming into the fixture in good form, with wins in their last two games and their confidence will be sky-high remembering the lucky 1-0 win over their rivals away in the first round. Lyon took just a point from their last two games and they can hardly be considered favourites this time but the odds suggest differently. That's what we call a value bet, although the result is of course far from certain.
Tip: St Etienne to beat Lyon @3.10
Match odds: St Etienne 3.10, Draw 3.10, Lyon 2.40
13.02. (Sun) 15:00 Sampdoria - Bologna
Sampdoria's attack was one of the most feared in the league just a few months ago but those days look like history. Antonio Cassano's departure deprived them of creativity, Giampaolo Pazzini's sale to Inter left them without their best striker and poor Blucerchiati are having an absolutely miserable run of five games without finding the net. Dating back to mid-December, they failed to score in seven of their last eight Serie A matches. Bologna are in good form and they managed to draw 1-1 at Udinese two weeks ago, versus one of Italy's best attacking sides. Last week, they won 1-0 versus Catania. Given those stats, it just looks an amazingly good bet.
Sampdoria's attack was one of the most feared in the league just a few months ago but those days look like history. Antonio Cassano's departure deprived them of creativity, Giampaolo Pazzini's sale to Inter left them without their best striker and poor Blucerchiati are having an absolutely miserable run of five games without finding the net. Dating back to mid-December, they failed to score in seven of their last eight Serie A matches. Bologna are in good form and they managed to draw 1-1 at Udinese two weeks ago, versus one of Italy's best attacking sides. Last week, they won 1-0 versus Catania. Given those stats, it just looks an amazingly good bet.
Tip: Bologna to keep a clean sheet @3.10
Match odds: Sampdoria 2.10, Draw 3.00, Bologna 3.90
13.02. (Sun) 17:00 Malaga - Getafe
Malaga have lots of money and a top coach in Manuel Pellegrini, but they are still bottom of the league and they've won just two of their 10 home games (losing seven). They are not lacking ambition but their ability to protect a lead is questionable in the extreme. Take a look what happened to them in January. Malaga took the lead against Bilbao in the 81st minute but only drew 1-1. Then they led twice at Valencia, only to lose 4-3 with nine men. Two weeks ago they opened the scoring against fellow strugglers Zaragoza and lost 2-1. Amazingly they even took the lead 1-0 on 65 minutes at Hercules in December but were thrashed 4-1. Getafe are a very unpredictable team and it's well worth mentioning that two of their three away wins (at Sevilla and Almeria) were achieved when coming from behind. Both rivals are Andalusians by the way, just like Malaga.
Malaga have lots of money and a top coach in Manuel Pellegrini, but they are still bottom of the league and they've won just two of their 10 home games (losing seven). They are not lacking ambition but their ability to protect a lead is questionable in the extreme. Take a look what happened to them in January. Malaga took the lead against Bilbao in the 81st minute but only drew 1-1. Then they led twice at Valencia, only to lose 4-3 with nine men. Two weeks ago they opened the scoring against fellow strugglers Zaragoza and lost 2-1. Amazingly they even took the lead 1-0 on 65 minutes at Hercules in December but were thrashed 4-1. Getafe are a very unpredictable team and it's well worth mentioning that two of their three away wins (at Sevilla and Almeria) were achieved when coming from behind. Both rivals are Andalusians by the way, just like Malaga.
Tip: Getafe to come from behind and win or draw at Malaga @6.00
Match odds: Malaga 2.25, Draw 3.25, Getafe 3.20
13.02. (Sun) 20:45 Juventus - Inter
Since Leonardo was appointed as Inter coach the Nerazzurri became a goal-crazy team. Their attack, with Samuel Eto'o and Giampaolo Pazzini is superb and now that Wesley Sneijder is back from injury in absolutely astonishing form, it only got better. On the other hand, the defence without Lucio (not to mention Walter Samuel), is just dreadful. The stats in eight Leonardo league games read 24 goals for, 13 goals against. That's an average of 4.62 goals a game! Now keep in mind that Juventus have the worst defensive record in the whole league (yeah, that's not a mistake - 19 goals conceded in 11 is even worse than Bari and Lecce). Their home attack though is second only to Inter, and Alessandro Matri is in sparkling form. How about another goal-fiest at glorious odds?
Since Leonardo was appointed as Inter coach the Nerazzurri became a goal-crazy team. Their attack, with Samuel Eto'o and Giampaolo Pazzini is superb and now that Wesley Sneijder is back from injury in absolutely astonishing form, it only got better. On the other hand, the defence without Lucio (not to mention Walter Samuel), is just dreadful. The stats in eight Leonardo league games read 24 goals for, 13 goals against. That's an average of 4.62 goals a game! Now keep in mind that Juventus have the worst defensive record in the whole league (yeah, that's not a mistake - 19 goals conceded in 11 is even worse than Bari and Lecce). Their home attack though is second only to Inter, and Alessandro Matri is in sparkling form. How about another goal-fiest at glorious odds?
Tip: Over 4 goals between Juventus and Inter @5.50
Match odds: Juventus 2.90, Draw 3.10, Inter 2.50
