Soccer betting tips and predictions

Hamburg – Standard Liege 1 April 2010

*matches in all competitions

Hamburg last 5 matches:  

Hamburg last 3 home matches: 

Standard last 5 matches: 

Standard last 3 away matches: 

The quarter-finals of the Europa League will kick off on the 1st of April with quite some surprises between the teams as giants of the European football failed to qualify further. Hamburg will welcome Standard Liege and the German side with the advantage of eliminating another Belgian team, Anderlecht in the previous round.

Hamburg is not showing a good form in all competition in which they have played recently with no victories in the previous 4 matches from which they lost 3 of them and ended in draw against Schalke 04.

Their main problem seems to be the away form as at home they are performing quite well, nonetheless the recent results made the exit the championship title chase in the Bundesliga, and this tournament may be their only trophy objective for this season.

Standard Liege has a great morale after starting the Belgian Pro League playoff with a victory against Charleroi and with 2 victories against the surprising Greek side Panathinaikos in the previous round they have made it clear that they take this competition seriously.

This will be the toughest opponent they have encountered yet and it’s yet to see if they can profit from Hamburg’s poor form and obtain at least a draw.

My tip:  Hamburg to win

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Wolfsburg - Rubin Kazan 18 March 2010

*matches in all competitions

Wolfsburg last 5 matches:  

Wolfsburg last 3 home matches: 

Rubin last 5 matches: 

Rubin last 3 away matches: 

With the one all draw in Russia, Wolfsburg is certainly thinking of avoiding Sevilla’s faith in the Champions League and end up with a victory against Rubin Kazan.

Wolfsburg is showing an extraordinary form in all competitions, after the unfortunate first part of the season which left permanent marks especially in the Bundesliga where with only the 8th spot for now there’s little hope of claiming any places in the summer qualifications for an European tournament.

After an unbelievable string of 13 consecutive matches without victory, Wolfsburg managed to win 5 out of the last 6 played, their only interruption was suffers away to Rubin Kazan in a very close and difficult match.

With the Russian championship starting last week, current champions Rubin Kazan where quick to claim top spot with a 2-0 victory over Lokomotiv Moskva and travel to Wolfsburg with a good morale in consequence. The team will certainly report itself to CSKA and try to duplicate their performance by eliminating a favorite of the competition.

The away games have caused them quite some problems in Europe with the last 2 ending in defeat away to Inter and more surprisingly only a draw against Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Although a goalless draw will see Wolfsburg advance, this risky strategy is not what we would expect from them and with all hope gone in the Bundesliga this competition remains a good opportunity to show their real force.

My tip:  Wolfsburg to win

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Lille – Liverpool 11 March 2010

*matches in all competitions

Lille last 5 matches:  

Lille last 3 home matches: 

Liverpool last 5 matches:

Liverpool last 3 away matches:

Europa League first leg of the 8th finals and one of the most interesting matches played on Thursday is this clash between Lille and Liverpool.

Lille is still in the fight for the title of champions in the French Ligue 1 but their good performances seem to have taken a turn for the worst with no victories in the last 2 matches of the competition, losing home to Auxerre and grabbing only one point from their trip to Saint Etienne.

These 2 results made them fall dramatically in the overall table, ending up now on the 6th spot but with only 4 points from leaders Bordeaux and Montpellier. They are a great team on home ground proving this with an incredible statistic of their results as they won 12 out of the past 13 matches played on their pitch also showing a great scoring appetite.

The fact that they have overcome an opponent such as Fenerbahce in the previous rounds says a lot about their intentions in the Europa League this year but with a team such as Liverpool their mission is very though.

Liverpool along with Juventus are the 2 giants that look like they don’t belong in this competition, one thing is shore though this tournament has showed over and over again that favorites often fall to the weakest of opponents.

This is joust a consolation run for Liverpool as they were aiming much higher in the Champions League but with oscillating results they managed only the third spot in the group. In the Premier League they are a long way from the top spot, settling for the 6th so far and joust as their adversaries suffered a defeat in the last match of the domestic league away to Wigan.

My tip:  Lille to win

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*matches in all competitions

Shakhtar last 5 matches:  

Shakhtar last 3 home matches:

Fulham last 5 matches:

Fulham last 3 away matches:

With only one goal advantage taken in the first leg of the knock-out of the Europa League, Fulham has a very though mission as they travel to a very strong Shakhtar Donetsk team.

Shakhtar Donetsk and their European claims suffered a setback last week as they where defeated by Fulham 2-1, the Ukrainian team has high ambitions for this tournament as they where last year’s winners of the Uefa Cup and any other performance will be considered inferior.

They where the favorites in the eyes of many as they traveled to England against a B rated Premier League squad but came empty handed. All is not lost as the away goal makes them strong favorites for this match and also the qualification in the next phase.

Fulham is clearly the less experienced team in European tournaments of the two but with a very good morale as they claimed 4 consecutive wins in all competition counting the first leg. Nonetheless besides Shakhtar their opposition was inferior so the victories may count only for their morale.

The English side great advantage into this dispute is that the Premier League is in full throttle whilst the Ukrainian league will start this week-end after about 3 months of winter break.

My tip:  Shakhtar Donetsk to win

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*matches in all competitions

Roma last 5 matches:  

Roma last 3 home matches: 

Panathinaikos last 5 matches:

Panathinaikos last 3 away matches: 

Very spectacular dispute in the first leg between the 2 in the Europa League as Panathinaikos managed to win in the ’89 minute 3-2 over a Roma team in a very good form.

So AS Roma is starting out with one goal deficit but this difference is within reach and the overall scoreline makes them favorites to go through as they have 2 away goals.

Nonetheless this was the first team to beat them from October on in all competitions so maybe a change in tactics will appear. The Italian squad will most likely start on offensive from the beginning in search of the goal pushed by their fanatic supporters.

Panathinaikos produced quite a surprise against AS Roma, even though they are a well built squad, their form compared to the opposition made one point from this match a positive result.

They lost their last match played, last week away to PAOK but still lead the Greek championship, 2 points advantage over second Olympiakos. Only one match won in the last 3 played whilst travelling and this dispute will be very hard. They will most likely adopt a defensive tactic and hope to strike on the counter-attack.

My tip:  AS Roma to win

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