Spain made promsing starts in both the 2018 World Cup finals and the Nations League but quickly went downhill. Their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign began well with a win over Norway and now travel to Malta looking for three more points. Spain have won their last two games recovering well after Nations League losses to England and Croatia. They have a good Euro qualifying record with nine wins in a row and only one loss in the last 28. Their last four away Euro qualifiers have all been won without a goal being conceded. They have won all of their seven previous meetings against Malta but they haven't met since 1997. Those seven wins have seen Spain score 36 goals including a 12-1 win in 1983,
Malta didn't have much success in the Nations League finishing bottom of their group in the bottom rung League D. Malta failed to win any of their games in a group against Kosovo, Azerbaijan and the Faroe Islands. Saturday saw them have a third meeting of the season with the Faroe Islands and they beat them 2-1 at home to get three points with a goal in each half. That was a welcome win indeed as it ended a run of 15 games without a victory stretching back to 2017 and there'd been 29 Euro qualifiers since the last win. Their last 34 internationals have only produced two wins and they face an almighty task to get something from this match. Go for under 4.5 goals to be scored in this match.
Thursday evening had mixed results for these two countries. Northern Ireland won their opening group game 2-0 at home to Estonia, while Belarus begain their Euro 2020 campaign with a 4-0 beating in the Netherlands. Thursday's win was a welcome one for Northern Ireland after being relegated to League C of the UEFA Nations League losing all four of their games in a group that saw them face Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria. The win over Estonia was their second home victory of the season having beaten Israel in September. They are unbeaten in their last six home European Championship qualifiers.
Belarus had a much more successful Nations League campaign topping their group and winning promotion to League C. They beat San Marino, Moldova and Luxembourg and didn't concede a goal. Normal service was resumed when facing higher-ranked teams as they began this Euro 2020 qualifying group with a heavy defeat in the Netherlands. They'd gone six games without conceding but it only took the Dutch side a minute to score against them on Thursday. Belarus have never qualified for the European Championship finals and their previous away game against Northern Ireland ended in a 3-0 loss. They have only won two of their last 10 away Euro qualifiers and the tip here is for Northern Ireland to get a home win.
In their last 25 matches, France have picked just two losses. They have been on a great run before and after winning the World Cup and head to this game with just one loss in the last 15 competitive matches, against Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League. They haven’t played a European Cup qualification match since 2011, largely due to the fact that they hosted the last edition. The last time they won the World Cup, before 2018, they went on to win the Euro Cup as well – in 2000 – and perhaps they see a sign here, in the 2020 tournament. In their last 30 Euro Cup qualifiers away from home, they have only lost once, to Scotland. On the other hand, Moldova have managed just three wins in their last 25 matches – and all have come against San Marino. They have lost all of their last five matches in the Euro Cup qualifiers while they have eight losses in the last nine qualifying matches, with their only win coming against San Marino. This is the first time ever the two nations meet and even before facing off, there’s all the writing that Moldova will be the whipping boys in Group E.
Liverpool have won 9 drawn 5 and lost 1 of their 15 league away games played, and sit 2nd in the Premiership with 73 points, winning their last league game played 4-2 at home against Burnley. Liverpool have scored 68 goals and conceded 17 goals in their 30 league games played. Fulham have won 4 drawn 3 and lost 7 of their 14 home league games played and sit 19th in the Premiership with 17 points, losing their last league game played 3-1 away against Leicester. Fulham have scored 28 goals and conceded 68 goals in their 30 league games played. Liverpool have already beaten Fulham 2-0 at home , and did the double when last met in the Premiership in 2013/14 season 4-0 and 2-3 this fixture.In 4 of the last 5 meeting there has been over 2.5 goals in those matches, I am taking this match to have over 2.5 goals scored in this game today.
It's been a difficult season for Athletic Bilbao with a period of time spent in the relegation zone. They are still inconsistent but have moved up to 12th in the table, nine points above the bottom three. European football next season isn't out of the question as they are only six points adrift of the final Europa League place. Only one of their last five league games have been lost and at home they are undefeated in nine league games with four wins and five draws. There haven't been that many goals with all nine of those games having under 2.5 goals scored in them.
Atletico Madrid were knocked out of the Champions League by Juventus in midweek. They return to La Liga action in second place but seven points behind leaders Barcelona. This is a tricky away game for them against a side that recently drew at home with Barcelona. Atletico have only conceded 17 league goals this season and just 10 on their travels. Six of their last seven league games have had under 2.5 goals scored in them and 13 of their last 15 away league matches have ended that way. Not surprisingly, the tip here is for under 2.5 goals to be scored in this game.
Fiorentina may be the bigger team as the two head to this game, and they are ahead of Cagliari by 10 points but a run of four matches without a win doesn’t sit well with them and going to face Cagliari away from home, with their hosts on two wins in the last two league matches points to a tough outing for them. Cagliari have picked three wins in the last five home league matches and have lost just three matches at home in their last 15. With 10 points in their last five home matches in the league, they will feel capable of taking on Fiorentina. However, they have no clean sheet in their last five matches and have managed just two in 10 home matches. Defensively, Cagliari have been better than Fiorentina, conceding eight goals in the last five matches, while Fiorentina have shipped in 11 in the same period. However, Fiorentina have lost just once in the last 11 away matches and that loss came in their most recent away game, against Atalanta. They have scored 12 goals in the last five away matches. Fiorentina have four wins and Cagliari two in their last seven meetings; their first leg meet ended 1 – 1 but head to head, in 39 meetings, Fiorentina have 20 wins and Cagliari 10.
Both sides head to this clash on the back of impressive wins back at home; Bayern’s rise in recent times has hauled them back into strong contention for the Bundesliga title while Liverpool have stumbled a bit in recent times but still stand among the favorites for the league title in England. Liverpool are unbeaten in 10 matches heading to this game, but they will be worried by their recent run, having picked just two wins in their last five matches. It has been harder for them away from home, with just a win in the last six matches, while they have lost each of the last five Champions League matches away from home. They have managed just three wins in the last 10 away Champions League matches and have managed just two clean sheets in the process. Bayern, on the other hand, takes to the game a run of 12 wins in their last 15 matches. They have lost just once in the process but their greatest strength has come at home, where they are unbeaten in 10 matches, and with seven straight wins. In the Champions League, they have two straight wins at home and six in 10, falling just once at home in the last 10.
Sevilla are sixth in La Liga but have only won one of their last ten league games. At one stage this season they were top of La Liga but a form guide for the last ten league games has them 18th out of 20 teams. They were in Europa League action on Thursday evening and led twice at home to Slavia Prague only to draw 2-2. Only four of their last ten league games have been at home and on home territory they have only one loss in their last ten league games with only two league defeats all season.
Real Sociedad are ninth in La Liga and only two points behind their opponents. A win here will greatly increase their chances of qualifying for the Europa League next season. They aren't in the best of form either with only one win in their last four league games. That was a home win over Leganes and on their travels have no losses in their last five but just one win in the last seven. Each of their last four away league games have ended level. This isn't an easy game to predict but a bet on under 2.5 goals looks like being a winner.
AC Milan takes to this game a really impressive run and a strong defensive output in the coming matches. They take on the bottom placed side who are 38 points behind them and really weak defensively, this should be enough to motivate Milan to seek an extension to the slim advantage they have in the race for an automatic Champions League place. Milan are unbeaten in their last nine matches, in which they have seven clean sheets and in five matches they have scored two goals or more. They have four straight wins in the league and have lost just two of their last 15 Serie A matches. Milan will be facing a side winless in the last seven matches and with just a win in their last 27 matches. Chievo’s only win this season came against Frosinone, who are just a place above them on the log. Chievo have two wins in 15 home matches across all competitions. Milan are unbeaten in 24 matches against Chievo and they have posted straight wins in the last five, in which they have also scored three goals or more.
Valencia are seventh in La Liga and only six points behind the Champions League quaification positions. They'd be a lot closer but for drawing 15 league games but only the top two teams in the league have lost less games than them. Valencia began the season in the Champions League but finished third behind Juventus and Manchester United. They won two of their three home games including a victory over Manchester United. Transferred to the Europa League, they won both legs against Celtic and now face Krasnodar in the last 16. Valencia are undefeated in their last 11 games and last week reached the Copa del Rey final. Home form is strong with an unbeaten run of seven games in all competitons with five straight clean sheets.
Krasnodar are second in the Russian Premier League, three points behind Zenit St Petersburg. They finished second in their group behind Sevilla with home form the main reason they won the group, All three home games were won but on their travels they lost to both Sevilla and Standard Liege, only winning at Akhisarspor who lost five of their six group games. The last 32 saw them squeeze past Bayer Leverkusen drawing 0-0 at home and drawing 1-1 in Germany to win on away goals. They come into this tie with no wins in their last four games and six away games without a win. Go for Valencia to get the home win in this game.
Three nil is not an unsurrmountable scoreline for Dortmund to overcome especially considering their excellent home record at the Westfalenstadien (16 wins from their last 20 home games) Spurs may well hold them off to progress to the next round but I do feel that Dortmund will win in the 90 minutes
Juventus are 13 points ahead of Napoli and a win in the Sunday clash with the second placed team on the Serie A log will catapult The Old Lady ever closer to yet another title. Juventus have been unstoppable in Italy this season, even though their last few matches have been a bit shaky. With 58 goals, they are the leading scorers in Serie A and have also conceded the least goals, at 12. They face a Napoli side on 46 goals scored and 18 conceded. One factor that both teams take to the match is their astute defending capabilities. Juventus have three clean sheets in their last five matches and Napoli have four in five. Juventus have 10 wins in their last 11 away matches in Serie A. Napoli will take to this game a really good run, unbeaten in their last six matches and on three straight clean sheets. They have an even better run at home, unbeaten in the 18 home matches they have had this season in all competitions. The unbeaten home run stretches back to March 2018, and they are unbeaten in 23 competitive matches played at home. At home in Serie A matches, they are unbeaten in 18 and have lost just twice in 37 matches. Juventus beat Napoli in the first leg meeting and the side from Naples will be keen to ensure all goes to plan in this clash but it has not always been so. In the last four matches, each of the two sides has managed two wins.
Inter Milan have recovered from their earlier three – match slump and are now on a five – game unbeaten run, with four wins therein and three clean sheets while they have scored two goals or more in each of the last three matches. On the flipside, Cagliari are on one win in their last eight matches. They have picked just four points in the last seven matches. In their last 15 Serie A matches, Cagliari have picked just two wins, while they have failed to score in four of their last five league matches. It has been a bit better though at home for Cagliari, in their last five Serie A matches, they have picked seven points but with just one clean sheet in the last six matches it is going to be tough on them against Inter who have scored in all but two of their last 12 away matches in Serie A. Inter have four straight wins over Cagliari heading to this game while they have lost just once in their last seven meetings. Head to head, in 42 meetings Cagliari have six wins and Inter have 22 wins.
Lazio take on AC Milan in the last four of the Italian Cup. They won on penalties against Inter in the quarter finals but come into this game in poor form. Last week saw them get knocked out of the Europa League by Sevilla and that was their third straight defeat. Only three of their last nine home league games have been won as they've slipped down to eighth place in Serie A.
AC Milan are fourth in Serie A and reached the final of this competition losing to Juventus. They have already had good wins over Sampdoria and Napoli in this competition. Milan are undefeated in their last seven league and cup games since losing to Juventus in the Italian Super Cup. Away from home, Milan have just lost one of their last seven but over 90 minutes four have been drawn. This should be a great cup tie and with Juventus knocked out, both teams will fancy possibly going all the way. The tip is for a double chance bet on Milan to win or draw this match.
Huddersfield is the worst team in the PL. They have scored only 18 goals in 31 matches, and with these stats they can not play in the Premier League next season. The Palace are playing very good on the road, while losing 8 of their 15 matches at Selhurst Park. Only a few points separates them from the relegation zone, so they MUST start collecting points at home for a change. I expect the hosts to win against such a poor side.