There is a full midweek programme of games in the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and also in Spain's Primera Liga. If I were a gambler, and by christ I am, this would be where I would be looking to chance the rent money this week. The other option is Carling Cup action here in England and with no clue as to how teams will be taking the contest before line-ups are announced I wouldn't touch it. I'll try and pick a couple of bets from each of the 3 major European Leagues and you can follow or back those depending on the level of trust you place in me!?
German Bundesliga
Mainz v FC Koln, Tuesday 1900
Mainz have been the suprise story so far at this early stage of the season. They have beaten 3 of last seasons top 6 finishers and won 2-0 away at Werder Bremen on Saturday. I'm not going to claim to know a great deal about them, but they are scoring goals and doing it home and away at the moment. Koln are, as always, hovering around mid to lower table and will probably occupy that area for the majority of the season. They will do enough to stay up, but strike me as a Blackburn style team. These factors add up to a home win for me and my money is going with Totesport at a standout 2.0.
Hannover v Werder Bremen, Tuesday 1900
As mentioned above Bremen lost at home 0-2 on Saturday on the back of a 2-2 draw at home to Spurs in the Champions League in midweek. The games are coming thick and fast for them at the moment and the injuries are piling up. Their 2 first choice centre backs will be missing for this match and their attack isn't firing at the moment, with the exception of Mighty Marko Marin. Hannover have made a good start, although they too lost 2-0 at the weekend to Schteve McClaren's Wolfsburg. I think Werder will come strong in a few weeks when players return and others have played themselves into better form, but the price on Hannover tonight makes them worth a punt in my opinion. William Hill go 3.75 on the home win and I think it's worth the risk.
Italian Serie A
Brescia v Roma, Wednesday 1945
Having mounted a late challenge for the title last season under Claudio Ranieri Roma have started this season horrendously. They were beaten 5-1 by Cagliari and conceded 2 late goals at home to lowly Bologna on Sunday to leave them without a win from 3 games. Brescia looked a decent side to me when beating Palermo at home last weekend and West Ham cast-off Allesandro Diamanti looked impressive. He looked the only man capable of providing any flair for West Ham last season when he played and I can't believe they let him return to Italy for a £5million loss after 1 season. Just goes some way to revealing what a mess that club is in. Roma are another team who have too many good players to be involved in a relegation battle, but they look a way off hitting their stride at the moment which makes Brescia look good value at 3.5 with Totesport to me.
Bologna v Udinese, Wednesday 1945
Bologna should still be on a high from their rousing comeback against Roma on Sunday and that should see them in good stead for this match. In Marco Di Vaio they have a striker who has always got goals in Serie A and adds useful experience. Udinese have been absolutely woeful and sit bottom of the table after 3 matches played. They weren't very good last season and got by with Gokhlan Inler booting people's shins in midfield and Antonio Di Natale scoring hatfuls to help them out of trouble. Inler has left to join Rafa's attempts to undo Mourinho and Mancini's good work at Inter and Di Natale hasn't hit his stride yet, or is possibly finally feleing his age? Unless he scores around 40 goals this year I can't see any escape for Udine and I think they're heading for Serie B. All this being said makes the 2.6 at Victor Chandler look unmissable to me.
Spanish La Liga Primera
Athletic Bilbao v Mallorca, Tuesday 1900
Mallorca are a team that massively over-achieved last year in finishing in the European spots in La Liga. They are completely broke and if they were a horse they'd have been shot in the head by now. This season should seen a return to a more reasonable mid table position as they haven;t moved forward at all due to the aforementioned conditions. Bilbao are always good at home, in no small part due to one of only 3 or 4 crowds in Spain that actually get behind the team. They are a hard tackling team with real class in players like Iker Muniain, Fernando Llorente and Toquero. You could have got 2.2 on this match at the weekend, but the best available now is 2.0 with Corals. It's still worth an investment at that price.
Villarreal v Deportivo, Thursday 1900
Villarreal haven't quite lived up to the heights of their appearance against Arsenal in the Champions League Semi-Final a few years ago. This season though they have started well and in their sole home game beat a decent Espanyol team 4-0. Deportivo managed to grind out no end of 1-0 victories last year and have drawn all 3 games this season so far only scoring in 1 of those. They are a fairly obdurate outfit, but I fancy Villarreal to break through more than once on Thursday and to reward those backing them with a -1.0 asian handicap at 2.2 with Bet365.
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