Villarreal vs Slavia Prague: Preview and Predictions

Villarreal will be looking to grab the victory which would separate them from the rest of the group this Thursday when they host Slavia Prague.

The in-form Czech side is on level terms with the Spaniards after opening two rounds and they’ll be looking to maintain the fine shape and try and stun The Yellow Submarine at Estadio de la Ceramica.

Villarreal

The hosts have been playing hot and cold since the start of the Primera Division campaign, but they will enter this particular match on the back of subsequent wins over Eibar and Girona in the top flight of the Spanish football.

The main responsible for the mentioned successes is the red-hot striker from Congo Cedric Bakambu who bagged each of five Villarreal’s goal in last two La Liga ties.

Bakambu confirmed the spell of excellent form by finding the net for his national team as well in the 1-2 win over Lybia last weekend.

Slavia Prague

Jarosllav Slihavy’s side climbed up to the second position in Czech Liga after back-to-back clean sheet wins over Zbrojovka Brno and Karvina.

Keeping their net untouched for the third time on the bounce will, however, be a massive challenge given Villarreal’s fine attacking form.
Villarreal vs Slavia Prague: Head to head

Villarreal and Slavia Prague have never crossed paths before, but the Spaniards were more than successful when they came up against the opposition from Czech Republic winning five and drawing two of seven previous such encounters.
Villarreal vs Slavia Prague: Prediction

The Yellow Submarine were held to a goalless draw two weeks ago in Israel, but we can’t see such a scenario happening this time out given both team’s fine attacking shape.

Villarreal to win & BTTS is the bet that stands out, while Bakambu to score anytime is a must-take at 6/5.
Villarreal vs Slavia Prague: Bets

The first bet will be Villarreal to win & BTTS at 3.60.

You can also have Cedric Bakambu to score anytime at the odds of 2.20.

Costa Rica vs Honduras: Preview and Predictions

It is a crucial game for both teams as the Conacaf World Cup qualifiers are geared up to an exciting finish. Costa Rica sitting at second in the table need a point to book their tickets to Russia, but it will also do if USA defeats Panama earlier that day.
For Honduras, nothing less than wins in remaining 2 games will help to attain automatic qualification. However, this requires results from elsewhere fall in their favor. But they could still make it into the intercontinental play-off with at least a win from remaining two.

Costa Rica had been fairly inconsistent in the qualifiers, but came to life in the month of September. They bagged a morale boosting win against USA away from home before holding Mexico to a 1-1 draw. The two results against the most difficult opponents in the zone pushed Costa Rica from play-off contenders to a strong position for automatic qualification.

On the other hand, Honduras are yet to find their feet in the competition. They managed just 2 wins so their 8 so far. But just like Costa Rica, the past few rounds have been inspiring for the team. They are unbeaten in the last three with a win and 2 draws. One of those draws came in a difficult away game at Panama and the latest at home against USA.
Costa Rica vs Honduras: Head-to-head

Costa Rica are unbeaten in their last four games against Honduras, but only of those is a win with the other 3 ending in draws.

The reverse leg of the corresponding qualification fixture is a 1-1 draw.

Costa Rica won their last two qualifying matches at home against Honduras with clean sheets. They were win-less in previous 7 with 4 draws and 3 losses.
Costa Rica vs Honduras: Prediction

Costa Rica are coming on the back of a good round of results and their confidence will be high as the results came against the zonal heavy weights Mexico and USA. Needing just a point from remaining two games, there can play with full freedom.

Honduras are a team with plenty of issues in moving the ball forward. They must win here. So, they are expected to take the sword and perish by the sword.
Correct Score Prediction: 2-0 Costa Rica for 7.50 odds
Costa Rica vs Honduras: Bet Tips

    Costa Rica to win for 1.80
    Value is in backing Over 1.5 goals and Costa Rica win for 2.30 odds

Bolivia vs Brazil

Brazil had already qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Russia with a long unbeaten streak. The previous round saw them being held to a 1-1 draw at Colombia, which made it 11 wins and 4 draws since the defeat to Chile on matchday 1. The Selecao have a 10-point lead over second placed Uruguay and the top spot in the table is already theirs.
On the other hand, Bolivia are second from last in the standings and are out of the qualification race. But there are some positives in their recent performances. The team is coming on the back of a four-match unbeaten run at home and it looks impressive as the likes of Argentina, Chile and Paraguay have all fallen to defeats without scoring. Never the less to say, the good form arrived quite late for the Highlanders.
Bolivia vs Brazil: Head-to-head

Brazil won their last two matches against Bolivia with huge margins – 5-0 in the corresponding reverse leg of the qualification fixture and 4-0 in a friendly back in 2013.

Bolivia have only one win to show for in their last six meetings with Brazil in all competitions, drawn 2 and lost 3.

Brazil haven’t defeated Bolivia in a world cup qualification fixture since 1985. The streak of four games saw the Bolivians winning three times along with a draw.

However, Brazil had scored in 5 of their six away games in the qualifiers away at Bolivia.
Bolivia vs Brazil: Prediction

This is a dead rubber and the teams are expected to play with more freedom as pressure is off their back. Brazil are in flamboyant form and this is alright. But the current scenarios favor the hosts more and they can draw confidence looking at their excellent home record against the heavy weights in the continent.

Correct Score Prediction: 1-1 draw.
Bolivia vs Brazil: Bet Tips
Double Chance: Bolivia or Draw at 1.86 odds

Kalju vs Videoton

Estonian football really nothing exra in my eyes, the domestic league have a fairly low standard and the Estonian champions from last year, Infonet Tallin were eliminated in the first round of the Champions League against Hibernians from Malta. Kalju is currently third in the league behind Flora and Levadia. Kalju eliminated B36 from Faroe Island in the first round with the aggregate score of 4-2 without impressing to much.


Videoton had a fairly easy two legs matchup with Balzan from Malta and went through with the aggregate score 5-3, won the first match 2-0 at home and then relaxed a bit after gone 2-1 up in the return leg in Malta and the match finished 3-3. Videoton have some class players in their ranks like Scepovic, Lazovic and despite the fact that the Estonian league is up running and the Hungarian has not started yet, I really can't see Videoton be in trouble here against a Estonian team which is nothing extra. With full focus this should be fairly comfortable for the Hungarians. 1,83 can be used although the odds are a bit adjusted. 59-61% chance for a win here for Videoton in my eyes.


Pick     Videoton Odds     1.83

Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Preview and Predictions

Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol
Spanish La Liga
Date: Tuesday, 4th March 2017
Kick-off at 18:30 UK/ 19:30 CET
Venue: San Mames, Bilbao.

The Spanish La Liga fixture between Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol on 4th April is extremely important for the two teams involved. This is a battle for Europa League qualification places as these two teams are positioned just below top 6 places in the league table.

Bilbao are 7th in the league table, with a 2-point gap with Villarreal and Real Sociedad above them. Meanwhile, Espanyol are 9th, 2 points behind Bilbao and 5 point below the Europa League zone. Both teams will be eyeing 3 points to get ahead in the race for continental football next season.
Athletic Club Bilbao

Athletic Club are coming on the back of a 2-1 away win at Osasuna, registering their 4th win in 5 matches. The lone defeat during the time came at home against Real Madrid just before the international break.

Only Real Madrid have a better home record than Bilbao in the La Liga this season. They share the second spot in this aspect with 33 points, same as Barcelona and Sevilla.

They lost just twice during the 15 home matches this season with the defeats coming against Barcelona and Real Madrid. While the remaining 13 matches produced 10 wins and 3 draws. This certainly means that Ernesto Valverde knows how to make the home advantage count on most occasions.
RCD Espanyol

Espanyol extended their unbeaten run to three matches by edging past Real Betis by a 2-1 margin at home. They picked up 3 wins and 2 draws from their last six matches, making them the fifth best team in terms of form during the period. Quique Sánchez Flores will be worried about the defending after seeing his team concede 9 goals from the last 5.

However, Espanyol struggle at large in away games. They are currently without a win in the last four with 2 wins and 2 losses. Moreover, they tasted victory just once in the last 8 outings, 3 draws and 4 losses.
Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Head-to-head

The teams settled for a goal-less draw when they met at Espanyol’s home ground on November 2016.

They share 2 wins each from the last four La Liga meetings.

Eleven of the last 13 league meetings between these two sides have seen 3 or more goals, with both teams scoring in 10 of them.

At the San Mames, Bilbao have a mediocre record against Espanyol. They won the latest two La Liga meetings here, while losing in the previous two. Espanyol were win-less in their previous 11 visits, but managed 6 draws while losing in 6.
Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Predictions

The home versus away form does matter here. Bilbao are almost unbeatable at the San Mames, while Espanyol are a poor away side. Coupled this with the good h2h record at home, Bilbao could edge a win here.

Regardless of the playing venue, the matches between these sides had no shortage of goals. Therefore, both teams to score and over 2.5 goals bet is worth a shot.

Meanwhile, I leave you with my correct score prediction of a 3-1 win in favour of the home side, priced at 15.00 with Bet365.
Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Bet Tips

    Over 2.5 goals at 2.05
    BTTS and Bilbao to win at 3.75

UCAM Murcia vs Elche

UCAM Murcia didn’t have a really good start in the season for now, as the team has two draws and a defeat after first three matches played. Their defeat came in the first round against Zaragoza away from home, while we’ve seen improvement in next two rounds when they stood undefeated against Cordoba and Sevilla B.

Now, even though they are taking on Elche, team that probably wants to try to promote, they are obligated to seek for something else than a point and no doubt that the players will behave like that. Apart from La Liga 2 performances, they played a Copa del Rey match three days ago and managed to improve their morale with a 4:3 victory after overtime at home against Real Oviedo, even though they were leading 3:1 till ten minutes before the game. They showed good improvement in attack, but also that they must work much more of defensive tasks.

UCAM Murcia will be playing without midfielders Basha (3/0) who is suspended, plus Mora (0/0), Nono (1/0) who are injured, while forward Mejia (3/0) is doubtful but with chances to play.


Elche, on the other side, has two victories and a defeat for now, which already puts them at the fifth position and play-off zone at this moment. In case of a victory here, they could go all the way till second position and be just a point away from the leaders from Levante, so a positive result here is a primary target for them.

The team looks as one of the most interesting to watch for now, since they are attacking usually and look to score one more than the opponent. Till now, all their matches ended as over 2.5 goals, also with both teams scoring in the proccess. In previous round, they won at home over Tenerife 3:1, while only defeat came on the road against Girona with the same score. Team also played Copa del Rey match few days before this one, winning after penalty kicks over Mirandes, having a 2:2 game after ninety minutes.

Elche can’t count at goalkeeper Freixanet (0/0), defenders Albacar (1/0), Armando (0/0), midfielders Mandi (2/0) and Hadzic (0/0).

As it could be understand, I’m expecting quite an open game here. Hosts need to search for their first victory, while players of Elche anyway have more quality and could easily dictate the tempo here. They also have more open style than most of LaLiga2 teams and behavior of both teams could lead us to an easy over. Odds are definitely worth a try.
Bet: Over 2.25 goals @ 2.28

Lillestrom vs Odd

Lillestrom is experiencing trouble both on and off the pitch these days which naturally leaves them in a horrible situation as a club at the moment. A total 5-8-9 this season has put them on the edge of relegation with a 13th place, but only a slightly better goal difference than 14th placed Aalesund, leaves the club over the line for now. Lillestrom managed to get three straight draws before the national break last weekend including a strong comeback against Viking (2-2) last time out.

The club came behind twice, but was still able to fight their way back into the game which is a factor they desperately need to keep onto when going ahead. The long row of weak results this season has resulted in several meetings higher up on whether the coach Runar Krisitinsson should be sacked or not. That has not been helpful to the players’ focus on the pitch during the recent months, and the club has taken criticism for its handling of that case.


Odd was marked as the only club that could challenge Rosenborg for the title some months back as the 2nd place seemed theirs. Odd was only two points behind the league leaders at the best, but it has taken a sudden turn for the challengers lately. 1-2-4 is their horrible statistics since July 17th which has brought their top 3 position to a huge test right now. With Brann taking a point yesterday against Viking (0-0), Odd is now in 3rd place with four teams still possible to go pass them if Odd should lose tonight.

Their current situation was stated in their last game against Valerenga (1-2). It was a game where Valerenga had several important absentees, but Odd still did not manage to take control at home. It now seems like everything is falling apart, just when it all counts the most. As the bad form is not enough, their important central back Fredrik Semb Berge (18/4) is out after a knee-operation and top scorer Olivier Occean (21/8) is suspended.

It is two teams that struggle heavily at the moment that faces each other tonight and both teams need three points in each end of the table. Lillestrom is still the team that needs them the most given their possible relegation after over 40 years in Norway’s highest division. It is therefore tempting to give Lillestrom the edge here, but Odd has still the better squad despite their missing here.

Semb Berge is naturally replaced by Lars Kristian Eriksen (7/0), while Occean is a tougher one to replace. However, the nerve in this game will be fantastic and I expect the importance of the game to bring goals to each side. I expect an open match with three goals at Åråasen Stadion tonight.
Bet: Over 2.5 goals @1.7