Apologies for the late update guys – technical issues beyond my control, I’m afraid!

Today’s featured game in the Vysshaya Liga is between heavyweights MTZ-RIPO Minsk and BATE Borisov. The hosts have had a meager start to this campaign with a haphazard form reading of four wins, two draws and four defeats. Unsurprisingly with this form, they find themselves mid-table. To confuse matters further, the hosts don’t have a particular tendency as to when they win as their home and away record differ very little. However, they entertain what is easily the best side in the country. BATE Borisov boast an impressive eight wins from ten games, losing and drawing the other two games. Even more impressively, BATE Borisov boast a 100% away record of wins so this clash suddenly becomes very interesting. MTZ-RIPO Minsk are capable of springing a surprise here but I can’t see it today – the visitors are just too dangerous currently. An away win at 10/11 definitely looks a bargain here!

Saturday’s Picks

My tips:

MTZ-RIPO Minsk vs BATE Borisov – away win at 10/11 – see introduction for full details

Atletico Paranaense vs Corinthians – away win. The visitors are in fantastic form and sides are beginning to fear playing against them again. Lowly Atletico Paranaense find themselves bottom of the table despite having won and drawn each of their last two games respectively. Although Brazil atypically isn’t an “away win” type of country, you have to fancy the away win here because the quality of Corinthians can easily deal with relegation battlers Atletico Paranaense.

TPS Turku vs MyPa Anjalankoski – home win at 4/5. Both of these sides are fairly evenly matched so I have to point out that this is possibly one of my riskier tips of the day. TPS Turku are flying at the moment and are unbeaten in five games, boasting four victories and a draw in that time. MyPa Anjalankoski seem set to endure yet another disappointing campaign as they cannot seem to gather any kind of consistent form together. The hosts aren’t great at home – two wins and three draws from five games – and the visitors aren’t great away from home – one win, two draws and two defeats from five games – so a draw is a possibility. However, a home win is rather tempting from a general form perspective and this is certainly worth a flutter.

Gombak United vs Home United – home win at 10/11. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw odds of 10/11 for this game. League leaders Gombak United are flying this season and find themselves top of the table. The Singaporean giants boast the best home record in the division with six wins and a draw from their home encounters this season. They’re entertaining Home United, a side with two wins and five defeats to show from their seven away games this season. Every single factor from this game points to a home win so I’m baffled but happy that the bookies have decided it’s Christmas time and have given us odds of 10/11 here!

KamAZ Nab Chelny vs Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast – home win at evens. Both of these sides are flying high so far this campaign but as you’d expect, both sides are stronger at home rather than away. KamAZ Nab Chelny are buoyant following a victory over promotion rivals Sibir Novosibirsk last match and will look to obtain another victory here today. Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast travel here with a record of two wins, three draws and three defeats from their away games this season. They’ve also only managed one win in their past five games compared to KamAZ Nab Chelny’s home form of three wins and a draw from their past five games. For the above reasons, evens looks like a good bet for this game.

As ever, any questions/explanations required, feel free to email me at thefootytipster@gmail.com. For the complete picks listing, see below!

Brazilian Serie A:

Sao Paulo vs Nautico (7) under 2.5 goals
Gremio Barueri vs Atletico Mineiro (7) 1-2
Atletico Paranaense vs Corinthians (8) 1-2
Cruzeiro vs Avai (8) 3-1
Botafogo vs Goias (7) 1-0

Belarusian Vysshaya Liga:

Dnepr Mogilev vs FC Minsk (6) 1-1
MTZ-RIPO Minsk vs BATE Borisov (7) 1-2
Granit Mikashevichi vs Dinamo Brest (7) 1-2

Chinese Super League:

Qingdao Jonoon vs Henan Jianye (6) 2-1
Chongqing Lifan vs Shaanxi Zhongxin (8) 0-0
Tianjin Teda vs Shenzhen (7) 2-1
Shandong Luneng vs Changsha Ginde (8) 2-0

Finnish Veikkausliiga:

FC Lahti vs Tampere United (8) 1-1
TPS Turku vs MyPa Anjalankoski (7) 2-1

International Friendly:

Mexico vs Guatemala (9) 3-0

Japanese J-League:

Kyoto Purple Sanga vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima (7) 1-1
Jubilo Iwata vs Kashima Reysol (8) 2-0
Urawa Red Diamonds vs Vissel Kobe (7) 2-0
JEF United Ichihara vs Omiya Ardija (6) 1-1
FC Tokyo vs Shimizu S-Pulse (7) 1-1

Latvian Virsliga:

Olimps Riga vs Skonto Riga (9) 1-2
Tranzits Ventspils vs FK Jurmala (7) 1-2

Russian Division 1:

NoSta Novotroitsk vs Alaniya Vladikavkaz (8)
Vityaz Podolsk vs FK Nizhnyi Novgorod (6)
FK Krasnodor vs Metallurg Lipetsk (7)
Cherno Novorosisk vs Salyut Belgorod (8)
Anzhi Makhachkala vs Luch-Energiya Vladivostok (9)
Volgar Gazprom Astrakhan vs Energiya Khabarovsk (7)
Volga Nyzhnyi Novgorod vs Sibir Novosibirsk (8)
KamAZ Nab Chelny vs Ural Sverdlovskaya Oblast (8)

Singaporean S-League:

Gombak United vs Home United (8)
Armed Forces vs Young Lions (9)

Enjoy your free betting tips!

Hosts Sweden U21 have done themselves a great justice by achieving a semi-final spot against England U21, arguably the most in-form side in the tournament. This should be a fascinating game for various reasons. Leading goalscorers Sweden U21 possess leading goalscorer of the tournament, Groningen striker Marcus Berg, who will be a potent threat, particularly when supported by fellow Netherlands-based Swedes Toivonen and Wernblom. The hosts have scored in every game in the competition so far, which totals nine goals over three games – an average of three goals per game. However, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that you’d expect a heavy scoreline from the match against Belarus U21. However, they did well to dispose of a compact Serbia U21 side 3-1 and yet managed to let themselves down against the more illustrious Italy U21, losing 2-1 despite playing against 10 men for the vast majority of the game. That match was the key for me; they faltered when the opportunity was there against a side that are good but nowhere near what they have been or what they could be. However, England U21 by contrast have outdone pre-tournament potential winners Spain U21 by a scoreline of 2-0, held off an impressive Germany U21 side with a 1-1 scoreline despite fielding mainly a second string, and managed to struggle past Finland U21 2-1. Needless to say, both Sweden U21 and England U21 will be well up for this tournament and I expect a pretty open game between the two sides. I think backing England U21 at evens is something of a bargain because they are better than their hosts both technically and tactically – providing they turn up! England U21 cannot afford to play against Sweden U21 the way they did against Finland U21 or they will struggle. England U21 are very determined to win this tournament, particularly after their close call last time around and I genuinely think they can and will win it this year. They have the best squad, good experience, a good manager and are efficient. I expect the Swedes to fight valiantly but ultimately leave disappointed, although they should feel proud for their performances in this tournament. As I mentioned earlier, I like the odds of England U21 to win the game at evens but I also like the odds of both sides to score at 5/6 – there hasn’t been a game in the tournament where one of these sides hasn’t scored when they’ve been playing. I’d recommend staying away from handicaps too!

Friday’s Picks

My tips:

Sweden U21 vs England u21 – away win at evens, both sides to score at 5/6 – see introduction for full details

Italy U21 vs Germany U21 – Germany U21 to win at 15/8. Bookies are favouring Italy U21 for this tournament which I find intriguing because they’ve not got a great squad and they’ve not played particularly well in any game in this tournament. They laboured to a 0-0 draw with Serbia U21, they scraped past Sweden U21 with ten men and scraped past a plucky Belarus U21 2-1 in their final game although they found the going easy in the second half against their weary opposition. However, today they face a much better side, much more organised and talented. Germany U21 are efficient (what else would they be?!), good goalscorers and don’t concede many goals at all. In fact, only England U21 have scored against them in this tournament and that was a solitary goal. Italy U21 will need to rely on their flair players – Balotelli, Giovinco, Acquafresca – to pull them through this game because overall, Germany U21 has a better team and look more organised. Italy U21 look particularly susceptible at the back and I really think that Germany U21 will take advantage of this. I expect a very tight game but I think the Germans will shade this and 15/8 is a bargain, although consider draw no bet as it’s not a banker by any means.

Arsenal de Sarandi vs Independiente - home win at 11/10. This is the last game of this particular campaign for both sides. Both have endured poor campaigns and will be happy to see this particular section of the season over with. However, in the last game of the season, the home side tend to make more effort to send their fans away happy and what better side to do it against than Independiente, a side that have played eight games away from home this season, lost seven and drawn one? A home win against those stats is an absolute steal at 11/10, especially give that Arsenal de Sarandi have only lost two games at home in this campaign, winning three and drawing two. It may even be worth taking a small punt on the lower end of the handicap, should you desire.

As ever, any queries/explanations required, feel free to email me at thefootytipster@gmail.com. For the complete picks listing, see below!

UEFA European U21 Championship:

Sweden U21 vs England U21 (8) both sides to score, 1-2
Italy U21 vs Germany U21 (7) both sides to score, draw no bet

Recopa Sudamericana:

Internacional vs Liga de Quito (8) 2-0

Argentinian Primera Division:

Arsenal de Sarandi vs Independiente (8) 2-1

Belarusian Vysshaya Liga:

Gomel vs Smorgon (8) 2-0

Latvian Virsliga:

Daugava Riga vs Liepajas Metalurgs (8) 1-2
Blazma Rezekne vs Dinaburg Daugavpils (5) 1-1

Singaporean S-League:

Balestier Khalsa vs Super Reds (8) 1-2

Enjoy your free betting tips!