Today’s featured game is the English Championship game between West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers. Second-placed West Bromwich Albion have struggled a little of late but have the perfect opportunity to make amends tonight as they take on a Queens Park Rangers side that are in something of a crisis currently.
West Brom are without a win in their last two games as they’ve drawn once and lost once. Nevertheless, the Midlands club remain in contention for an automatic promotion place and won’t be too disheartened by their poor spell. West Brom have done well at home this season with six wins in ten games and scoring an average of over two goals per game. They’re the highest scoring side in the Championship and Roberto Di Matteo is keen to keep it that way too. West Brom have notched up twelve goals in their last five games and bear in mind that they’ve only won three of those games! West Brom play the best football in the division and you can rest assured that you’ll be on the receiving end of a whipping if you don’t take a highly motivated side to The Hawthorns!
Visitors Queens Park Rangers couldn’t be worse-placed than they are tonight as they take on the best side in the Championship. After manager Jim Magilton’s incident with Akos Buzsaky, the manager has now left the club by mutual consent. However, the staff are refusing to work without him after his supposed headbutt on the Hungarian midfielder so the backroom is in something of a turmoil currently. Couple that with the fact that QPR haven’t won in their last four games, a run which includes three defeats, and you begin to see that the visitors have their fair share of issues currently. To make matters worse, QPR have conceded fourteen goals in their last five games, an average of nearly three goals per game! That record most certainly isn’t good enough for any division and they’re in for a rough ride against West Brom tonight if they intend on maintaining this unwanted record.
QPR are generally an “all or nothing” side but they don’t really have a lot more than “nothing” to offer at the moment, unfortunately for them. It’s a shame because they do play good football but the problems that they’re having currently aren’t helping and they’re taking on the best side in the division. For me, this has a home win written all over it and a very possible overcoming of the -1.75 goal handicap.
Verdict: West Bromwich Albion to win and beat the -1.75 goal handicap at 9/5.
Monday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
Atletico Tucuman vs Gimnasia De La Plata – home win at 10/11.
Atletico Tucuman have been playing quite well of late with two wins, one draw, and just one defeat in their last four games. Their form in general has improved at home, making them look an actual threat when playing on their own turf with four wins in eight games, losing just twice along the way. They average scoring two goals per game at home and have won their last three games in a row now, improving their momentum and confidence drastically. Atletico Tucuman have done just enough to establish themselves since promotion and will look to continue their impressive run against a very poor Gimnasia tonight.
Gimnasia De La Plata are without a win on the road all season and recent form indicating four defeats from their last four games offers a likely reason as to why that is; they’re shit, to be blunt. It was not always so and I doubt it always will be so but for the time being, Gimnasia De La Plata are one of the worst sides in the division. They’ve lost five out of eight away games this season already and concede an average of just under two goals per away game, scoring once every two away games on average. To make matters worse, in their last four games/defeats they’ve yielded ten goals and scored just once. Could any side look more likely to lose a game currently? Not in my opinion!
Verdict: Atletico Tucuman to win at 10/11.
Energie Cottbus vs Hansa Rostock – home win at 10/11.
Hosts Energie Cottbus have struggled in the Bundesliga 2 since relegation from the Bundesliga last season, currently sat just outside of the relegation zone with just five wins in fifteen games. Unsurprisingly, four of those wins have been at home so their seven home games haven’t exactly been wasted. Energie Cottbus are a strange side in the sense that either know they can win and do or know they can’t win and lose – there isn’t a middle ground for them, basically. Energie Cottbus average scoring two goals per game at home and enter this game on the back of a two game unbeaten run. They’ve won their last two home games in a row without even conceding a goal and carry considerable momentum into this game tonight.
Visitors Hansa Rostock are just two places below Energie Cottbus and are experiencing a very similar season. Hansa also prefer their home games as they’ve won four out of eight at home this season. Their away form has been poor however, losing five out of seven games on the road and conceding an average of nearly two goals per game. Defeat at home by Kaiserslautern last match is far from embarassing but it will have knocked the visitors somewhat in terms of confidence, particularly with the knowledge that they didn’t even manage to score a goal themselves. Hansa are going to have a long battle tonight with Energie Cottbus and I don’t think they’ve got enough within them at the moment to take anything from the game.
Although this has the potential to be a very close game, I think Energie Cottbus’ momentum and home form should see them overcome a poor-travelling Hansa Rostock tonight.
Verdict: Energie Cottbus to win at 10/11.
As ever, if there are any questions/explanations required then feel free to post a comment! For the complete picks listing, see below!
Argentinian Primera Division:
Atletico Tucuman vs Gimnasia De La Plata (6) 2-1
Godoy Cruz de Mendoza vs Arsenal de Sarandi (8) 1-1
Cypriot Division 1:
Ethnikos Achnas vs Aris (6) 2-1
English Championship:
West Bromwich Albion vs Queens Park Rangers (8) -1.75 handicap
German Bundesliga 2:
Energie Cottbus vs Hansa Rostock (7)
Greek B Ethniki:
OFI Crete vs Thrasivoulos (5)
Italian Serie B:
Reggina vs Triestina (5)
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Belenenses vs Vitoria Guimaraes (6) 0-0
Romanian Liga:
Unirea Urziceni vs Politehnica Iasi (8) -1.75 handicap
Enjoy your free betting tips!