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Today’s secondary featured game is the Ligue 2 game between Tours and Nantes. I rarely venture into the unpredictable Ligue 2 nowadays but I think that there’s enough to take this one on today.

Tours have long been recognised as one of Ligue 2′s better home teams and despite a fairly up-and-down season thus far, they’ve still notched up nine wins from fourteen home games, thus backing up my point. They average scoring approximately 1.6 goals per home game and are one of the leading goalscoring sides in the division at home with only Sedan-Ardennes having recorded more goals scored on their own turf in Ligue 2 this season. Tours have won three consecutive home games ahead of this encounter and have kept three clean sheets along the way. They could do with leading goalscorer Guie rediscovering the form that saw him prematurely named as “signing of the season” by many journalists earlier in the campaign but Tours have a whole arsenal of attacking options and with strong home form leading them into this game, I do fancy their chances here.

Visitors Nantes simply aren’t playing well. To estimate that they’re not playing well based on the size of the club and the ability of their players versus the league position they’re in doesn’t take great genius. However, they’re simply not playing well – they’re not creating chances and they’re not scoring them either, which is a big worry for Nantes as the relegation zone is worryingly close now. They claimed a priceless 2-0 win at home to Corsica-based AC Ajaccio last match but not scoring goals is going to hurt them and it may well happen here. The last thing that Nantes needed after a morale-boosting win was further attacking issues but that’s exactly what they have here with star striker Djordjevic missing this game, not to mention important attacking midfielder Rodelin and even squad rotation midfielder Capoue. Nantes have a lot of energy in their midfield but without those players, they lack an awful lot in attack and considering that only Vannes OC have scored less goals than they have in Ligue 2 this season, I think it’s fair to assume that they’re going to struggle in this game, irrespective of how dodgy Tours can be in defence.

For me, the home win represents value at evens because I don’t see Nantes scoring here and because Tours have scored in eleven out of their fourteen home games this season. Nantes defend quite well, hence only lost five out of thirteen away games in Ligue 2 this season. However, considering that four of those defeats have come from their last five away games, you can see that they’re really starting to go into decline and should struggle tonight, especially as they’ve only scored twice during their last five away games. I’d leave it if the odds drop but taking Tours to win at evens looks to have some value tonight. 

Team news – Tours miss Rodelin, Capoue, and Djordjevic.

Verdict: Tours to win at evens.

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Monday’s Picks

My tips:

As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:

Lokomotiv Sofia vs Minior Pernik - both sides to score at 10/11.

This is a dubious one because Lokomotiv Sofia do possess better players than Minior Pernik but I’m siding with Minior Pernik’s displays of late, which have been very encouraging. Their 0-3 defeat at home against Litex Lovech during their first game back from the winter break looked a lot worse than it was; 0-1 would have been a fairer reflection of how well Minior Pernik played against Litex. They impressively followed that game up with a 1-2 win at Slavia Sofia and won their last match 1-0 against Montana so they should be taken seriously here. Barring the derby with Levski, Lokomotiv Sofia have scored in both of their A PFG games in the second half of the current campaign despite their depleted attack and they should be able to today, especially with their “coincidental” record of wins against Minior Pernik, which go back a long, long way. I don’t know if this is one of the famous Bulgarian “fixed” games or not and frankly, I don’t care. For the last four meetings, both sides have scored in this encounter and with Lokomotiv’s defence always vulnerable and Minior Pernik’s displays of late being encouraging, I think it’s worth a cheeky punt on both sides scoring here.

Verdict: Both sides to score at 10/11.

Zenit St.Petersburg vs Anzhi Makhachkala – home win with -1.5 handicap at evens.

Anzhi Makhachkala certainly splashed the cash around pre-season and have brought in some great players. We should see a lot from them this season if they play as expected. However, what they showed at home to newly-promoted Krasnodar is that they have a long way to go. The squad wasn’t as cohesive as it could have been and as a result, Anzhi drew 0-0 in a game that they should really have won. Unfortunately, they’ve not had much time since then to gear themselves up for a tough trip to Petrovsky in St.Petersburg and that’s a fatality waiting to happen, in my view. Zenit have played a number of competitive games lately in the UEFA Europa League and won 2-0 last week against Twente Enschede, although that result saw Zenit crash out 3-2 on aggregate so now they’re back to focusing on their domestic campaign. The win against Twente was marred by the horrible news that goalkeeper Malafeev’s wife had died in a car crash so I’m hoping that Zenit respond to that and rally around their valued goalkeeper today just as they did against Twente as they provides great motivation to the team and also shows great respect for their friend and team-mate Malafeev. Zenit have a much better side than Anzhi, irrespective of their opponents’ spending spree, and with their injury list finally dwindling, I think we should see a comfortable Zenit win at Petrovsky. For me, the Zenit win with a -1.5 handicap at evens is decently priced and thus that’s my call here.

Verdict: Zenit St.Petersburg to beat the -1.5 handicap at evens.

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Accumulator fodder:

Spartak Moscow, Zenit St.Petersburg

Recommended bets:

Tours and Zenit St.Petersburg at 2/1.

As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!

Argentinian Primera Division:

Gimnasia De La Plata vs Tigre (5) 1-1
Banfield vs Atletico Huracan (6) 2-1

Austrian Liga 1:

First Vienna vs Hartberg (3) over 2.5 goals

Bulgarian A PFG:

Lokomotiv Sofia vs Minior Pernik (4) 1-1

Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:

Hradec Kralove vs Marile Pribram (6) 1-1

Danish Superligaen:

SonderjyskE vs Midtylland (5) under 2.5 goals

English League One:

Milton Keynes Dons vs Peterborough United (6) over 2.5 goals

French Ligue 2:

Tours vs Nantes (6)

German Bundesliga 2:

VfL Bochum vs Energie Cottbus (7) over 2.5 goals

Italian Serie B:

Empoli vs Reggina (6) under 2.5 goals

Dutch Eerste Divisie:

Veendam vs Sparta Rotterdam (7)

Norwegian Eliteserien

Aalesund vs Fredrikstad (4) 1-1

Portuguese Liga Sagres:

Sporting Braga vs Rio Ave (6) under 2.5 goals
Pacos de Ferreira vs SL Benfica (6) over 2.5 goals

Romanian Liga:

Unirea Urziceni vs Brasov (5) 1-0

Russian Premier League:

Krylya Sovetov Samara vs CSKA Moscow (6) 0-1
Zenit St.Petersburg vs Anzhi Makhachkala (8) 2-0
Spartak Moscow vs Volga Nizhnyi Novgorod (8) 2-1

Singaporean S-League:

Woodlands Wellington vs Tampines Rovers (7) over 2.5 goals

Spanish Segunda Liga:

Real Valladolid vs Girona (7)

Swiss Challenge League:

Winterthur vs Lausanne Sports (5)

Turkish Super Lig:

Bursaspor vs Ankaragucu (6) 2-1

Enjoy your free betting tips!