J-League notes are cancelled for today, Friday 22/11.
Back to normal Saturday.
Good Luck.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Friday 22/11
Friday November 22nd
Next newsletter is due at 16.00 UK time with tomorrow's J-League notes.The
Atlanta Falcons kept the Saints to within four points, landing our bet
and a real bonus for any of you who went for New Orleans to win by 1-6
points at those big 5.50 odds.
France : League 1:Ajaccio-Marseille
We discussed the visitors ahead of their 2-1 home win over Sochaux, immediately before the international break ...
Sochaux have seen an upturn in form since Hervé Renard took charge of the squad a little over a month ago, especially offensively with two goals against Monaco, where they battled back from two down and three in a five goals thriller with Montpellier. Last time out they drew 0-0 with St Etienne, but that was far more open than the scoreline suggests and both teams were going at each other early, before the match was ruined as a spectacle with the sending off of a player for each team, which mean that they will miss suspended defender Petrus Boumal, but he has only played 163 minutes this season. a far bigger loss is central defender Carlão (9-1-1... conceded six in three without him).Offensively, right winger Roy Contout (11-3-1) has been in very good form this season, all three of his goals have come away from home and with OM struggling on that side of the field today, he looks big at circa 6.0 in the anytime goalscorer market. Anyway, both teams with defensive issues, the visitors have shown a desire to attack under Renard and OM have to go all out for the points.
André Ayew (10-2-2) is again out tonight and probably for the next two months, OM are unbeaten in the three matches he has missed, but whilst they conceded in each, road points at both Toulouse and Rennes are decent returns and at least on paper, they face a far easier task tonight against struggling Ajaccio. The hosts have won just once all season and scored a miserly nine goals , for them striker Adrian Mutu (9-0-0), defensive midfielder Benoît Pedretti (10-1-1) and central defender Zubar (12-1-0) are all injured and with another holding player in Ricardo Faty (25-2-0 last season) still sidelined, they are short of key options through the spine of the team.
Christian Bracconi took over as interim coach earlier this month, replacing sacked Fabrizio Ravenalli, the former youth academy director might have more support from the players, but this looks exactly what it is, a stop gap appointment and it is hard to see too much changing and the hosts look in for a season long battle to survive in the top flight.
Ajaccio operate with a very rigid system and it is "easy" for teams to stretch them here when they play with two wide men, Evian and Valenciennes both scored three here with their wingers having "fun" and whilst it would have been great to have Ayew on the left flank, players like Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin and returning right back Rod Fanni (10-0-2... who likes to get forward), will surely be looking to stretch the home side and provide for striker André-Pierre Gignac (11-5-0) who should be available to start tonight after scoring twice from just 23 minutes of play, from his last three outings. OM only have pride to play for in the Champions League now and it is all about Ligue 1 for them and they will see anything less than a maximum haul this evening, as points they can ill afford to drop, lost. 1.25 units Marseille -0.75 ball 2.23 asian line/Ibramarket.
Ajaccio : Ochoa, Sissoko, Tonucci, Bonnart, Perozo, Dielna, Crescenzi, Hengbart, Pierazzi, Cavalli, André, Mostefa, Gonçalves, Lasne, Eduardo, Tallo, Camara, Arrache.
OM: Mandanda, Samba, Abdallah, Diawara, Mendes, Mendy, Morel, N'Koulou, Cheyrou, Imbula, Romao, Valbuena, Thauvin, Lemina, J.Ayew, Gignac, Khalifa, Payet.
France Ligue 2
Creteil- Troyes
Most of you know that Troyes are a favourite of mine, not least because of the massive favour they did for us at Valenciennes in the cup recently, ahead of which I wrote ...
Hosts are bottom of Ligue 1 , five points from safety, have a vital six pointer with fellow strugglers Ajaccio at the weekend and I would suggest they need further involvement in this competition like another hole in the head !
Left back Loris Néry and defensive midfielder Tongo Doumbia (10-0-0) who both started in the home defeat to Evian at the weekend, along with a number of other defensive options , including central defender Lindsay Rose (7-0-1) and also striker Opa Nguette (8-0-0) are all out injured. They lost at the first stage of both domestic cup competitions last season to Ligue 2 oposition and it was the same story in this competition the previous season.
We discussed Troyes on Friday .... "You know that I love to watch this Troyes team, about whom I wrote earlier in the season..."Troyes impressed me at the end of last season in their ultimately fruitless attempt to avoid relegation, when they played with great spirit and attacking intent. Coach Jean Marc Furlan doesn't have a defensive bone in his body and will always be setting up his team to play on the front foot ."
They have been very badly hit with injuries all season, especially defensively, but still always look to push forward and will never sit on a lead, or take a backward step if trailing, I sent you highlights of their recent 3-3 draw with Angers last week and that encapsulates everything that is good and I suppose bad about them. Good or bad, they are really fun to watch !They get central defender Mahamadou N'Diaye (6-0-0) back tonight, but they have still been loathe (or unable) to name more that two full backs and we know that they are going to be looking to attack for at least 89 of the 90 minutes ! Auxerre have played pretty well in their last couple of matches, but have not faced a team as offensively potent or minded as Troyes for some time."
To be honest, Troyes are in a similar situation, in as much as they should only be focused on getting back into Ligue 1 asap and sitting just two points outside the promotion places, that will clearly be their priority, but two things, firstly they can only play one way, which is on the front foot and secondly, they do not have to play their Ligue 2 fixture until Monday night. They have named the same squad which saw off Auxerre comfortably on Friday, adding youngster Mickael Barreto and Thiago Xavier who has just recovered from long term injury and appear to be treating this seriously . This should be open and Valenciennes might welcome the chance to play without pressure, both to score, the visitors to edge it.
That played out perfectly, with Troyes winning 3-1 and landing both big odds selections. They then toiled through two matches, a draw at Brest on the Monday after and home loss to Laval, a few days later, with that quck turnaround once again proving very difficult to overcome. I suspect they were running on empty, it was their fourth start inside 14 days with a squad a little short of options. Tonight they are hungry to make up for that loss and coach Jean-Marc Furlan said his squad have really thrived during the break, with his men showing him tremendous "commitment and quality" this week in training.
Creteil have made a great start to life in Ligue 2, but have looked hugely vunerable defensively at times and no team outside the drop zone has conceded more and I suspect them to struggle at the back tonight to contain a team as keen to attack as Troyes, away win for me. 1.5 units Troyes -0.25 ball 2.17 asian line/Ibramarket.
France : League 1:Ajaccio-Marseille
We discussed the visitors ahead of their 2-1 home win over Sochaux, immediately before the international break ...
I
favour goals here, six of the last eight h2h meetings have gone "over"
and the visitors have scored in six ( not the same six !) of those
games. Marseille desperately need maximum points to stay in touch with
the top three and at least extend their season into the second half of
the campaign, but seem highly unlikely to be able to do so with a clean
sheet , something they have not managed in seven starts. Today they are
without right back Rod Fanni (10-0-1.... seven goals conceded in the
last 3 starts he has missed) and on the other flank Jérémy Morel is in
the squad, but has been struggling with injury all season and is not in
the best of form. Also missing is suspended left winger André Ayew
(10-2-2), he was named OM's player of the month for October and his
defensive, as well as offensive contribution will be missed today and
the hosts look vunerable down both flanks.
Sochaux have seen an upturn in form since Hervé Renard took charge of the squad a little over a month ago, especially offensively with two goals against Monaco, where they battled back from two down and three in a five goals thriller with Montpellier. Last time out they drew 0-0 with St Etienne, but that was far more open than the scoreline suggests and both teams were going at each other early, before the match was ruined as a spectacle with the sending off of a player for each team, which mean that they will miss suspended defender Petrus Boumal, but he has only played 163 minutes this season. a far bigger loss is central defender Carlão (9-1-1... conceded six in three without him).Offensively, right winger Roy Contout (11-3-1) has been in very good form this season, all three of his goals have come away from home and with OM struggling on that side of the field today, he looks big at circa 6.0 in the anytime goalscorer market. Anyway, both teams with defensive issues, the visitors have shown a desire to attack under Renard and OM have to go all out for the points.
André Ayew (10-2-2) is again out tonight and probably for the next two months, OM are unbeaten in the three matches he has missed, but whilst they conceded in each, road points at both Toulouse and Rennes are decent returns and at least on paper, they face a far easier task tonight against struggling Ajaccio. The hosts have won just once all season and scored a miserly nine goals , for them striker Adrian Mutu (9-0-0), defensive midfielder Benoît Pedretti (10-1-1) and central defender Zubar (12-1-0) are all injured and with another holding player in Ricardo Faty (25-2-0 last season) still sidelined, they are short of key options through the spine of the team.
Christian Bracconi took over as interim coach earlier this month, replacing sacked Fabrizio Ravenalli, the former youth academy director might have more support from the players, but this looks exactly what it is, a stop gap appointment and it is hard to see too much changing and the hosts look in for a season long battle to survive in the top flight.
Ajaccio operate with a very rigid system and it is "easy" for teams to stretch them here when they play with two wide men, Evian and Valenciennes both scored three here with their wingers having "fun" and whilst it would have been great to have Ayew on the left flank, players like Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin and returning right back Rod Fanni (10-0-2... who likes to get forward), will surely be looking to stretch the home side and provide for striker André-Pierre Gignac (11-5-0) who should be available to start tonight after scoring twice from just 23 minutes of play, from his last three outings. OM only have pride to play for in the Champions League now and it is all about Ligue 1 for them and they will see anything less than a maximum haul this evening, as points they can ill afford to drop, lost. 1.25 units Marseille -0.75 ball 2.23 asian line/Ibramarket.
Ajaccio : Ochoa, Sissoko, Tonucci, Bonnart, Perozo, Dielna, Crescenzi, Hengbart, Pierazzi, Cavalli, André, Mostefa, Gonçalves, Lasne, Eduardo, Tallo, Camara, Arrache.
OM: Mandanda, Samba, Abdallah, Diawara, Mendes, Mendy, Morel, N'Koulou, Cheyrou, Imbula, Romao, Valbuena, Thauvin, Lemina, J.Ayew, Gignac, Khalifa, Payet.
France Ligue 2
Creteil- Troyes
Most of you know that Troyes are a favourite of mine, not least because of the massive favour they did for us at Valenciennes in the cup recently, ahead of which I wrote ...
Hosts are bottom of Ligue 1 , five points from safety, have a vital six pointer with fellow strugglers Ajaccio at the weekend and I would suggest they need further involvement in this competition like another hole in the head !
Left back Loris Néry and defensive midfielder Tongo Doumbia (10-0-0) who both started in the home defeat to Evian at the weekend, along with a number of other defensive options , including central defender Lindsay Rose (7-0-1) and also striker Opa Nguette (8-0-0) are all out injured. They lost at the first stage of both domestic cup competitions last season to Ligue 2 oposition and it was the same story in this competition the previous season.
We discussed Troyes on Friday .... "You know that I love to watch this Troyes team, about whom I wrote earlier in the season..."Troyes impressed me at the end of last season in their ultimately fruitless attempt to avoid relegation, when they played with great spirit and attacking intent. Coach Jean Marc Furlan doesn't have a defensive bone in his body and will always be setting up his team to play on the front foot ."
They have been very badly hit with injuries all season, especially defensively, but still always look to push forward and will never sit on a lead, or take a backward step if trailing, I sent you highlights of their recent 3-3 draw with Angers last week and that encapsulates everything that is good and I suppose bad about them. Good or bad, they are really fun to watch !They get central defender Mahamadou N'Diaye (6-0-0) back tonight, but they have still been loathe (or unable) to name more that two full backs and we know that they are going to be looking to attack for at least 89 of the 90 minutes ! Auxerre have played pretty well in their last couple of matches, but have not faced a team as offensively potent or minded as Troyes for some time."
To be honest, Troyes are in a similar situation, in as much as they should only be focused on getting back into Ligue 1 asap and sitting just two points outside the promotion places, that will clearly be their priority, but two things, firstly they can only play one way, which is on the front foot and secondly, they do not have to play their Ligue 2 fixture until Monday night. They have named the same squad which saw off Auxerre comfortably on Friday, adding youngster Mickael Barreto and Thiago Xavier who has just recovered from long term injury and appear to be treating this seriously . This should be open and Valenciennes might welcome the chance to play without pressure, both to score, the visitors to edge it.
That played out perfectly, with Troyes winning 3-1 and landing both big odds selections. They then toiled through two matches, a draw at Brest on the Monday after and home loss to Laval, a few days later, with that quck turnaround once again proving very difficult to overcome. I suspect they were running on empty, it was their fourth start inside 14 days with a squad a little short of options. Tonight they are hungry to make up for that loss and coach Jean-Marc Furlan said his squad have really thrived during the break, with his men showing him tremendous "commitment and quality" this week in training.
Creteil have made a great start to life in Ligue 2, but have looked hugely vunerable defensively at times and no team outside the drop zone has conceded more and I suspect them to struggle at the back tonight to contain a team as keen to attack as Troyes, away win for me. 1.5 units Troyes -0.25 ball 2.17 asian line/Ibramarket.
Créteil
: Kerboriou, N’Doye I. - Augusto, Da Cruz, Di Bartolomeo, Diedhiou C.,
Ikoko, Mahon de Monaghan - Djellilahine, Lafon, Lesage, Ludovic, Ndoye
C., Seck - Andriatsima, Belvito, Essombé.
Troyes : Dreyer, Petric - Carole, Colin,
Jarjat, Ma.N'Diaye, Saunier - Court, Darbion, Lacour, Nivet, Othon,
Thiago - Cabot, Gimbert, Marcos.
Istres-Nimes
Two struggling teams often means goals and I expect to see them this evening ....
We have discussed Istres a lot this season, most recently in depth before their 2-1 home defeat to Metz at the beginning of the month ....
Just
two wins this season for Istres and they face a tall order to add to
that tally today against the league leaders. We have discussed the home
team's problems several times ....."Istres operate on a shoestring budget and have done wonders to stay in
Ligue 2 for four seasons, they started 2012-13 well and were 3rd after
14 matches with 24 points (7-3-4) , just as well, as they only collected
another 19 from 24 starts and managed to narrowly escape relegation.
Their budget which was already skinny was clipped by about 11% heading
into last season and with meagre crowds and limited backing, it is hard
to see how things will be much better this time round. They have lost a
number of key players including favourite son Nassim Akrour, but he was
pushing 40 yo, which is too old to be leading the front line, also gone
are midfielder Kévin Bru (31-2-5.... Istres did not win in the seven
games he missed last season and failed to score in five), hugely
experienced centre back Éric Chelle (25-1-0) and striker Yahia Cherif
(32-5-0). On loan winger Ludovic
Genest (29-3-2) who had three goals and an assist in those sole four
wins in the last 24 games, has also left. As you might expect, new
signings have been firmly low key and within those tight budgetary
restraints, but they did show a little original thinking with the
addition of two 20 year olds from the Fluminense B team."
Against
some of the Ligue 2 better funded clubs, Istres are going into battle
with a knife against a rifle, they might win the odd skirmish, but it
will be very difficult to win the war and for them, finishing 17th would
be a huge achievement.
They went into the break with a four goal loss on the road to Caen, which was also a winner for us and they now sit three points from safety, with three of their next four starts on the road, including very difficult trips to Lens and Dijon.
Nimes are not in much better shape, they lost at home to basement club CA Bastia just before the break and now only a point keeps them out of the drop zone. They arrive without midfielder Vincent Gragnic (9-2-2), left back Jean-Alain Fanchone (11-0-1) and fringe left sided midfielder Mathieu Robail, so short of options on that flank.
Istres are missing defensive midfielder Florian Tardieu (11-3-0),strikers Cheikh Diarra (6-2-0) and Bagaliy Dabo (9-2-1), midfielder Ibrahima Ba and first choice keeper Arnaud Balijon.
There is a history of goals between these two clubs with 5 of the last 6 h2h meetings going "over" and with both missing key defensive players I think this will follow suit. Istres made a good looking loan signing of striker Geoffrey Malfleury from Le Havre recently, he scored once in two starts and after the two week break, should be even more in sync with his team mates and that could be key, with a couple of otehr strikers unavailable. Both to score and I expect each to look for a winner, especially Istres who will have to gamble. 1.5 units "Over" 2.25 goals 2.04 asian line/Ibramarket.
Istres : Lejeune, Gil - Chafik, Barrillon, Kehiha, Le Goff, Boulaya, Leroy, Doumbia, Malfleury, Allart, Rafael, Sainati, Bosqui, Matheus, Belmonte, Keita.
Nîmes : Merville, Michel - Cordoval, Poulain, Boche, Parpeix, Kovacevic, Bouby, Ogoungbiyi, Nouri, Omrani, Cissokho, Benmeziane, Sartre, Ripart, Hsissane.
Good Luck.
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