Highlight of Sunday was the golf, Steve Stricker comfortably finished runner up to Tiger Woods, three strokes clear of the field and landed a nice bet. Another positive to take from the WGC event, was the continued solid form shown by Justin Rose, who carries our money in the Race to Dubai, he finished in a tie for 8th, following on from his 4th place finish in the Honda Classic and whilst that event doesn't count, it does show that his game is in very good shape. He is second to Rory McIlroy in betting for the season ending Money List bet and I am sure we will continue to get plenty of interest for our investment through the year.
I am not overly interested in the football today, at least from a betting perspective, I would like to see Burnley beat Hull City, or at least take a point, to help our long term positions, but most of the odds in the games I have looked at, seem about right. Tomorrow however, looks a very exciting day in prospect.
But I will say a few words about the Ligue 2 match up between Caen and Istres.
The hosts are already in the third and what increasing looks like, the final remaining promotion spot, with Monaco and Nantes, looking a class apart. Caen can open up a three point lead over the chasing pack with the win tonight, which, given their goal difference superiority, will effectively be a four point advantage. They visit Guingamp, their nearest challenger on Friday and given that we all know by now how tough that Monday- Friday quick turnaround is to overcome in L2, that is a MASSIVE incentive. Having said that, you have to bear in mind that it will have been factored into the odds to some degree, but we can argue that in many ways, tonight is at least as important to Caen, as the actual "six pointer" at the 4th placed club.
Istres have lost their way big time and if they lose again this evening, they will have collected just 9 points from their last 14 starts, after picking up 24 from their first 14 fixtures. They have not won on the road since a late September win at Sedan, who have been bottom of the table virtually all season. The visitors have overachieved by staying in Ligue 2 comfortably enough for the last two seasons, they even had one season in the top flight in 2004-05, but their budget, which is the second lowest in the division and only marginally bigger than Gazelec, who have taken over from Sedan as the basement club, means even survival is a feat. They are operating on a playing budget of about 15% of that of Monaco and I wouldn't be surprised if "real" figures showed an even bigger discrepancy.
Istres got a vital 1-0 win over Sedan last week, but had not scored in their previous seven starts in all competitions and just four points above the drop zone and with four of their next six starts on the road, they are firmly in danger of relegation, despite their current 12th place.
Caen remain without holding midfielder Laurent Agouazi (16-2-1) he has not played in over six weeks,but they are more solid when he gives the backline protection, losing 4 from 11 without him, they have no other new injuries, but are missing a handful of fringe players . Istres are without holding midfielder Ibrahima Ba (19-2-2) ,veteran striker Nassim Akrour (24-2-1) EDIT I also just saw that another defensive midfielder in Florian Tardieu (19-1-2) is also not named in the squad. They have lost 5 from 8 without Tardieu and the situation is compounded with Ba also out and Akrour offers plenty both on and off the pitch.
That changes things and Istres really look up against it tonight, we discussed the reverse fixture, which I have reproduced at the foot of the email, Caen won that 4-0 and could easily run away with this one too. I will (after all) take a minimal bet, at the bigger hanidcap line. 1 unit Caen -1 ball 2.23 asian line/ Ibramarket.
Caen : Perquis, Bosmel - Calvé, Pierre, Wague, Sorbon, Guerreiro - Seube, Fajr, T.Moulin, Nabab, Kim, Cuvillier, Montaroup - Poyet, Duhamel.
Istres : Petric, Daoudou - Chafik, Chelle, Barillon, Sainati, Bru, Tarasconi, Melliti, Genest, Nimani, Ninagbo, D.Moulin, Massengo, Yahia-Chrif, Zoubir.
Good Luck.
ISTRES -CAEN ( written October 5th)
Incredible start to the season for Istres, who are third in the table and have not conceded a goal yet on home soil. They have a tiny budget and squad and do not normally start playing until November, so their form has probably even surprised the coaching staff and players, their only defeat came in a five goal thriller at Monaco, which is not their normal style as their other eight matches have averaged 1.25 goals. They have no injury concerns and everything is well in the home camp.
Caen are one of the stronger teams in Ligue 2 and are also close to full strength, only missing holding midfielder Gregory Leca, but he has seen only 23 minutes of action this season. They have lost their last two home starts without scoring, which is a surprise as they look full of goals, I saw the first of those, a loss to Le Mans and on another day they could have scored four, on the road, they have been able to play with more freedom it seems and they have scored two in each of their last three, collecting seven points. We discussed them before the last of those a 2-1 win at Laval .. The visitors will definitely be looking to bounce back after their home defeat to Le Mans last week and they won three in a row after their first loss of the season, so the omens are good.To be honest, Caen could have won easily last week, but little went their way and Le Mans keeper Jeremie Janot was in inspired form and when he wasn't standing in their way, the woodwork was.Caen will have old hand Nicolas Seube ( 6-0-0) back in the holding role and his calming influence will be very welcome, fellow defensive midfielder Laurent Agouazi (4-1-1) has passed a test and travelled, the visitors have conceded only twice in the four matches both have started. Left back Alexandre Raineau ( 3-0-0) and striker Romain Poyet (7-0-0) are missing along with a couple of fringe players.
They are obviously in much better shape injury wise tonight and will once again be looking for an immediate reaction following a defeat, this is a match were we would have been asked to give up a handicap start a month ago and I suspect that would also be the case in two months time, there is more quality in the viisting team and this is the first time that Istres have faced a top side on home soil, their previous outings coming against Gazelec, Chateauroux, Niort and Nimes, three of whom were playing in National last season and the third have won just once in 13 starts, 1.5 units Caen level ball 2.28 asian line.
Istres : Petric, Véronèse - Chafik, Sainati, Barillon, Cantareil, Tarasconi, Bru, Tardieu, De Préville, Yahia-Chrif, Akrour, Niangbo, Chelle, Fettouhi, Genest, Touati.
Caen : Perquis, Bosmel - Calvé, Wagué, Sorbon, Guerreiro, Seube, Agouazi, Nabab, Fajr, Cuvillier, Duhamel, Pierre, Moulin, Kebano, Poyet.
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