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I simply cannot agree with the bookmakers that both teams have equal chance to win this game. Chateauroux failed to improve their away performances since coach Garcia took over. As for the home games, they're one of the best teams in the league - they have three wins against Clermont (by more than one goal), Istres, and Dijon, and a most unfortunate defeat against Angers. They were unlucky three weeks ago in Creteil as well. They were in the lead for the most part of the game but then score two own goals. They managed to keep the score at 2-3 till the 85th minute against the mighty Tours away. Two new signings, back Esor and midfielder Peuget, who are expected to get better with time, played their first game for the team. Forward Makengo will be back today.
Auxerre sold their biggest star Paulo Ntep, who was the most important offense player, to Rennes this week. They coulnd't beat anyone away even when he will still there (0-4-6). I therefore find it hard to believe they could win in the first attempt without him. Besides, midfielder Segbefia, who scored against Chateauroux twice for the 2-0 win last summer, is missing. On top of everything, they're tired after the game against Lens Monday night, which they lost after conceding in the 90th minute. Details

Domžale started their period of preparations last Saturday with a convincing 5-0 win against Krško. Their second opponents are also a second-division team but somewhat stronger - Radomlje. The yellow-blue team will be stronger for three important players - their second striker Parker, Janža and Požeg, and their reinforcement from Čelik Horić. Coach Elsner is hoping that the Bosnian has concluded their transfer period and he wants to see the fast flow of the ball and lots of movement. Rademlje were a pleasant surprise in the fall season but have lost their top scorer Zalaznik (15/8) as he transferred to Olimpija. They have a very young team with minimal experience at the professional level as only three of their first-team players are over 23. They started their preparations with a 0-1 defeat against the last-placed top-division team Krško who lost against Domžale by 1-4. I think this will be another difficult obstacle and that it would be a major failure for the home team if they didn't win this one. However, I will not put a too high stake as the it is still the early stage of preparations. Details

Forest are hosting Watford in a run of four home wins and 11 games without a defeat in all competitions. They failed to beat Preson in the Cup on Friday but coach Davis rested a few first-team players like Lascelles, Abdoun and Henderson. Today, he will probably reinstate all three and their major reinforcement Djebbour, the player they have been trying to get since summer, is competing for the place in the squad for the first time. They are still weak in midfield where injured Cohen is out of action and Lansbury is suspended, but the visitors have similar problems with Iriney and McGugan.
They started the game against Man City on Saturday very well but ended up paying a hefty price for defensive and keeper mistakes. They had some mistakes in last league draws (Bournemouth and QPR) and were lucky not to concede a couple of goals on both occasions.
Forest will pressure them more than the two teams, as in-form Reid, Cox and Paterson give them enough firepower, and if everything else fails they have Djebbour. Before Preston, they scored four against Blackburn, five against top-division West Ham here at City Ground. Two should suffice here. Details

The Cup could be the only way to Europe for Gent this season and they know that full well. They reduced their gap behind the play-off group by five points on Sunday but even if they get there, the fourth spot (currently held by Waregem) will still be far away.
Rednic rested his players Dejaeghere and Pedersen against Genk on Saturday, Neto has served his suspension and they still managed to get their job done, which will come as an additional encouragement. The Romanian later said this was their most boldest game since he took over. With 3-4 quality reinforcements and recovered optimism, I believe they have a great shot today.
The visitors sold two of their best three players in January - midfielder Malanda to Wolfsburg, and forward Habibou to their opponents for today. They got four new players but their first performances show that Dury will need some time to organize the team. The offense has come down to Hazard who needs players in front of him to function - Habibou was their top scorer (17/9), their third-best scorer Naessens (18/5) is injured and their reinforcement Pourie has just arrived and is not competing for the place in the squad.
I think any positive result will be good in this one and a tie seems like a very sold option, while it is worth going for "away team not to score" for a smaller stake, which pays up to 3.50. Details

Penafiel are slowly getting to Primeira and their home game against weak Trofense should be a routine task for them. They have a run of four wins in the league, and they put up great resistance in the League Cup game against Sporting as they had the lead in the first half and managed to stay leveled until 70th minute. Sporting managed to take care of their task as they needed at least a win by three goals to take the first place in the group.
The team will be refreshed by important midfielder Andre Fontes and new attacking reinforcement, the talented Paraguay player Caballero on loan from Porto. Their attack has so far been their weakest side, their defense is arguably the strongest in the league with 15 goals conceded.
Trofense are facing relegation battle this spring. They confirmed their lack of any major ambitions in the January transfer window as they let their key midfielder Viafara go to Tondel, and then they were struck by the injury of Mateus Fonseca. They are coming to Penafiel without their keeper Conrad who was suspended last Wednesday in Alveiro. He will be replaced by Diogo Freire, the player brought from fourth division last summer. Details

A match between two teams who have been struggling on defense in the first part of the season, but managed to solidify them in the last month or two, and the results came right away. Boro struggled with goalies until Shay Given arrived on loan at the end of November. The experienced Irishman saved his net five times in his last eight appearances, and six were under 2.5.
Wigan have long been synonymous with over, but things have changed with the arrival of their new manager, Rosler, in December. Their more cautious 4-5-1 setup bore fruit with four "clean sheets", and three unders in five league games. In the Cup, where they still play with two forwards, they still concede goals.
Today they will be fighting for important points, as both teams are trying to catch up with the play-off group and neither of them will rush. The away team seem to be more of a risk, but a tie suits them better, and they are also fatigued after the Cup game vs Palace on Saturday (Rosler fielded his best side, including the new forward Maynard). Their first game in August ended 2-2, and the six games prior to that all stayed under. Details

Hibs are having troubles with their offense since the duo Doyle-Griffiths left last summer - the two of them scored 33 out of the team's 49 goals. In the 23 rounds this year, Hibs scored 21, which only makes them one better than the future second league club Hearts. Lately, they've been doing a bit better, but today, they're hosting Celtic, who won't allow them to cross the center often. They played four times with the future champion of 2013, and shook the net only once. The guests have ten consecutive league wins, and didn't concede a goal in the last eight. This helped them break a Premiership record of a number of saved nets, and their new goal is the historical record of the Scottish football - it's their own record, a hundred years old (13 in a row).
The same starting eleven who defeated Motherwell will run out, the back Matthews is still out, but that's not a critical problem. The midfield reinforcement Stefan Johnson will sit on the bench, as well as the recovered forward Samaras. The home team will be without the two injured defenders, and the suspended midfielder Stevenson. Details

I think Ajaccio in this state of things cannot be a favorite against anyone in the league, let alone their neighbors. It's obvious they've already come to terms with relegation, they've already let go of some of their more expensive players, they brought no reinforcements and are preparing to rebuild the team.
Morale is very low, they are missing 3-4 of their 6-7 top-flight players that they have, they lost the support of the fans that has always been their strong side - the biggest fan firm will start their boycott today.
Things aren't peachy for Sochaux either as they are troubled by injuries and Renard will need a lot of time to fit his reinforcements into the team but I think they're closer to a win here. If nothing else, Ayew and Mayuka up front seem like a much better prospect than veteran Eduardo whom Dupont (one of the last few coaches) told to find new club. Details

Guingamp did great in the first three-four months of the season but they have been in a downward spiral for the past two months and everything shows that this trend could continue. While the teams from the bottom brought reinforcements like Sunzu, Sinkala and Ayew (Sochaux); Medjani and Warris (Valenciennes) or Niang (Montpellier), they tried to solve their offensive problems with Mano Dembele from Clermont who wasn't a standard first-team player in the second division. The club from a town of 15000 people simply doesn't have the financial power to function at this level.
They appear to be safe at the moment with 8 points ahead of Valenciennes, but as of this round, they are going into a difficult run of games and this supply of points could be soon washed away. What they should fear the most is the final part of the season. In the last four rounds, they have away games against Nantes, Bordeaux, and Monaco and are hosting Valenciennes. If they don't settle their status until then and host more experience VA team, their chances will not be too good. One should also not write Sochaux off, despite their huge deficit, as their team can get a run of win at any given moment. They have the easiest list of games and the question is if Renard is able to put things into place on time. All in all, double-digit odds fora completely realistic scenario and I think it would be a shame not to try for a small stake. You can get 11.0 at Betway, 10.0 at Unibet and Marathon. You should place your bet before the Lille-Rennes game as the bookmakers remove the outright offer as soon as the round starts. Details

Troyes have no league wins in 5 games but a lot of that can be explained by bad luck, absences and fatigue. They played a great game in the League Cup quarter-finals and they deservedly knocked out the top-division Evian, but they paid the price against Arles on Saturday, even though they dominated the first half there as well.
In the meantime, they were given another week to rest, they are facing Nimes fresh and almost complete. The only important absence is midfielder Lacur. The management has reduced the price of the tickets so the support from the stands should be stronger. The away team have started well under new coach Marsiglia, they got four points in two games, but this game should be a more difficult test. They conceded goals against Laval and Auxerre and it will be difficult to stop Troyes's maestros, all the more as their defense has no absentees. Their defender Boche has recovered but two have gotten injured - Parpeix and Sartre. Details

Raja's new coach Benzarti will used the friendly game against Guimaraes to get to know his B squad players better. As much as 8 first-team player who brought them a huge success in club WC in December are currently at CHAN in South Africa (Askri, Oulhaj, Moutouali, Iajour...practically, ever good player).
The Portuguese are almost complete, they are only without their defender Addy who was given the liberty to find himself a new club. They're in Morocco until Wednesday and this is their only real test until they return to the obligations in their league next Monday. The question is how seriously will they approach this but it's worth the risk for these odds. The bookmakers have put the odds as if the Moroccans were complete. Details

Last season's champions the Pirates lost the points in the first game of 2014 against the super strong Supersport. They'll now ready to do what ever it takes to get as many points as possible in the two easier games to come. The team have almost all the players at their disposal for the trip to Durban, Phungwayo and Mbesuma are back, and the new winger Pelembe, who was in the game for 20 minutes on Saturday, might start today. The defeat to AmaZulu in August (0-1) might be additional motivation. They were tired after a tough road game in Egypt, but still managed to control the game. However, the Pirates missed two many attempts, and conceded from the opponent's only shot on goal.
AmaZulu are back after a one month break, and that could be visible in their game. First choice goalkeeper Kapini and winger Urkhob are injured, and the two winter signings, Arwuah and Gamilden, not fit. They lost to the current leader the Chiefs in the last game back in December home. Details

The first part of the season was tough for Crewe, but things seem to be looking up now. They lost only three out of the last 8 games, all three to top level teams: Wolves, Rotherham, and Orient. The two neighbors of today's opponents are on a streak as well, they managed to beat Colchester, and played a draw with Coventry, who are actually a top level team since they starter the season ten points down. They were defeated to Dons in August 0-1 away, but never lost home (2-1-0).
The key power in this game could be the return of one of the best players - forward Matt Pogba (last year's record: 34/12), who got injured in July. He came on from the bench twice so far. That will probably go on, but his time in the game will increase. This will be his first home game, which is set to cause euphoria with the supporters.
The visiting team are coping with the loss of league's top scorer Bamford (23/14) quite well. He was on loan from Chelsea. The fact remains, they managed to win only once in the last 6 games - against Shrewsbury home. They are on a tougher schedule than the home team, this is their fourth game in the last 11 days, and the three good offense players ((Bowditch, Chadwick i Powell) are still out. Details

With this games, Zurich will conclude their 10-day preparations in Turkey and Dinamo will start theirs. The Croatian team came to Antalya last night after a long trip from Dusseldorf as they played a min-tournament on Sunday (45 min per game) with Leverkusen (0-1) and Fortuna (1-0). Coach Mamić organized the training this morning and the game is scheduled after lunch at 15 o'clock.
The Swiss have so far beaten Duisburg (2-1), Gyeongnam (1-0) and Libyan Al-Ittihad (4-1). They played against the Libyans with their reserve and youth players. They are missing several injured players (Nef, Koch, Chermiti) but the situation is the same for Dinamo (Šimunović, Pivarić, Brozović i Huseinović).
Upon their return, they only have a "general rehearsal" against Luzern which means this is their most serious test during the preparations. A win against a renowned opponent would be a big encouragement after a weak fall season. They are fresh, ready and I cannot agree with the bookmakers putting Dinamo as the favorites here. Details

Betting on the team that has not won in 19 attempts may not be the smartest move but it seems that everything is going towards Hearts ending their run today: the first home game of the new coach, increased support from the fans due to their anniversary, debut for huge acquisition Engelaar, weakened opponent...Now's the right time for this. I'm sure they are not that weaker than their competition; the cause for their run of defeats is a combination of bad luck, absent players, low self-esteem and the fact that their previous coach "lost his way". Nothing of the sort will play an important role today, except for bad luck of course, but these odds are definitely worth the risk. Details

Both Troyes and Evian went over in every match they played in the league-cup: Troyes on four occasions and Evian twice. Both teams also scored and conceded a goal in every game, but I will stay clear of a double bet as a 3-0 or 0-3 score would not come as a surprise here either.
I think the main issues here is who will have a better start, and whoever lags behind will be in big trouble. Both teams are stronger on offense, as the home team have the second best scorer of the league Gimbert (10) and away brings recovered Berigaud who is eager to prove himself. Troyes will probably test the goalie Dreyer as Slovene Petrić regularly made mistakes lately; the starting middle backs for Evian are unknown for the moment and their "safety" back Tie Bi is injured.
It should be noted that both team have three overs in their last five games regardless of the competition, and that Troyes average 2.79 per game in the league, while Evian book 2.70 in the same column. Details

The Wanderers have gathered six wins since the start of the season, two of which were by 2 goals - the first against Sydney and the game against the Mariners a while ago. In both cases, the opponents flopped completely - particularly Sydney who got off the ground only in November. The away team are by far a better team today than they were then, they have the motivation and they certainly won't underestimate the home team (as it cost them earlier) and I believe they can win a level game in which a high win could only happen by some bizarre chance. For these odds, it seems like a good idea to go against that and to set aside a few units to go for +0.5, that is, double chance. Details

The offensive is the main problem for the Mariners this season: they've scored 12 goals in 12 rounds, and 6 goals in 7 games under their new coach. Heart are coming only four days after their tough game against Perth in which they struggled until the 96th minute and they are without Flores, the man who scored twice in the Melbourne clash (this 2-2 was the third over 2.5 in 10 games). The away team's new coach wants to start with the positive results and improve the atmosphere in the team. With the return of their experienced player Kisnorb, their defense is all ready (something Aloisi has had only on 2-3 occasions), and I believe they can limit if not completely stop their opponents. Details

The return of Emerton and Del Piero is not official (nor will it be soon as night is coming in Sydney), but judging from coach Farina's statements (this weekend: "They have only minor injuries, but we didn't want to take any chances. We have a difficult period ahead of us and will try to distribute playtime the best we can.") the odds are good of them appearing. With both of them starting, they've won every game so far!
At home they've beaten everyone but their city rivals, the Wanderers, and I think they do not deserve the underdog status vs Roar, who are missing Berisha. One can expect an even game here (in chances at least, the away team play a more attractive game and will have more possession of the ball as always), and one should try a double chance on odds such as these. It is also worth mentioning that Sydney did better on home ground in their last two clashes, and lost only two of the 14 they've played in total. Details

Quite a few options are possible here, starting with the home team's win (my suggestion is 3 or 4/10) and so on. However, the goal count is what will pay off the most. Niort are always offense oriented home, in this situation especially. They were over 2,5 goals in the four out of the last five home games. Strikers Sala is at the highest level (7/6). Despite what coach Cretela says, the stats - third best average in the league (3,0 per game), and four out of five overs on the road - suggest that it's worth giving this a shot. Finally, the three out of their last four head to head games went over! Details