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A powerful home team versus the weak visitors. Dallas proved them are one of the top teams in the league last fall and start the new season with basically all the same players, who have all recovered from injuries that turned out a great problem in last season's finish. Their home record is 10-2-1, while the Quakes have 0-2-6 away.
Visitors have changed a lot, starting with the coach and not everything is expected to work from the start especially given the injuries of three good players. While Kinnear doesn't get them on the level he hopes for, they will rely on their new stadium but I don't think they're ready for challenges like this one. Details

Brugge seemed more rugged back in autumn than they do now, and they still conceded a goal in two out of the three home games played in Europe. They're currently on a six game streak with a goal conceded overall. Today they're in a comfortable position where even 0-2 gets them through, and though defense will be their priority, I doubt they'll manage to contain Aalborg routinely.
The Danes showed they know how to attack in the first match, although they could have scored a few more. They scored in their only remaining spring match against Brondby, as well as the toughest friendly matches prior to that (2-4 with CSKA, 1-2 against Shakhtar, both stronger opponents than Brugge). Details

Forest disappointed us many times last fall but we shouldn't forget that they were considered one of the the favorites for the title, while almost none thought Bournemouth can make it into the upper part of the table. The difference in quality is there and I see the home team as favorites against the opponent who is definitely not doing their best, while they finally got things going.
Visitors no longer have the attacking style that ruled the championship and need to look for other solutions. But, that is tough because of the absences and lack of confidence. They never won a single game at City Ground and I don't think they can change it now. Details

It's probable that Arsenal will dominate here and play on their opponent's half of the turf, and Monaco will put up a defense on 20-30 meters and often take long shots. Maybe the hosts might stumble into an offside from "atypical" situations such as free kicks, but the away team should make more mistakes. Berbatov carried the offside-player reputation since United, and Silva and Carrasco can also be found guilty...
Even f it were played on neutral grounds, and that Monaco had Toulalan who would take over the game from time to time, statistics are still clear: Arsenal had a 2.0 average in the group, and they 3.83. he difference i smaller in leagues, but it still exists (1.6 to 2.0), but that's due to a specific competition and it's not an important piece of information.
The bet is, sadly, not available to ll, but you could try with ball possession which is being offered by Marathon, Betsson.... The logic remains the same. I think it's realistic to expect the hosts with at least 56 - 57%. Details

Caen tied a nice series together, but they owe a lot of it to luck and their opponents' troubles. Good scores may have lifted them, but as I wrote in the preview, it's better to go modest in such games.
Defense absences are harder than they seem at first, and if they start off too ambitiously, Lens will know how to punish that.
The away team lost an important match on Saturday, but Evian had a different approach than Caen will today. They scored a draw three times before that, and the fair thing for them would be to have won at least seven points. I've been writing that they've been playing better from week to week - I think it's high time for the score to settle in as well. They lost only once to Caen in the last five matches, with two goals conceded. Details

We can thank such odds to the fact that Beijing last year dealt with Chonburi (4-0), but Bangkok will be a tougher nut to crack. In the meantime the Chinese haven't exactly made progress.
Key players are still Matic (34) and Damjanovic (33) who have passed their prime time a long time ago. The club jewel Zhang Yizhe (one of the two national team players) has been sold to Wolfsburg, and they brought only a couple of local players who don't look like they will be of any help. They're starting the season without their goalkeeper trustee Yang Zhi (injury), Shi Xiaotian will debut on the goal line.
The away team can't financially compare to the strongest on the continent, but they are an ambitious club who's been progressing year from year. This winter they bought the experienced A-League stopper Matt Smith and the good forward Lendar. In the first pre-round they crushed Darul Takzim with Luciano Figuero in the spotlight. They weren't without a conceded goal in 18 official matches The championship starts during the weekend, and the Chinese (for whom this is the first official premiere) only in three weeks, which suggests they could be in better shape. The fact that they mean business is that they arrived to Beijing on Saturday. Details

I think we'll see a very aggressive and energetic Nantes and that could, combined with Bastia's tough defense, could result in more bookings. The visitors average 2.3, more than any other team in the league, while the home team have 1.5 per game. The sticks Lesage will be officiating this match. He awarded 7 cards on Wednesday in the Cup game between Boulogne and Quevilly, while his Ligue 1 average stands at exactly 3.5. Details

Metz had bad luck in their last few games: they started off well both against Lyon and Bastia, and then got wrecked by suspensions (same player, interestingly), against Nice they dominated but were distracted by a snowstorm. Now they'll face a second league team, both tired and in poor form, and I expect them to fire all pistons against Brest. The away team shuffled things around a lot in the transition period and will need time to tune in, with absences of key players making things even more difficult. Away matches are their chronic ailment, though they improved a bit this year, but the motivated and reinforced first league opponent will be their toughest test so far. Last year they twice lost against Metz (who won the league), 0-3 at home and 0-1 away. Details

Guinamp did his Cup matches against weaker opponents very seriously. They didn't concede against Arles, Dinan-Lehor and Chatearoux. They managed to not concede in seven league games despite playing 4 Top 6 teams (PSG, Marseille, Bordeaux, Monaco).
Coach Gourvennec will be reshuffling the team a bit today and offense is more likely to slip than the defense. Yzeure have a mistake of Valenciennes' defender Ciss who was send off and gave them a penalty kick to thank for being here. They struggle with scoring even at amateur level, having scored only 13 goals in 16 rounds. Details

A duel between two teams not known for being aggressive, and especially true today when neither have to get a result. The number of yellow cards per game is 2.48 for Montpellier, and 2.35 for Lille. There were none in the duel they played in September. Sebastian Moreira is the referee, he gives 3.06 per game this season. Details

Brisbane should be able to win this in normal conditions, but the odds have already plummeted, which is why I'd rather go with an under because home team will be completely focused on defense and I don't trust the offense much without Henrique and Kaluđerovic.
Brisbane beat the Jets in November but Henrique did brilliantly to score a hat-trick back then. The 3-2 against Phoenix is not to significant for this game either. Out of the remaining 13 official matches of the season, 11 ended under 1.5. They scored only 2 goals in the previous 6 h2h games with the Jaets, while five out of six ended under 2.5. Details

LeRoy is really trying to present his team as the underdog, but it's all part of the experienced French's strategy, and the difference in quality is much smaller than the difference in their countries' size. Beside the minor issues at the beginning (blamed on the organization), The "Devils" played their 270 minutes very serious and disciplined. It's obvious that each player knows his role better than they do for the "Leopards", who are forced to change their tactics mid tournament because of Mulumbu's injury. LeRoy knows his opponents very well, and will know how to use every weakness. The only worrisome thing is the impressive Bifouma's injury, because they're the slimmest in the front line, but the info this morning said he's ready, so I see them as an even opponent, maybe even slight favorites. Details

Ivory Coast have great potential which can always come through, but there are no indications that's going to happen today. They've been set as favorites based on their old glory and I have to contradict that, even for a smaller bet.
Cameroon is looking good because of their current shape and their head-to-head matches (before the mentioned goalless match they crashed them with 4-1 at home, in their most impressive match they've shown in the last three to four years) and absences (Gervinho, before he was sent off against Guinea, was the best player on the turf), and there's the "home effect" because Malabu will surely have excellent support.
Another historical data: so far they've met seven times in the AFCON, and the Coast never won in 90 minutes, and five times they didn't manage to score a goal. Details

I doubt anyone will be surprised by my claiming Ghana are better-quality and better-experienced than South Africa and plays the role of the favorite deservedly today. The odds are good even with the basic offer which I would take with 4/10 if there weren't other better option.
The win in the second half is a better choice, since it's better paid and just as likely to happen. The outcome in which they settled the game in the first half and stop in the second one is no less likely than the one of which Bafana take the lead and burn out trying to score the second time. The bet is based on difference in experience, which will get more obvious as the game closes in.
Just a reminder: RSA fell apart in the last 20 minutes of the Algeria game after scoring an unlucky own-goal. Ghana were very patient against Algeria, slowly breaking them down until minute 92. The scored a goal from a counter-attack and against Senegal in the first part from a penalty kick they were awarded in a counter-attack. Details

Ghana may have their issues, but their individual quality still places them at the very top of African football, next to the Elephants, and ahead of Algeria and Nigeria in my opinion. Today they're more motivated, will be encouraged by the return of a key player, and they're practically at home.
I cannot accept Algeria as favorites here, this is at worst an even situation. Since they'd be happy with a point (which would give Ghana at least some chance as well), i still recommend covering 0. Details

These tactical duels often have high scores: Congo like playing in the opponent's half of the pitch and with Keban returning they should be better at it than they were against Zambia. Cape Verde don't waste time in the midfield, the moment they get the ball they pass it to the wingers, who use it very well. As I said in the preview, the lack of a proper center forward will not be an issue here as Djaniny (or his substitute) will function as a 'third winger'. I expect the Leopards to have 60% possession regadless of who wins the match, and a double digit shots on goal count on both sides.
The first idea was both teams score, and is definitely a safer option, but the odds difference was huge and I believe worth the risk. Nobody will take a draw here, they did not do so in the first round when they played defensive opponents. Details

A match between the teams whose offenses are a lot better than their defenses. I probably don't have to explain that Ivory Coast can go over this margin themselves, even against stronger teams than Guinea, but suffice it to say that Kalou-Toure-Gervinho-Bony are there, but the fact is that the defense made disastrous mistakes in the qualifications, and even though Renard paid attention to it, we can't expect it to start functioning overnight. They defended themselves twice in a year and a half, against Cameroon when both were fine with 0-0, and last Sunday against Nigerian B-team. Guinea didn't score a goal once in two years, and they played against Algeria, Egypt, Mali, twice against Ghana, (and if I recall well, we had a bet where Ghana was going to score), and Senegal. They're without their first scorer Soumah, but he's not the first scorer because of his quality, but because he's fast and fits well into Dussuyer's counter attack tactics. Yattara is similar, and I think he'll be a decent replacement. A friendly match from 2012 ended 0-0, but three competition matches before that went to over. The last time they faced each other on AFCON (2008), the Ivory Coast won 5-0. Details

I wouldn't agree that Tunisia are a favorite here. The Cape Verde defeated them in a crucial match 15 months ago, played in front of Tunisian fans. If that didn't happen, they'd be much more appreciated now, because everyone would knew them well from the WC. The Tunisians got stabilized in the meantime, but this generation is far from the most talented ones they had, and like I said, Cape Verde keep improving. They got a more experienced coach in the meantime, Garry Rodrigues fit in the team, and Nuno Rocha and Djaniny are becoming very good players. I think the most likely scenario is a "boring" game where Tunisia will have the possession, and Cape Verde will be more dangerous, especially through the wings. The chances for this going either way are about the same, and I think a double chance is quite valuable with this price. Details

Caen showed plenty times they know how to play football, but when the referees don't make unfair judgments against them (which happened a suspicious amount of times), then their own defense ruins them. They need a win desperately, they'll charge with whatever they can, and their main weapons are the center shots and shooting from afar through Feret, which often leads to the corner kicks. From the Reims's coach's words, we can see that the plan is to pull back and bunker up until the main creative forces are back. They will use counter attacks, something that served Fournier for years. And that's a tactic that produces some corner kicks.
Considering that Caen execute 4.7 corners at home, and Reims 3.7 in away matches, I think we have a nice value. A limit on Marathon isn't that big, but different bookmakers have different strategies - you can try with a handicap, a race, or something else. Details

The bookmakers favor the lower number of goals in the first round, as usual, and we could use that. EG and Congo are the badgers of this group, and both know that they'll hardly go further if they don't win today. We can expect an open match, and the home team's quality is obviously focused in the offensive. The Leopards are lead by Claude LeRoy who's known for his ambitious approach. They didn't play against each other for a long time, but the fact is that the last three went to over, and the both friendly matches (1-1 and 3-2) also point to over.
A handicap on Congo isn't a bad choice, either, but the value melted in the last few days, so over seems like a better pick to me. Details