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The first match between the two teams who came from the second league will sure offer us an interesting and tense match. The host is a team which has no victories this season, but the games they've offered us in the previous round clearly show that they are returning to stay. Their backups and substitutes were well planned. Their offense is great thanks to the experienced Vasconcelos (last season he was the prime scorer of the Cyprus league) and Luis Carlos (Gil Vicente) who is renowned for his speed and acuteness. Vasconcelos has proven himself already by scoring in almost every game since his arrival, while the second mentioned is yet to be seen in action. Next to those two, we see the return of midfielder Drygas who last season scored eight goals. Next to him, the midfield consists of Goulon who is also often seen on the list of scorers, and Maslowski, a player who is highly esteemed by opponent's coaches. The previous results show how the host has no problems with scoring, but it does with receiving goals. The team's weakest link is the defense, and we're convinced that Cracovia will be able to score at least one goal with them. The visitors have based themselves on their defense up to this point, which is their strongest feature, but if they see that they have the ability to move forward, they will do so. We expect an open game from the host's side, which also leads to a more open game from the visitors. Both of them scoring seems like a safe bet, because we're not convinced that the visiting defense will be able to last next to the aforementioned players. It's important to add how in six round so far both teams managed to score only once. Zawisza managed to do so in the first round against Jagiellonia, while Cracovia didn't manage to score anything against Legia in the last round. Details

Holstebro performed poor in the first two rounds and today we will see a much decisive team, I am convinced. If the appearance of Michael Damgaard, an important left back, got confirmed I would be much more certain but I think they will win this match anyway. Last season they had an efficient tactic against Ribe, they played fast, they scored 42 goals at home and 35 in Esbjerg. As the offense was a bit poor in the first two rounds, I believe that during the week they prepared well for this match and this 26.5 is simply not enough for me. It needs to be played on. Ribe is not known as a very good defensive team, in the first round they conceded 29 goals at home against BSV and in the second round they conceded 28 against TMS Ringsted in a visiting match. Details

I have to go for this tip today. The 39 goals MMTS conceded to a team like Pogon is simply too much for me. Stal gained a huge reinforcement in Pribanic who will definitely cause chaos at the line, which has always been a weak point for Kwidzyn. What is important for Stal is defensive play, which was very good against Legionowo. Dzono should enter the play today, which will add a new dimension to their play. Another important fact led me to go for this tip, and that is the somewhat pessimistic mood of the home team coach, who admitted he wasn't expecting good results for a while. I doubt he managed to change anything in a week. Stal are starting to resemble an organized team, and that might turn out to be crucial today. The odds are excellent compared to the current state of affairs. Details

As it says in the intro, finally an "easy" game for United. Certainly easier than the matches they played recently. After the draw against Chelsea and defeat to Liverpool, this is the match where the Red Devils should prove the critics wrong. Crystal Palace doesn't have the firepower to make life difficult for United, unless the Manchester team underestimates them and doesn't go into the match fully concentrated. Since they are in a so called "crisis", I expect David Moyes' players to go all out from the beginning and break down the visitors in the first half. The next match for United is a local derby against City, and there is nothing better for boosting morale than a resounding win. As the captain Vidić points out, the defence is pretty good, but the attack has yet to start firing on all cylinders. This is the perfect opportunity for them. De Gea is confident in goal, and playing in front of a packed Old Trafford has never been easy, and it certainly won't be for today's visiting team. Details

A classic over game, with a meeting of two unstable defenses, and one team playing extremely offensive. That team is Spartak, of course, to whom literally anyone can score a goal due to their overblown offense. I have no doubt they will be taking one today as well, and the outcome of the game will be decided by their efficiency, i.e. whether they score more than they take. I won't elaborate, but over 2.5 is the most logical choice. The great majority of the games these teams played this season were in the over. Of the seven games, Volga only once failed, vs Terek, who is behaving strange this season, both in results and overly defensive play-style. Spartak on the other hand played 0 against Rubin, who are a very defensive team, so defensive in fact that they recently managed to play 3 consecutive games 0-0, and is left in under only vs Ural (2-0 win). Everything is pointing to over, and the course of slightly under 2.00 is therefore very profitable, as this, realistically speaking, should not go above 1.70. Details

This bet is based largely on the fact that Hearts are simply too weak to resist a team like Celtic. It is already known that Hearts are subject to bankruptcy proceedings, the club owes a lot of money and has a ban on buying new players until January. The result of this is the youngest team in the league. After a few good performances, the Hearts' youngsters were in their last match overrun by the dominant Inverness side. Today I expect the same thing. Celtic has a huge players' base and even their second team is a cut above Hearts. Lennon will possibly rest a few starters, but the substitutes can play just as well. Lennon is trying everything to motivate his players to give their all in the league game before the Champions League match. Although Hearts are far weaker than in previous years, I believe that Celtic will not lack motivation against an old rival whom they beat 4-0 in the last two games at Tynecastle. The full stadium will only spur them on and I expect an aggressive display from the champions from the very start. Details

The statistics say that France has went over in 4 out of 6 games and Latvia in 2 out of 6. But statistics can sometimes be misleading. Against Latvia, Ukraine scored 51 points and Macedonia 66. The game against Montenegro had a total of a 145 points, and against the defensively minded Lithuanians the total was a 126 points. However, this will be a completely different game. France will do a better job in the offensive department than the Lithuanians did. Parker will surely take control because this game is too important for them and he won't allow the game to get out of their reach. In the last game he only had 8 field goal attempts. Latvia likes to shoot the ball and the players move around a lot on offense. France has problems dealing with teams like these, and this has the makings of a game similar to the one between Serbia and Latvia, where the total went over a 150 points. Two years ago these teams played a game that ended 89-78. Both teams have similar game plans, similar head coaches and similar types of players. If Batum has a good scoring day, this will be an excellent pick. However, we'll go in with medium stakes. Details

I was impressed with the game Chambery played against the champions (PSG) and runner-ups Dunkerque. They played 28-28 against PSG and won the game on penalty shootout, while they beat Dunkerque 23-21. They've won the Supercup without the Gille brothers, Bicanic and N'Guessan. In addition, their defense was great. This was their first title in 11 years and will be a massive confidence boost for them. Bicanic and Bertrand Gille were announced to return today, which means better offense and a stronger defense, and this defense was already great in the two games mentioned above. Cesson lost their middle back and brought no quality reinforcements, they also lost their left back and had some financial difficulties. Chambery have an awax game against PSG in round two, and they need a good game here. They conceded 23 goals at Rennes and I don't see them going over 25 today. The defense, lead by the goalkeeper Dumoulin can leave any opponent in lower figures. At the same time, Cesson also has a good defense, and they've shown that many times last season when they had low-scoring games. This team hasn't changed much since and I don't expect many drastic changes, which can be seen in the games against Billére and Sélestat. They had 31-28 against Nantes, but Nantes were missing several players and their performance was lacking .Today's game is round 1, the pressure will be higher and Chambery will come pretty motivated. Details

These two teams will be involved in many high-scoring games this season. St. Raphaël has brought in middle back Morten Olsen, who was involved in a lot of games that went over the total of 60 goals while he played for Hannover last season. Similarly, St. Raphaël usually scored 33-35 goals in their preseason games and they lost 34-33 to Montpellier, and that was without Barachet and Atlason. Barachet won't be fit to play for another month, while Atlason is listed as doubtful for today's game. Last season, when Nimes was in the 2. division, they played against each other in a cup match and Nimes won the game 32-29. Later on Nimes lost to Montpellier 30-28. There are still 12 players left from the team that played those matches, so there should be no problem with waiting for the team to gel together and we should be seeing the same style of play this season as well. The 55.5 total goal limit looks appealing, and some betting houses offer a 25.5 goal limit for Nimes, which is a good bet as well. Details

I don't see this semifinal as a one-way street, the way bookmakers do. Germany's win currently pays 1.17. There's nothing unknown between these two teams, they played each other five times in the European League this year. Belgium won twice, Germany three times, including the most important match, the European League final. How? With difficulty, in five sets. I can't make a comparison with today's margin for total points, since in the European League a set was played to 21 points won. It's clear that, if they had been played by the usual rules, three of the five matches would have gone over, using the margin we have today. My first idea was to bet Belgium to win a set, but as this pays less, over is a better value. Taking the position that the match will not finish 3-0, and that an average set will have 45 points, it is possible to play the over at 179.5, for a lower amount, certainly. Germany is billed a clear favorite here, based on the 3-0 win against Croatia, but they would have lost a set in that match almost certainly hadn't the linesmen called Croatia's ace serve out, with the result 22-20 in the first set. Today they shouldn't have this kind of help from officials, since Hawkeye will be used. Belgium has quality, and they know how to play Germany. Compared to the European League matches, the Belgians will be stronger with the additions of Heyrmann and Rousseaux, both starters. The Belgians are underestimated also for their difficult win against France, but the opponents really played a great game. Belgium was under pressure, as everybody expected them to reach the semifinal. There will be no pressure today, they can play relaxed, since they're not expected in the final. Germany is foreseen there, they have declared that winning gold is their goal. I don't think the Germans will reach the final easily, so I will take the over at this margin. Alternatively, one could take the over for Belgium's points, e.g. Bet365 has 75.5. Details

Without Henrik Hansen, Arhus are not the same team, especially on the offense. This was clearly visible in the last weeks away game vs Mors after Hanssen's injury. They were leading 20-15 a that moment, and then took 11 goals in the last 15 minutes, to barely manage a win by a penalty in the end. GOG on the other hand are a strong defensive team, with an excellent 6-0 defense. In their first round away game they managed to reduce Nordsjealland to only 8 goals till halftime and 23 in full time. In their home game Skanderborg managed only 24. GOG scored 13 of their 29 from fast breaks, precisely due to their 6-0 defense. This will not be the case today, as Arhus are better than Skanderborg, but I do expect the home team to struggle offensively. The option for 26.5 on Arhus, which you can find in some betting houses, is interesting, but since GOG are not doing well themselves against a set-up zone defense, I'll go with 51.5. Arhus won their first home match 23-19 against Holstebra, another team with a strong defense. Details

Yes, I know Aalen is a strong team and that they destroyed Kaiserslautern in their last home game. What I don't understand is why they are declared slight favorites in a match against undoubtedly better Munich who is one of the main candidates for promotion. That is why I think it would be a sin not to play on the guests win, especially with very good odds. Even though they might have a difficult game, I find it hard to believe that their eventual success is paid almost triple. Especially in the situation where a new coach has arrived at the club, and every player will want to prove himself in order to keep his status in the locker room. Details

I have considered different options for this game, but handicap seems like a most likely outcome. I accept the fact that Sparta are not in top form, but it would be crazy to expect that because it's only the first round. Even like this they showed good game, especially on the home ice where they had a 100% successful performance and they conquered handicap on three or four occasions. Against Jyvaskila they had 3-0 and 4-1 lead and then won the penalty shootout. I don't expect to see this type of relaxation in the champioship because the team is aware of the great expectations and they will want to open the season accordingly to their reputation - mightily. Individual quality is on the side of the home team. Mountfield showed in the pre-season that they, with departures of forward Kotalik and goalie Kovar, don't have a team that can adequately resist better teams. Which Sparta most definitely is. Details

What is the primary goal of every coach after he takes over the team losing the ground beneath its feet? Of course, not losing a match. And you can be sure that coach Kotal will set up his team this way in the guest game against Dukla (the announced formation 4-5-1 is another proof). Dukla is known as the combinatorics-prone team, and with filling the midfield, the coach of Zbroiovka will try to take away its strongest trump card. Already on a few occasions Dukla has showed that it has problems with scoring when the opponent stands firm and plays a more closed game, and Brno will certainly show up with this style. The indication of what kind of team it will be could have already been seen in the friendly match against Senica, which finished with Brno's 1-0 victory. It is still not the team with quality attackers, and it is dubious there would be three scores in the game. In case there are, only half of the bet is lost in this Asian handicap. Details

Both teams are missing a lot of players but Solin's problem lies in the fact that several of their players announced for this match are having injury problems. Dugopolje have won their last two duels in Solin and they last time they met was the tournament in Zmijavci this summer, when Dugopolje won 3-0. The Solin coach Ivan Pudar said then: Dugopolje are one of the candidates for the first league. A month or so have passed since, and things haven't changed much in these two clubs. Dugupolje are definitively not outsiders. Details

Due to Trinec's reputation, I expected that the Over 5.5 goals odds would be at 1.6-1.7. The reason for this is that even though coach Kalous is trying to enforce discipline in their defense, things don't change over night. Besides, strengthening their defense does not necessarily mean a lack of activity in the offensive play, while they have shown that they will stay true to their reputation in the pre-season friendlies. Liberec have strengthened their attacking line for this season and I think they are capable of scoring a goal or two against Trinec. While the home team win doesn't look like a bad choice, I'll pick this Over as it's a lot safer bet in my humble opinion, and, besides, it pays off a lot better than 1. Details

Kamke hasn't really impressed me at all and I expect that his attempt to defend the title will come to an end today. In the first round he had an inexperienced Challenger level opponent who was not up to the mark, and he still managed to lose his serve twice. Yesterday he almost gambled away an already won match against Dustov, which could have ended differently if the Uzbek hadn't injured himself. That level of tennis will not do him any good today against an inform Berankis who can play even better in such indoor conditions than he has been playing lately. The Lithuanian has lost his serve only once in the last two matches, while facing even tougher opponents. I would put a lower amount on this match only because Berankis is not too reliable and Kamke won his last match, but it was played on outdoor hard so I wouldn't read too much into it. Details

Both players are good on their service. Struff hasnt lost a game on his service in the last two matches while Desein lost only one. But the Belgian player had much tougher opponents against which he played commendably. The German is all in all a better player, but he didnt show his qualities in the last round, especially on receiving, and Rudnev could take the first set easily. Desein is i dare say an even more dangerous player, his serve is very good and i expect him to put on a fight. I thik the match will be much more balnced than the odds suggest. I will bet on total over of the games. Details

In two preparation matches Belgians scored 53 and 61 against Lithuania. Lithuanians take very few points here, two days ago team France with Parker only scored 62 against them. This victory will be meaningless if they lose today, so we will see a motivated Lithuanian team. This is a defensive team, with some great strategies, from Kalnietis´ play, to Marcus, one of the best defensive players on the tournament, and I have to mention the tall Javtokas and Valanciunas. Belgians dont have the power to break through such defenses, and could end up with less than 60 points scored. Details