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MLS: New England Revolution - Portland Timbers

This is the one Wednesday game where one of the teams is not only clocking up the air miles, but are travelling coast to coast, West to East, for just a single midweek fixture. Portland have played six of their seven matches on the West Coast this season, either at home in Oregon, or in California, the other was a quick hop out East to face Orlando City where they lost 4-1. They had a 15 days break prior to that game, so I doubt that it makes too much difference that tonight's fixture comes after they have enjoyed a ten day hiatus, especially as they are back home again on Sunday and have another five straight games in the West. The large number of West Coast games to start their campaign as MLS Cup champions has been a blessing, after their season was extended into December, to put that into some context, Revolution, who did themselves make the post season, were done and dusted by late October, some 39 days earlier. Timbers would have had media commitments after that and their off season was some 4-7 weeks shorter than almost anyone else. Therefore, we can argue that the drain on playing staff is even greater than normal for a 3,000 trip East ,across several time zones, to play a single game.

Since opening their campiagn in Houston, New England have stuck to the East like a limpet, they will be looking to build on this kindness of schedule and after two road games, will be hoping to get into top of the table contention by making the most of back to back home games this week. Portland will be without suspended Diego Valeri, who has 60 goals/assists in 109 appearances, Timbers have scored just three road goals this season and the Argentine playmaker has assisted with two of those , he had a lengthy absence last season and it took six games for Portland to win without him and remember, we are talking about the "best" team in MLS in 2015, so, a big loss.

Portland were very slow starters last season (they have an identical record after seven games this year) and did not hit their stride until mid/late May and given their shortened off season, we can expect more of the same, maybe even a few weeks later before we see them at their very best. Revolution have to start turning draws (5/8) into wins and this looks a good opportunity.

New England Revolution -0.5 ball 2.11 asian line/Sportmarket

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England Championship: Bristol City - Huddersfield Town

Last home game of the campaign for City and I expect them to really be going for this and to put on a big offensive show for their supporters. Their last two home games have both produced five goals and if they can score six against top six teams in Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County they can certainly run in at least 2-3 against Town in what is basically a friendly. The hosts are now safe and new head coach Lee Johnson has won the fans over (there was a lot of opposition to his appointment) and taken them comfortably away from the drop zone and, at times in the last couple of months, they have looked unplayable, but rarely for the full 90 minutes ! Johnson is an offensive minded coach and I am 100% sure he will be looking to win the final home game in entertaining style, City home starts have produced 64 goals (2.91 pg) and only Fulham watchers have seen more this season.

Town are certainly a team who like to play on the front foot too and that is where all their talent lies, they have scored 58 goals this season and only two teams outside the top six (one is Brentford ....of course !) have scored more. They have scored a Championship high 21 goals in the final 15 minutes of games and conceded 19 ( only basement club Bolton have allowed more) through the same period.

Early or late, goals will surely come today, but if you are following "in running" you could definitely look at goal lines in the final quarter, "officially" I will stick with ..........

over 2.75 goals 2.17 asian line/Sportmarket

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Scotland League 1 Playoff: Peterhead - Ayr United

It is not everyday you see a team come into the playoffs with as poor a recent record as Peterhead, they have lost their last six starts with a 17-1 goal difference (!) and failed to score in 6 of their last 8. One of those defeats was a 4-0 home loss to Ayr just ten days ago (there was a red card early for the home side) , where they were three down inside 55 minutes, to make matters worse for the hosts, top scorer Rory McAllister (31 goals in 40 appearances this season) is suspended. United were very quick on the break there and Peterhead guilty of some truly terrible defending and I understand they have injury concerns at the back again this evening, their goalkeeper was flapping at everything and couldn't catch a cold ! Ayr will make the long trip North in good heart and shape and won the playoffs in both 2009 and 2011 having finished second in the regular season (like this time round) and did all the damage on the road in those years, they are at full strength apart from Jamie Adams and have scored eight without reply in their last two road starts. They appear in much better shape both mentally ( a few odd comments from the home coaching staff) and physically, and to have all the momentum coming in, they did lose 3-0 at home over the weekend, but were experimenting and had only this game in mind.

Ayr United level ball (draw no bet) 2.10 general quote ........ or to win (-0.5 ball) 2.75-2.90 general quote

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France Ligue 2: Clermont - Brest

We can normally expect more goals in all leagues at the end of the season, especially in games where there is nothing at stake and Ligue 2 is no different, this penultinate round has produced 50% of "overs" in the last three seasons , with 30% having at least four goals. Games last week produced 2.7 goals on average, which is almost half a goal up on the seasonal mean and we can expect more of the same today in general terms.

Brest would not usually be the first team on your list when looking for goals, but now is time to throw the shackles off and relax a little.

Brest have scored in their last five road games and four of those have produced at least three goals. Their recent home fixtures have been the usual low scoring encounters that Brest favour, but they have been hosting teams battling for survival or promotion, it is perhaps too easy for them to revert to type in familiar surroundings, on the road they can play with more freedom and enjoy themselves.

Clermont averaged 2.92 goals per game, and only the top two have scored more. They have been in touch with the top three all season and broke into it several times, but lost their way when January was turning into February and never quite got back on track. They have conceded in their last nine home starts, seven of which went "over", the two "failures" were when they themselves failed to score (twice in last three) , but that seems unlikely a third time for such a potent attack, in what is a friendly fixture. Clermont will have to do without top scorer Famara Diedhiou, but fellow strikers Dugimont and Laborde have 13 goals between them , 11 of which have come since the turn of the year, along with five from midfielder Adrien Hunou and they look to be preparing for life after Diedhiou.

Clermont: Jeannin, Caillard, Agounon, Avinel, Bockhorni, Laporte, Rivieyran, Salze,Ekobo, Genest, Hunou, Jobello, Pereira-Lage, Reale, Dugimont, Laborde.

Brest: Hartock, Léon, Sané, Falette, Belaud, Lorenzi, Le Normand, Sankoh, Grougi, Battocchio, Jacob, Perez, Sissoko, Alphonse, Henry, N'Kololo.

Clermont - Brest over 2.5 goals 2.12 asian line/Sportmarket

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Premier League: Bournemouth - West Bromwich Albion

Like in almost all of Bournemouth's home games I favour goals.

In the last home game Bournemouth lost 4-1 to Chelsea, followed by another defeat, 2-1 at Everton, but had enough chances there to have won. Adam Smith will miss the rest of this season , but the influential Harry Arter is back now and the hosts will be desperate to end their home campiagn on a high, but their issues here remain and 33 home goals conceded tells the full story, it is not a sorry tale, as the Cherries have survived with a degree of comfort and today will be one of celebration, but they could have posted a top ten finish with a little more luck, but more than that, they are going to have to have a rethink about how they approach home games, but that is for next season not this and we can expect more of the same from the hosts. Albion will be looking to experiment and Tony Pulis has added several youngsters to his squad and teenager Jonathan Leko will be hoping to retain his starting place, after impressing last week.

I suspect that Pulis will be quite looking forward to this, he is a former Bournemouth player (two spells) and manager ( he was Eddie Howe's first boss) and is popular here on the South Coast and I doubt he will come and look to shut up shop in a "meaningless" fixture. Despite his reputation, Pulis has a habit of throwing off the shackles come the end of the season once survival is assured and his final two starts in each of the last four campaigns have produced 6-4-3-5-4-10 (!)- 4-5 goals, so all "over", seven with four or more and a wild average of 5.125 per game.

over 2.75 goals 2.21 asian line/Sportmarket

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[Bettingfellow]

England Premier League: Liverpool - Chelsea

This is the last match at the Anfield in this EPL campaign. Domestic side has recorded one more disappointed season and for sure Jurgen Klopp and his team want to impress their supporters against last season champs. Expectations are huge from Reds like in every year and this match have to show their ambitions and capabilities for next season. In the same time, Liverpool could overcome Saints at seventh table position if they win today, so Klopp’s side will step on the field with huge desire and passion tonight.

On the other side Blues are just one place but ten points behind today’s opponents. As the biggest disappointment of the season they will perform without pressure. At the ninth table position they don’t have any chances to perform in European competitions in the next season. But, in the same time Chelsea still have a great players and they can shine in any moment. The atmosphere at Anfield could have a positive impact on their motivation and we should expect big match tonight.

Since, teams are without pressure it could be a lot of goals tonight, so our tip is Liverpool to score and Over 2.5.

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Ligue 1: Bordeaux - PSG

PSG have not taken their foot off the gas following Champions League elimination, infact, they have gone into overdrive and have won their last five since bowing out to Manchester City by a 17-1 margin, putting six past Caen and scoring four against Rennes and GFCO. The first two are above Bordeaux in Ligue 1 and the third are fighting for survival and if PSG are up for it, they can run in 3-4 + goals against anyone in France and with the quality in their squad, they are not going to be suffering from the effects of a long campaign as much as other teams. There are a few records/targets up for grabs, they would open up a 30 point lead with a win this evening (also reach 30 wins for the season) and Zlatan will surely want to say his farewells on a high, he has 35 goals and five to reach 40 in his last two league games is certainly not impossible. He will probably feel a little "angry" that he only scored one of the four at the weekend , with Edinson Cavani notching a hat-trick and PSG will probably be looking to put the record staright and gain a little revenge for the 2-2 draw in Paris in the reverse fixture and a 3-2 defeat here in Bordeaux last season.

PSG have a lengthy injury list, they have been coping without Pastore, Van der Wiel and Verratti for some time, today Cavani and Blaise Matuidi are also sidelined. Without Matuidi in the squad, PSG have won 4/4 on the road ( GFCO, Troyes, Bastia and Nantes) with a 19-1 (!) goal difference, but he did sit out that 3-2 loss in this fixture last season. Cavani has played 25 minutes or less in 10 starts, PSG have won all ten, but again he also missed that defeat here last season, although I would say that had more to do with the fact that game was played just a couple of days after that gruelling Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge, which went to extra time and where Zlatan was dismissed early. Anyway, in those ten wins, PSG conceded in five and given the five goals that Bordeaux have managed in the last two meetings, I think the most likely outcome tonight is that a PSG win comes with both teams scoring.

The logical conclusion is that Zlatan will score the goals, he will play only three (maximum) more games and will want to end on a high, he has scored eight in the games that Cavani has missed, but that is actually way below average for him, as he has over 1.2 per game in Ligue 1 all season, so was four short ! It is Angel di Maria who has thrived without his fellow South American, he has scored 7/10 (five on the road), just 3 (all at home) from his other 17 appearances. There is 2.50, even some 2.75 about him scoring and that looks good value.

However, I will stick with PSG to win and both teams to score @ 2.80-3.0 general quote

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JLeague: Urawa Reds - Albirex Niigata

Urawa have dominated this series in recent years, with an 8-2-0 record in Saitama, along with seven clean sheets and a very similar 8-1-1 from ten starts in Niigata, also keeping Albirex scoreless in seven. So, in the last 20 h2h meetings, Urawa have an 80% win rate and have not conceded in 70%. The hosts currently look as strong as at any time during the course of those previous meetings and they will be looking to extend their advantage in the Stage 1 league table and seal their place in the post season as quickly as possible,, leaving them free to them concentrate fully on the AFC Champions League instead of Stage 2 later in the year.

Albirex have had a tough schedule and playing Kashima Antlers, Gamba Osaka and then Urawa Reds, all back to back inside ten days, with two on the road , is about as difficult as it gets in J-League and they will have spent a lot of time chasing the ball, come the final whistle tomorrow evening. 8 of their 14 goals this season have come from Rafael da Silva and Tasuya Tanaka, the first is injured and former Urawa striker Tanaka has only played more than 75 minutes twice in the last three seasons and has already been asked to play more minutes than he did in the whole of 2015 this season. They need to score, as they are incredibly leaky at the other end of the pitch, only relegated Shimizu S-Pulse conceded more last season and that trend has continued and they have already given up a J-League high 20 this time round, at the rate of 2.0 per game on the road. The core of their defence, which conceded eight in two visits ( league and cup) to Urawa last season is unchanged and they do not have appeared to have addressed those issues in the interim.

Urawa Reds -1.25 ball 1.98 asian line/sportmarket

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MLS: Houston Dynamo - Real Salt Lake

These two met in the reverse fixture in Salt Lake just two weeks. Real to work hard to win that 2-1 and lost 1-0 at MLS leading Colorado Rapids last weekend, not really any shame in that and Real had six attempts on target and dominated all passing and possession stats in the final third, especially after the break and really ought to have got something from that. They are ending games strongly and I see that giving them a big advantage here with Dynamo having played in midweek, a poor showing in a 3-1 loss to San Jose Earthquakes, where goalkeeper Tyler Deric was sent off late. I guess that will mean a return of Joe Willis between the sticks, Dynamo have just one cleansheet in 11 when he plays, conceding at the rate of 1.91 goals per game. Real have scored eight on their last two visits to Houston , they look the stronger team and have had an extra four days to rest and prepare for this.

Real Salt Lake level ball 2.19 asian line/Sportmarket

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Championship Playoff: Hull City - Derby County

I was with Derby in the first leg and they played terribly, losing 3-0. Goals change games and County looked the better team for the first 20 minutes, but conceded against the run of play ( goalkeeper will be disappointed) and that was a momentum changer, City grew in confidence and a few minutes later scored a second with a twice deflected shot. That left the Rams feeling sorry for themselves, unable to find a way back and City running the show.

Second leg semi finals have tended to be open games and the last six seasons have seen all twelve games produced a minimum two goals , with ten going "over" and averaging 3.83 goals , four of the last five years have seen the two games total exactly seven goals and after the 1-1 draw last night at Brighton, this "should " produce five goals and that would not totally surprise. Away teams have scored in 10 of 12 ( 11 of 13 after last night) and the home side have scored three or more in seven. Last three teams to win the away first leg have gone on to win the home tie by at least three goals and I guess that County could collapse and "give up" if they conceded first, but you would expect the visitors to at least look to restore some pride and the away supporters are not going to accept any lack of effort this evening. The County players have had to (quite rightly) deal with a lot of local and media accusations of a lack of character in the aftermath of Saturday's debacle and have attempted to defend themselves, no one on the terraces or at boardroom level is going to accept less than 100% commitment tonight and if they lose again, they will have to go down fighting and committed to the cause, or they will be torn apart post match. One goal at either end will surely see this get very stretched. An away win would not surprise, especially as City can lose by two and progress, but I will go with ..........

over 2.75 goals 2.35 asian line/Sportmarket

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FAI Cup: Drogheda United - Derry City

This is a replay after Drogheda United earned a 1-1 draw in the first meeting on Friday, I watched most of that and am still not quite sure how Derry did not win by 4-5 goals.

City hit the woodwork twice, missed a penalty and they were not the big misses, also blowing about five one on ones with the goal keeper and being guilty of some diabolical finishing, you can get some idea from these 3-4 minutes of highlights. United created almost nothing and scored with pretty much their sole attempt on goal and they were gifted that by some Keystone Kop defending from City.

There is pretty much a full division between these two and it looked all of that and then some on Friday and if Derry have half as many scoring opportunities this evening, you have to feel they will win with a degree of comfort. Derry have beaten Drogheda 3-0 and 5-0 in this competition in the last two years and should have won similarly in the first game, playing on the road should not stop justice being done this time round.

Derry City -1 ball 2.06 asian line/Sportmarket

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MLS: New England Revolution - Seattle Sounders

New England will be looking to bounce back from a 4-2 home loss to FC Dallas and for new and very expensive striker Kei Kamara to start gelling with the talented Revolution midfield. This is a mini transition period for NER as they try to play to get the best out of their new front man who had 31 goals in 46 appearances for Columbus Crew, but now that he has 180 minutes of game time under his belt and Revolution a second free midweek in a row and almost three weeks based in Boston, it looks time to get going. Not least because they have three road games up next and do not play at Foxborough again until July 6th !

Seattle are struggling on the road (0-1-3) , where they have scored just three goals , they made the 3,000 mile cross country trip here on Thursday without Clint Dempsey (US national team), Nelson Valdez (Paraguay) and back up striker Oalex Anderson. That leaves Jody Morris as the only available forward with goals this season and with Lamar Neagle and Obafemi Martins having moved on , this is not the old free scoring Sounders, at least at present.There are creating chances, but all from distance and are simply not getting in the box often enough. I guess Morris will move into the middle, which he will like, but that hardly addresses the supply issue, with no experienced option on the right.

Good chance for Revolution, who won this match up 5-0 the last time these two met on the East Coast ( two years ago).

New England Revolution -0.75 ball 2.16 asian line/Sportmarket

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Copa America: Colombia - Paraguay

This match is being played in Pasadena, so advantage Colombia having opened in Santa Clara, just a short hop down the coast and a beautiful drive along Highway 101 if you choose to go the scenic route ! Paraguay played in Orlando which means a six hour flight, three hour time difference and having played a day later, 20 hours + less recovery time. All these disadvantages add up and inbetween two tough games, I think it is the exta training session that Colombia will have been able to fit in that is the real bonus and I do think they will be looking to win the group. That would mean staying on the West Coast (Seattle) for their quarter final, as opposed to flying to New York and they would go to Houston in the semis if they won, which is where they are playing their final group game, so a big edge there , or rather no disadvantages, which is effectively the same thing ! It would also give Brazil the "option" to avoid them in the last eight and go into the separate half of the draw from both Colombia and Argentina, by finishing runner up in Group B. They might be without James Rodriguez today which is, of course, a loss, Los Cafeteros are 8-1-1 in his absence, although half of those starts were against weaker opposition than they face today.

Paraguay played as kind of expected against Costa Rica, which was not to lose, head coach Ramon Diaz has been very critical of the schedule (he is right) and the very hot draining conditions, on top of everything else, his team faced in Orlando . They had a lot of experienced and likely starters withdraw from the squad pre tournament, Aguliar, Ortigoza, Barrios and Caceres who all started in their last really good result a 0-0 draw with Argentina for example are missing ( nine players with 413 international starts were either left out , or pulled out of the final squad) and options are limited. Diaz is 95% certain to stick with the eleven who faced Costa Rica, given the weather, travel, time difference, less rest etc, is that a good or bad thing ?

Colombia's odds have risen to 2.15+ this morning, that probably relates to the "loss" of James, which is expected, but now means they are very backable, given that they hold almost every other advantage ..........


Colombia -0.5 ball 2.10 asian line/Sportmarket

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J League: Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Urawa Reds

Sanfrecce looked to have finally broken the Urawa jinx , taking four points from them last year and they are now unbeaten in four h2h meetings. Prior to that Reds had dominated, with their head coach Mihailo Petrovic formerly in charge at Hiroshima for five years and knowing the club back to front. However, few of the current group would have played under him now and much has changed since 2011, but it was previously a major issue. Anyway, both have fallen off Stage 1 title winning pace and paid the price for a Champions League campaign, which always seems the case. Each will be looking to stay in touch of top 3 and to make a big push to win Stage 2.

Both teams played in midweek, Sanfrecce in Tokyo, which is a long trip and four hours on the fastest train and they are fast ! Urawa in Osaka, not sure if they stayed and then moved on to Hiroshima, or went back to Tokyo and then made the trip on Friday, neither is ideal and it is a coin toss which is the more unsettling/draining, so for me, definitely advantage Sanfrecce who would have been back on normal schedule by Thursday. Urawa also played two extra Champions League games and in the last 23 days they have played a home game and made trips to Seoul, Osaka, Tosu ( another long journey) and now Hiroshima and that is very demanding, especially for a team who had about a 4-5 week off season, playing their final game of last season on New Year's Day and a CL game on February 24th ! It is no wonder that the schedule is beginning to take a toll.

Petrovic spoke about the effect all this had on his team after the loss at Gamba, he admitted his team were running on empty, could not keep pace with Osaka early, got into things after the break briefly, but then just run out of steam and that they were "looking to rebuild" and get strong again after the next 2-3 matches were out of the way. They look to have hit a wall and the head coach as admitted as much and it is hard to see how they can be as up for this as the home side and their priority will surely be their two home matches next week.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima level ball 2.23 asian line/Sportmarket

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Brazil Serie A: Atletico Mineiro - Ponte Preta

Easy to see goals here, last three h2h meetings have gone "over". Atletico have conceded 14 in their last six starts, including four at Sport Recife which we have discussed in the previews below and have not kept a clean sheet in eight, six of Ponte Preta's last seven starts have produced three or more goals. The hosts have the option of bringing back Cazares and Erazo into the squad after the pair returned from Copa America this week, but they will be a game time decision. AMG played at Internacional on Thursday night , using 12 of the 14 who played last weekend in a match where they were down to ten for 30 minutes and at one stage playing versus 9 and then 8 , so all would have been working extra hard and now are playing in the morning game, just some 61 hours later. Ponte Preta were at home on Wednesday and have not travelled for 14 days, so a freshness edge to them. This is the first of four matches in Belo Horizonte for AMG, three at home and the derby with America and a chance for last years runner up to begin their climb up the table, but it is hard to see how it will be achieved with a clean sheet today and another high scoring game is on the cards.

over 2.5 goals @ 1.95 at Sportmarket

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