FRIDAY NIGHT IN EUROPE: The Ultra previews STUTTGART v DARMSTADT and ALAVES v ATHLETIC BILBAO both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
STUTTGART V DARMSTADT
7.30pm It’s been a fantastic week around Europe with Champions League and Europa League action, but we return to domestic football on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE for Friday night football. We might not have the most glamorous ties from the Bundesliga and La Liga, but the winners all pay the same as they say! We start the evening in the Bundesliga as Stuttgart host new boys Darmstadt. At the start of the season you could have been forgiven for thinking this was going to be a big early season relegation battle, but Stuttgart have started superbly. They have notched up three wins from four games, and you couldn’t ask for a better start after finishing in the relegation playoff spot last season. Darmstadt were always going to find life tough after coming up from the Bundesliga 2 – it was a pretty low standard last season with the top three all finishing within one point of each other. Darmstadt have only managed one point from their opening four games which leaves them in the relegation zone for the time being. They’ll definitely be in the mix to go back down this season.
Stuttgart come into the game as the hot favourites – they are trading 1.44 at the time of writing with Darmstadt 8.2 and the draw is 5.3. Darmstadt have conceded the most goals in the Bundesliga this season, and you can tell they are going to have serious issues at the back. Their average xG conceded is 1.97, which isn’t the highest in the Bundesliga, but it’s still very hard. They aren’t creating a lot going forward either. Stuttgart obviously had issues last season, but they have started this season very well and their average xG created is 1.62 – they have been pretty solid at the back but they do give away chances; you can see them struggling against the better sides for example. I can’t see past a comfortable Stuttgart win here, especially with home advantage. Darmstadt don’t look up to Bundesliga level to be honest, and the 1.44 is a confident bet.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Stuttgart to beat Darmstadt at 1.44 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/StuDar
ALAVES V ATHLETIC BILBAO
8pm We move over to La Liga next to finish the evening as Alaves host Athletic Bilbao. We have a much more open market than the Bundesliga game above, with Athletic Bilbao coming into the game as favourites at 2.3 with Alaves 3.8 and the draw is 3.2. Alaves came up from the Segunda last season and after finishing fourth there, their sole aim this season has to be just trying to stay in La Liga. So far they will be pleased with two wins from five games. They just need to keep grinding out results. It’s early days in the season, but they will have issues scoring goals this season – their average xG created is only 1.09 which isn’t the worst in La Liga but it’s not great. They will have to try and keep things as tight as possible at the back; their average xG conceded at the moment is 1.45. Alaves will be pleased to have home advantage here though; they have won their two home games and lost the three away. Home form is massively important when you’re in a relegation battle. Apart from the crazy 4-3 win over Sevilla, Alaves have kept all their games tight – three 1-0’s and the other fixture had Under 2.5 goals too.
Athletic Bilbao have started the season in great form; losing to Real Madrid has been their only real setback and they actually start the weekend sitting inside the top four! They just missed out on European football last season by two points, so that has to be the aim. They might not be good enough to even compete for the top four but surely they can get into the Europa Conference League for example. It will be interesting to see what they achieve against Alaves here – Athletic Bilbao’s average xG is 1.41 which isn’t that impressive. It’s basically a mid-table figure and we know Alaves will likely be cagey here. I’m happy to stay out of the match odds market, and go with Under 2.5 goals at 1.56. This game screams Unders in my opinion without many chances at either end. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 0-0 to be honest.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Under 2.5 goals at 1.56 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/AlaAth
