FRIDAY NIGHT IN EUROPE: The Ultra previews GLADBACH v MAINZ and ATHLETIC BILBAO v ALMERIA both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
GLADBACH V MAINZ
7.30pm It’s been a blockbuster week around Europe with Champions League and Europa League action, and we return to domestic action on Friday night! We have our usual slot on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE with one fixture from the Bundesliga and one from La Liga. It might not be as glamorous as some of the fixtures during the weekend, but a winner pays out the exact same! We start the evening in the Bundesliga as Gladbach host Mainz. We have two sides here who have been playing very different football at the start of the season! It’s fair to say that neither will be happy with their results so far either – Mainz will start the weekend sitting in last place with just one point from six games while Gladbach have only managed five points so far from their six games. Looking at the under-lining numbers, we couldn’t have two different sides as I said above! Mainz have been trying to keep games as tight as possible while Gladbach have been playing an exceptionally open game. It will be interesting to see what type of game we get here!
Gladbach come into the game as the favourites with home advantage, but they aren’t trading odds on. The home win is 2.1 with Mainz 3.45 and the draw is 3.9. Gladbach have been conceding chances for fun this season; their average xG conceded is 1.92 which is the third highest figure in the Bundesliga. Only Bochum and Heidenheim are conceding more chances, and we know how limited they are. Whether or not Mainz are good enough to take advantage is the big question here; they are only creating an average xG of 1.15 which is the third lowest figure in the Bundesliga. They are keeping things tight at the back too though – their average xG conceded is only 1.17. I wouldn’t be confident enough to take the 2.1 on Gladbach with them being so poor at the back, but it’s fair to say Mainz have got off to a shocking start this season. It’s interesting to see Over 2.5 goals trading as short as 1.64, I feel Mainz will try to make this game as cagey as possible, and I feel Under 2.5 goals is the value option at 2.42. As I said, they won’t be good enough to take advantage of Gladbach being so poor at the back, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a quiet game here without many chances.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Under 2.5 goals at 2.42 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/GldMai
ATHLETIC BILBAO V ALMERIA
8pm We move to La Liga to finish Friday night football from Europe as Athletic Bilbao host Almeria. Athletic Bilbao have had a solid start to the season, and they can dream of getting involved in the race for a European spot. They won’t be good enough for a Europa League spot in my opinion, but Europa Conference League would be a great result. They just missed out on the European spots last season by two points, so that has to be their target this season. They will be expected to win this game against the struggling Almeria, and they come into the game trading as the red-hot favourites. Athletic Bilbao are 1.43 with Almeria 8.1 and the draw is 5.2 at the time of writing. Almeria start the weekend sitting in last place with just three points from their eight games. Those points came from three draws, and they are the only side in La Liga still waiting for a win this season. With them finishing just one point outside the relegation zone last season, you know that they’ll be heavily involved in the relegation battle again this season and their start has put them in major trouble. It only takes a few more losses and suddenly they are in major trouble, and morale drops and it’s just a downward spiral from there.
Almeria have tried to play an open and attacking game this season. So far it hasn’t worked out for them because they’ve conceded so much, but they are actually creating chances – they just aren’t taking them! Their average xG created is 1.68 which is actually the fourth best figure in La Liga this season. There is hope for them, but they desperately need to start scoring! Athletic Bilbao are creating less, heir average xG created is only 1.36, and they are conceding a figure close to that too. Both sides have quite similar stats, but results have worked out much better than Bilbao! It’s hard to have much faith in Almeria because they were so poor away from home last season – just eight away points all season left them bottom of the away form table and you’d have to see an improvement there if they are going to stay up this season. With Almeria playing such an open game, I feel Over 2.5 goals is worth a small bet here at 1.65.
The Ultra Says:
One point win Over 2.5 goals at 1.65 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/BilAlm
