IceTips casts his eyes on mainland Europe for the upcoming days and the Eurotrip is taking us from Italy to Sweden via the Netherlands. Flat stakes advised on the best angle and low stakes/spare change advised on the longshot. Best of luck!
Sassuolo vs. Lecce
For bettors with eyes on Serie A, Sassuolo have become equal to flurries upon flurries of goals in the past seasons. The average Sassuolo match has seen an average of over 3 goals per match for three seasons in a row (just missing that mark with 2.97 per match in 18/19) and 29 of their 38 matches last season have seen 3 or more goals. While they’ve lost Gianluca Scamacca to West Ham this summer and promising Giacomo Raspadori being on the verge of making his dream move to Napoli – might happen before this match kicks off – they still possess a decent level of attacking threat in Berardi, Frattesi and Defrel. So far they’ve been seeing a chunk of goals against them, conceding three in the Serie A opener versus Juventus and a shock defeat in Coppa Italia vs. Serie B side Modena, finishing 3-2 for the minnows. Last season saw them scoring 64 goals in total, conceding 66, seeing the average Sassuolo match with 3.42 goals scored.
The Norwich City of Italian football for their perennial yoyo-ing between Serie A and B, Lecce haven’t had a steady run of more than three season in one league other than Serie C and it’s anyone’s bet on whether or not they manage to survive the first one this time around. While Serie B and A are different beasts – which they well know – their reinforcements have not been Nottm Forest-esque. Lecce however survived an Inter Milan onslaught in the opener to only lose 1-2 and keeper Falcone was man of the match there, saving 7 shots, 5 from inside the box but Lecce face a crisis in the form of CB absences. Mert Cetin was taken off injured and might not be fit for this and Tuia & Dermaku are also on the injury list. New signing Baschirotto had to take CB duties last match and the former Ascoli player did however manage to step up to Inter’s onslaught for most of the match. Another new signing Assan Ceesay managed to grab a debut goal and they hang hopes on the Zurich arrivee to replace Massimo Coda who scored 20 for them last season.
Best angle – Over 2.75 goals – 1.81 @ William Hill
The longshot – Correct score 2-2 – 15.0 @ William Hill
Sparta Rotterdam vs. Ajax
Ajax is obviously the perennial steamroller of Eredivisie but they’ve obviously earned their prowess over the years. The Amsterdam assembly line of top players never fails to produce and their next hot property is Brazilian Antony – wanted by the big clubs (and Man Utd) in Europe currently. Antony rightfully earned himself a fan in me last season as his prowess for shots was immense and it seems it’s going to continue this season. While an ankle injury ended his 21/22 season early he’s more determined to pick up where he left off – the last 10 Eredivisie matches before his injury saw his shot count at 6 – 6 – 5 – 2 – 4 – 4 – 4 – 2 – 6 – 2, and so far we’ve seen:
- vs. PSV (Johan Cruijff Schaal ) – 4 shots, 2 on target, 1 goal
- vs. Fortuna Sittard (Eredivisie) – 5 shots, 1 assist
- vs. Groningen (Eredivisie) – 4 shots, 2 on target, 2 goals
- Since the departure of Sebastian Haller in the summer Ajax’s new gaffer Alfred Schreuder seems to be favoring 4-3-3 with the forward line of Bergwijn – Brobbey – Antony which gives our man more creative freedom and a permission to fire at will. Injuries notwithstanding, Antony regularly sees out at least 75 minutes of action and, which is sometimes far more, given he landed a 4+ shot bet for CBK last weekend within the first half.
Best angle – Antony over 3.5 shots – 2.25 @ Bet365
The longshot – Antony over 4.5 shots, over 1.5 shots on target & Antony to score anytime – 7.5 @ Bet365
Sirius vs. Häcken
The surprise package of Allsvenskan this season is Häcken. Currently atop of the league with 38 points from 18 matches, the Gothenburg Geitungarna (e. Wasps) are living up to their nickname with clutch goals and that’s where we come to the star of the show – Alexander Jeremejeff.
Currently on his third stint at Häcken, the one-time Sweden international is in lethal form for goals. 18 goals scored so far in Allsvenskan and by far the top scorer. Jeremejeff is also a penalty taker for Häcken which is nice although only four of his goals have come from that. While opponents Sirius have only seen 8 goals against them at home, Häcken have scored 21 on the road and are yet to be defeated away from home – and haven’t failed to find the back of the net in an away match this season (once in total all season). It took Jeremejeff 13 minutes to score in the reverse encounter between those two.
What helps this pick is the fact that he didn’t manage to score two rounds ago vs. Helsingborgs (even though Häcken thrashed them 5-0) and he was benched for the following match against Mjällby. A personal motivation for the player is the fact that the Allsvenskan top goalscorer record is in his sight – if he can bag 13 from the remaining 12 matches he’ll equal the record which still stands from 1975.
Best angle: Alexander Jeremejeff anytime goalscorer – 2.0 @ Bet365
The longshot: Alexander Jeremejeff to score a hattrick – 21.0 @ Bet365
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