Football - Thursday 01.05.08

[coopsy02]

Fiorentina v Rangers

Think this could maybe the same score-line as the home tie, both cancelling each other out, obviously i will be looking for the Rangers win[anyway will do] just toook a look at the Coral site and they are offering the following if the game were to finish 0-0[this would be the only score-line for the game to go to ET & Pens]

Biggest game of the season for the Bears and again they were a bit disappointing at Home[main concern like every other game they have played in Europe, they dont want to concede the away goal], they have not got this far on there home form though, so will give them every chance of progressing to the City of Manchester. Dont be put off with the Italians home record of W11 D3 L3 GF30 GA15, others that Rangers have put out have read, Sporting W10 D3 L0 GF30 GA8, [Rangers scored twice], Panathinaikos W12 D3 L0 GF21 GA4, [Gers went through on away goals 1-1], we lost to Bremen W11 D0 L4 GF40 GA18 [Rangers done enough in the 1st leg 2-0]. In the CL group games, never scored against Barca and scored twice in Germany, lost 3-2 though and won in Lyon W13 D3 L1 GF41 GA14. So with this and the fact that Rangers have carried there luck and they had no midfield against them in the 1st leg, so the guys that will be back, will be more than grateful for the stand-ins doing a job at Ibrox to give them every chance in the second leg in Florence. Ferguson & Thompson back for the Teddy Bears and could be the difference in the middle of the park. [Gave away to many loose passes at Ibrox and these 2 could sort this]. Will settle for the 0-0 just now, taking the game into ET & Pens, on the night think it will deffo be a different story and hopefully with Rangers on the counter can sneak a goal early and it might not have to go all the way???

Draw or Rangers@2.29

SportingBet


The Italians conceded 2 goals today at home in a 2-2 draw, some of that would do for Thurs, already on Rangers or draw and if it is a Rangers win expect it will be a draw at HT, with the current score-line and what is at stake, it could well start of at a slow pace. If the Gers manage to keep them out the 1st 10-20 mins, im reckoning/hoping that we could do the job in the second half for the win, went for 1-0 at home and it could well be the score for this leg, a decent enough performance in the Auld Firm, Thompson and Cuellar getting a breather, the former should be right up for it, as he has not played due to his suspension and Ferguson who will be back looked hungry enough and a rested JC also could well have the Italians in bother come the second half and with ma big Cousin having a fine game today will be fighting for the Lone Ranger role up front or maybe play alongside JC upfront???

HT/FT Draw / Rangers@13.0

Bet365


Below, will not be wanting this, it was bad enough in the Scottish Cup semi against the Super St.johnstone and we have had a Pen shootout against Dun.Utd in the League Cup Final AND Fiorentina have had 2 pen shoot-outs this season Groningen & Everton[both in Waffa]and the 2 teams have won both, so they say it comes in 3s so wouldn't rule them out

To win in Extra-Time Fiorentina@17.0
To win in Extra-Time Rangers@41.0

To win on Pens Fiorentina@21.0
To win on pens Rangers@26.0

Coral
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Challenge Winners for Season

Scottish Premier: Beernutz
English Scorecast: Dj Peem
Premiership: Man o Bong

[Mildy]

I have to say I fancy Fiorentina tonight. They've certainly been talking about how the UEFA Cup is their priority for the season, even at the expense of securing 4th place in Serie A (talk is talk though). But add to that the perceived shame of them losing at home to a Scottish side and I think they'll be giving it everything tonight and will be too good for Rangers, even with Ferguson back in the midfield.

What are people's thoughts on the Zenit - Bayern match? Finding it hard to call this one and might just leave it be.

My Only other wager today is Aalen - Elversberg @ 1.7
Aalen (3rd) have won 3 of their last 4 meetings, the other being a draw and are looking to do the double over Elversberg (14th) this season.
Elversberg won their last away game at bottom of the table Oggersheim, but you have to go back to October for their previous away win.
Aalen have drawn 3 of their last four at home, but have just come off a humiliating 5-1 away loss to Kickers so Elversberg may be getting the backlash today.

[coopsy02]

Have to agree Mildy, its not gonna be easy for the teddies, I do like the fact though the Italians have been giving "We are gonna beat Rangers good and proper and we are not gonna be embarassed by NO Scottish side, they were garbage at there own ground and we will show them".

You have already said "talk is talk" which is very true and im sure Watty Waistcoat and Coisty will have all the Italian headlines pinned up in the dressing room. Still confident of a so called upset[obviously i would say this], We do fear the early goal though, get through the 1st 10-15 and we could see a game.

Dave Weir is a doubt, which is a blow, it will be left to him wether he plays and him being an old Pro, he will not play if he is not up for it[Dailly will fill in at the back, you may all laugh and when he signed i was the same, The biblical newspaper, he has certainly done a job for us when it has mattered and i dont see no different tonight

Zenit v Munchen

Agian wont be easy for the Germans, Ol Advocaat is due them one and if they go out to defend tonight, i think they could surprise a few??? Malafeev is an exceptional goalie and one of there defenders could be back, who never played in Munich but has played every other [Dont think he was injured for the last game or suspeneded, a tight affair which i will be avoiding and not really caring who we are gonna meet at Manchester


Good Luck though
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Challenge Winners for Season

Scottish Premier: Beernutz
English Scorecast: Dj Peem
Premiership: Man o Bong

[betking]

Zenit vs Bayern

Bayern missed Luca Toni in the 1st leg due to suspension, with him back, Bayern are a different proposition. Franck Ribery's penalty rebound gave Bayern the lead in the 1st leg, only for Lucio to put through his own net, giving Zenit a possibly crucial away goal. So this means Bayern have to score, or they're out. The identical situation that Bayern had in the QF, a 1-1 draw at home to Getafe, followed by 1-1 away, and 3-3 AET putting them through. Zenit are without Arshavin, Sirl and Rickson, and the loss of Arshavin will be a big blow for Zenit. The pitch is appraently in such a poor condition that Zenit have been threatened with being banned from using it, but Zenit will be used to it - Bayern wont.

Bayern @ 1.9 stands out, but with Bayern's record in the UEFA Cup this season of 11 games and just TWO clean sheets, its a risky bet. (The 2 cleans sheets came in a 6-0 win over Aris Thessaloniki, and a 5-0 win over Anderlecht. They've conceded in every other game in this tournament). This tempted me to want to back "No Bayern clean sheet", by then I saw the odds were 1.5, and decided against it. With a few Zenit players missing, I was hoping for more than that.

In the end I've decided on a small bet on overs @ 2.04 With Bayern needing to score they will leave themselves short, giving Zenit a chance to score too. But Bayern wont want extra time again, so may prove too strong in the end.

[krakkokain]

I am trying to do double correct scores for the uefa cup games tonight.... 2 options for each game........

For Zenit i fancy the 1-1 which is also the fav at 6.0 then the bookies have Bayern 1-0 at 7.0 but i somehow dont think that score will come through ....What other possible scores do u guys see coming in ??

For Rangers game im thinking of 0-0 or 1-0 fiorentina cant really see Rangers scoring ....maybe also 2-0 since weir is out ........any other other scores i should consider???....

4 20$ doubles should leave about a grand and thats only if u pick normal scores if u stick in a 2-2 at 20s im looking at a 3 gs addition to my bankroll.......

[welshie1]

Bayern Munich to beat Zenit @ 1.91

Been a big fan of Zenit this season and said a lot of good things about them here but their UEFA Cup dream will come to an end tonight. Bayern have the league pretty much wrapped up, the German Cup has been won, so the focus is really on the UEFA Cup and that could be a very good thing for the Germans. Bayern certainly have the players to really damage this Zenit side and with Luca Toni still firing on all cylinders and also Franck Ribery grabbing 2 at the weekend, they may be difficult to stop. Zenit have started the season very poorly but they did well to get the 1-1 at the Allianz Arena last week. Zenit have gone 4 home matches without a win and were beaten by a weakend Bayer Leverkusen side in their last home match, while Bundesliga strugglers Nurnberg got a point at the Petrovsky in the Group stages. Zenit are missing their best player Andrei Arshavin tonight and he will be massive loss, Anyukov is a doubt while Ricksen and Sirl join Arshavin in the stands, this could mean a game for 38 year old Gorshkov coming in to Centre Half and that has to be a worry against such a good team.

Agreeing with Coopsy Rangers/Draw Double chance @ 2.37

Rangers have performed so well when playing away from home in Europe this season, the performance against Sporting really showed that, I dont think Sporting are as good as Fiorentina but they still are a good team and Rangers were streets ahead of them. The good thing for Rangers is that Weir is fit and they also have Thomson and Ferguson back in the middle of the park and that will be a huge boost for them. There is no doubting Fiorentina have class and they are a brilliant team at home, winning 8 of their last 10 home matches, but Sampodria nicked a 2-2 draw from Florence on Sunday and PSV got a 1-1 draw in the last round. Rangers are strong mentally and they may be making the journey to Manchester in 2 weeks or so.

Toronto FC to beat NY Red Bulls @ 2.5

Toronto FC are playing well at the moment and with some very decent players in their squad they will be another difficult opponent for the Red Bulls tonight. Toronto have won their last 3 matches, with 2 of those home wins against the Wizards and Real Salt Lake. The Red Bulls have played one away match this season, a 2-0 defeat to FC Dallas and dating back to last season they have lost 7 of their last 10 on the road. In that run they were beaten by Toronto and I could see the same result tonight.
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[chappy]

think the italians will prove to strong at home with rangers involved in so many comps and games left this will prove too much for the scots

i have gone for Mutu first goal @9-2 as he also takes pens and is still a quality finisher

[wreckrock]

Fiorentina to beat Rangers tonight, I can see Fiorentina going for an early goal and winning comfortably 3-0.

Fiorentina HT and FT Double Result @2.25.

[Betfairalfie]