Southend will view the visit of Rotherham United as a chance to get back to winning ways in League Two on Friday, while Wolfsburg host SC Freiburg in Germany’s Bundesliga and FC Twente entertain Heracles Almelo in Eredivisie in the Netherlands.
Southend United v Rotherham United
Southend have hit a wall in recent weeks and are without a win in three in all competitions but have a chance to reinvigorate their promotion push when out-of-form Rotherham head to Essex.
Paul Sturrock pulled no punches with a damning assessment of his players’ second-half performance against relegation-threatened Plymouth, when they let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 in the last five minutes, and will demand a response.
He told BBC Essex: “In the first half we were so dominant. We were in their faces and the right positions.
“We decided that 2-0 is what it’s about and you can’t do that. We decided we were a football team and played it square and back. We’ve paid the price.”
The Millers have only won one in five in League Two and have slipped to 13th in the table, while they have only won four away from South Yorkshire.
The 10/11 about the Shrimpers to collect maximum points (5/2 draw 3/1 Rotherham – match prices) and go, temporarily at least, to the top of the table is good enough.
Wolfsburg v SC Freiburg
It is difficult to make a case for Germany’s rock-bottom club SC Freiburg at odds of 3/1 (8/11 Wolfsburg 5/2 draw – match prices) at the Volkswagen Arena on Friday.
Breisgau-Brasilianer returned from the winter break with an encouraging win against fellow basement dwellers Augsburg but have not won in two since.
The Wolves were not disgraced when losing 2-0 to Bayern Munich and last week held Borussia Monchengladbach to a goalless draw in Lower Saxony.
They have not lost a home game in all competitions since a 3-2 defeat by Hertha Berlin at the end of October but, either side of that, have been a tough nut to crack on home soil and the return of Mario Mandzukic (11/10 – Score Anytime) will boost them in the final third.
FC Twente v Heracles Almelo
Steve McClaren’s FC Twente have been in sparkling form since the return of the top flight in the Netherlands – scoring nine and conceding once – and can go level on points with PSV and AZ with victory on Friday against Heracles at De Grolsch Veste.
The match prices – FC Twente 2/9 draw 21/5 Heracles 17/2 – would indicate this is a formality for the Tukkers and even a cursory look at Heracles’ shambolic recent away form would back this up.
Heraclieden have not win in five on the road in the top flight and McClaren’s men should have little trouble franking their recent form.
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