Tag Archives: blood

Stevenage can draw first blood

Posted on by
Reply

Friday night’s football action focuses around the first leg of the League One semi-final play-off as Stevenage host Sheffield United. United are fancied by most to follow their city rivals Wednesday into the Championship but can they justify favouritism?

This is the post-season that the Blades probably did not want, having spent so much time in the top two in League One only to falter late in the game and surrender the initiative to Sheffield Wednesday – who took great delight in obliging.

Danny Wilson’s men only lost one of their last 12 matches in the regular season but the last three games proved their undoing – starting with losing at MK Dons on April 21.

United still had the chance of automatic promotion but could only draw their last two games to finish three points behind Wednesday and in the dreaded play-offs.

In theory, Wilson’s charges have been handed the easier last-four clash as they take on the side that finished sixth in the table, courtesy of a better goal difference.

However, one of those late draws was suffered at the hands of the Boro, who had actually gone 2-0 up in the Bramall Lane fixture, only to be denied the three points by an 85th-minute equaliser.

Gary Smith’s men may well be the outsiders to triumph at Wembley, but they can take plenty of confidence into the play-offs against United, not least because of that recent draw.

Stevenage also won the fixture at Broadhall Way earlier in the season so should be relishing the play-off match-up as they go into Friday’s fixture having lost just one of their last 16 games.

The hosts have also made Broadhall Way something of a fortress, having lost just three times at home, and they have been installed as the favourites at 11/8 to win the first leg, with United priced at 2/1 and the draw is on offer at 9/4.

In fact, the Boro have only been beaten nine times this season in the league, but the big problem for Smith and his men is finding ways to win – the club has been held to 19 draws this season, 10 of which came in the last 16 games of the season and seven of those were in March.

However, a 3-0 win over Bury to ensure a play-off place as well as their season record against the Blades, who will be the side suffering the weight of expectation, should set them up well for the first leg – especially with the home crowd behind them.

The goals have been spread around among the Stevenage players with Chris Beardsley, Luke Freeman and Michael Bostwick scoring seven, while captain Mark Roberts has chipped in with six and may well tempt some at 20/1 to score first, while Scott Laird needs to be considered at 12/1 as he has notched eight times this season.

United have scored plenty of goals this season, but they of course are shorn of top-scorer Ched Evans, although Richard Cresswell (6/1) and Lee Williamson (10/1) have both regularly found the net this term.

The Blades carry an obvious threat having been there or thereabouts for automatic promotion for most of the season, but Stevenage have nothing to lose and will be going all out to secure an advantage to take to Bramall Lane next week.

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

Real ready to draw first blood

Posted on by
Reply

Arguably the two best sides in world football go head-to-head on Wednesday night in the first leg of a mouth-watering Champions League semi-final clash and Barcelona are strong 4/9 favourites to qualify for the Wembley final on May 28.

The Catalan giants have been the outright favourites throughout the competition and are currently Evens to lift the trophy, with Real Madrid available at 10/3 after being handed the toughest of draws.

Despite suffering a 5-0 hammering at the Nou Camp earlier in the season, which meant a run of five straight defeats against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, Real have turned the corner and will go into the first-leg clash at the Bernabeu in an ideal position – perhaps reflected in the betting as they are slight favourites at 8/5 to Barca’s 13/8, with the draw on offer at 12/5.

Los Merengues managed to salvage a point in La Liga 10 days ago at the Bernabeu, despite being reduced to 10 men, but then won their first trophy under Jose Mourinho and first since 2008 when they beat their arch rivals in the Copa del Rey last Wednesday, winning 1-0 after extra-time.

Cristiano Ronaldo had struggled to find the net against the Blaugrana but appears to have turned the tide after scoring in both those encounters and should be looked at in the goalscoring markets (4/1 First/Last Goalscorer, Evens Anytime) – particularly as he takes free-kicks and penalties.

Mourinho of course managed to steer Inter Milan past Barcelona at this stage last season and has adopted what appears to be similar tactics aimed at stifling the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta in midfield.

Nobody out-Barcelona’s Barcelona but by employing Pepe in midfield alongside Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira, Real playing an aggressive, counter-attacking style certainly made life difficult for Barca – and expect more of the same on Wednesday.

Despite the wealth of attacking talent on both sides, those last two games have been very tight, cagey affairs and with a second-leg to come, the same is expected as Under 2.5 goals is priced at 4/5, with Over at 10/11.

As well as the tonic of Copa del Rey success, Real will certainly be buoyed by the performance of their ’second-string’ who routed third-placed Valencia at the Mestalla 6-3 on Saturday with Kaka and Gonzalo Higuain scoring five goals between them.

Ricardo Carvalho’s absence through suspension from Wednesday’s clash could be a problem as he has been a rock at the back and potential replacement Raul Albiol, who was sent off in the La Liga clash after hauling down David Villa, looks a weak link.

Sami Khedira’s absence through injury looks less of a blow with Lassana Diarra expected to fill in but it is Barcelona who are struggling more on the injury front.

The left-back position looks problematic with Eric Abidal, Maxwell and Adriano all ruled out and that is certainly an area Real can exploit – be it through Ronaldo, Higuain, Mesut Ozil or Angel Di Maria.

Carles Puyol and Gabriel Milito have both been included in the travelling squad but are on the way back from injury and Guardiola may have to employ a midfielder out of position defensively to cover.

Of course, there is no getting away from the fact that Barcelona have the world player of the year, Lionel Messi, in their ranks and have the potential to beat anybody – with Xavi and Iniesta also pulling the strings.

However, with a second-leg at the Nou Camp to come, Guardiola is sure to play it more cautiously given recent results and would be happy to take them back home still in contention.

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.