Motherwell - Llanelli

Motherweell made a big improvement in past few years, making their way to the top Scottish clubs. Last season was under the expectations. Club finished the regular part of the season at the seventh place and played in play-out group. They didn’t reach a European qualification spot in domain competition, but got the fair-play invitation for UEFA Europa League. Motherwell have to start right from the beginning. In the previous European campaign, they promptly crashed out in the first round to AS Nancy of France. After many years in the club, manager Mark McGhee left the bench and went to Aberdeen. His place took the former Stockport manager, Jim Gannon. Another missing will be excellent striker David Clarkson who went to Bristol City, but Gannon made his first signing in ex-Tranmere midfielder Steve Jennings. This game will be played at Airdrie FC stadium as their home ground is closed because changing the grass. Despite they’ll have to start without any pre-season fitness work done, Motherwell is a clear favorite here.

Llanelli is the small amateur club from Wales, who qualified for Europa League – Qualification after they finished at the second place in domain league. As the preparation for this game, they defeated first division club Afan Lido 4-0. A few days before, club made a big signing, ex Swansea’s left back Michael Howard and he’s expected in the first eleven. But the “main face” in the club is their player-manager Andrew "Andy" Legg (42 years old). He is known for having the longest throw-in in football, being able to regularly throw the ball over 30 metres. He once held the world record with 41 m! Legg is raising the team’s morale and saying to Welsh press they’re not afraid, will try to make Motherwell run and to threat from the counter-attacks. The problem is, only eleven experienced players will be available to him. However, I expected more than defensive attitude from Llanelli, with probably ten players on 30 metres from the own goal. 

It is the fact Motherwell have much more quality. But also, facts are they’re with new coach, without the best player, game won’t be on their ground and they’ve just started with the preparation for new season. I expect hard defence from the visitors and think they can resist first 45 minutes. So, with the small bet I go for a home win, but after the draw at the half-time. Odds are around 5.00.
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UEFA Cup

Lack of football action made me little frustrated. I've been trying to made some good picks, but found just two games that worth of small bets. However...

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Buducnost - Polonia Warszawa

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The biggest Montenegrin club finished the title race second, four points less than Mogren. Lost three very important players. Attacking midfielder Igor Burzanovic (loan deal expired and returned to Crvena Zvezda) and two central defenders: skipper Raicevic and Carapic. New coach Mihailo Ivanovic has been repeating to the press they don’t have big expectations about this game because the lack of quality and late start of preparation for the next season. And he got what he wanted, there’re no pressure from the audience regarding this game. In last four European campaign Buducnost have no defeat at home, one win (Deportivo La Coruna) and three draws (La Valetta, Hajduk Split and Tampere).

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Polonia is one of the oldest Polish clubs, but without the big achievements in their history. In the previous season, they had ten points less than the champions Wisla Krakow. Polonia have fairly strong team (for Polish standards), consisted mainly from domain player and despite they haven’t appeared in European competitions since 2003., they can’t avoid a position of favorite in this encounter. Coach Jacek Grembocki can not count on two important players, Vlade Lazarevski and Lukasz Tralka. But, two other keys, Radek Mynar and Marek Sokolowski are back in the squad.

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Home side already has the experience with being underdog on own pitch, but usually stay undefeated and lack of quality cover with fighting attitude, supporting from the frenetic crowd. On the other hand, Polonia is closer to face Copenhagen in the next round, but I’m not sure are they capable to win in the first game. Instead the winner, I’ll go on goals. Betfair offer 2.14, Expekt 2.00. Over.

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Sakhtar 2-1 Werder (aet)

Rodrigues Jadson's extra-time winner sank Werder Bremen and ensured Shakhtar Donetsk won the last Uefa Cup final.
Luiz Adriano's delicate finish put Shakhtar in front after 25 minutes. 
Werder equalised before the interval when Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov could only divert Ronaldo Naldo's long-range free-kick into the net. 
And it was another goalkeeping error that gave Shakhtar victory in extra-time, when Tim Wiese allowed Jadson's 97th-minute strike to squirm in. 
Shakhtar deserved the victory in Istanbul, but Werder will reflect on the absence of inspirational forward Diego because of suspension.

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucesu:

"It is bigger because it is the last and maybe we can keep the trophy. We don't have to make a copy of it. 
"We have bigger aims. We now want to do things in the Champions League: Reach the quarterfinals, maybe the semi-finals. 
"It was important not to allow Werder to play to their style, we contolled the game and we created most of the chances." 

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf:
"We were just not fast enough and not just effective enough. 
"We weren't able to play our usual football, we didn't put enough pressure on our opponents. 
"We gave them too much space and lost too many balls. I congratulate Shakhtar, they were the best team on the night." 


Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Chigrinsky, Rat, Lewandowski, Fernandinho, Ilsinho (Gai 99), Jadson (Duljaj 112), Willian , Luiz Adriano (Gladkyy 89).
Subs Not Used: Khudzamov, Ischenko, Chyzhov, Moreno. 
Booked: Srna, Lewandowski, Ilsinho. 
Goals: Luiz Adriano 25, Jadson 97. 

Werder Bremen: Wiese, Fritz (Pasanen 94), Prodl, Naldo, Boenisch, Niemeyer (Tziolis 103), Frings, Baumann, Ozil, Pizarro, Rosenberg (Hunt 78). 
Subs Not Used: Vander, Tosic, Vranjes, Harnik. 
Booked: Frings, Fritz, Tziolis, Boenisch. 
Goals: Naldo 35. 

Att: 53,100. 
Ref: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
www.bbc.co.uk

Shakhtar - Werder

Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul is the place where Shakhtar Donetsk and Werder Bremen will contest the last Uefa Cup final. Shakhtar hope to become the first Ukrainian side to win a European trophy since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Formal hosts, last season's Ukrainian champions, go into the game after thrashing Lugansk 3-0 away from home to clinch second place in this year's championship behind runaway champions Dynamo Kiev. That has secured a place in the third qualifying round of next year's Champions League. On the road to final, they eliminated Tottenham, CSKA Moscow and Olympique Marseille. In semi-final they passed their fellow citizens, mentioned Dynamo. In all those rounds, Ukrainian side was outsider. Tonight, for the first time they’ll be the favorites. They’re full of confidence and surely won’t luck in motivation (beside all competitive motives, I’m sure Rinat Akhmetov promised a more than lucrative reward for the trophy). Boss Mircea Lucescu has no problems with missing players. Aleksandr Kucher served his suspension ban, while Jadson is set to play despite a recent knock. Tomas Hubschmann is suspended, but he can be replaced, easily.

Werder want their first major European honor since the 1992 Cup Winners' Cup. As their European hopes in Bundesliga vanished, this will be the chance to save the season. Their performances in Uefa Cup were excellent and they fully deserved this final. They were better than: AC Milan, Saint Etienne, Udinese, but the sweetest victory came at the end, against their arch rivals Hamburger SV. Werder scored 15 goals on these 8 games, showing great force in attack. And there we come to reasons for Thomas Schaaf’s headache. The best player, team’s brain and playmaker on the pitch, leader in assists and one of the best scorers, Diego is suspended (going to Juve, btw.)! Werder definitely isn’t the same team without him. But, that’s just a beginning. Key striker Almeida is also suspended. Here Schaaf’s headache turns into migraine, Mertesacker and Jensen are injured and won’t play. Naldo, Pizarro and Rosenberg also have some injury problems and their appearance is under the question mark! Four keys won’t play and another three are in doubt. Enough for a panic attack. And enough to be declared as outsiders. I expect a cautious start from them where they’ll wait a chance from some set-up plays, or Özil’s run on the wing.

All those missings on German side gave a slight advantage to Ukrainians (bookies give slight to Germans, btw.). This is the final, no re-match, and many weird things happened already in such games. But, for me Shakhtar is closer to victory, odds are more than sweet (although in a drop) and simply feel Wiese will make another brutal mistake. Limited stake. Expekt and 888sport offer 2.70. Shakhtar to win.

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Btw. Sandefjord 2 - 2 Rosenborg

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Boring Tuesday

Sunderland lost again and surprises in Scandinavia, that's the epilogue from Monday. Today's offer is even worse. I dug deeper in Norway football. Rosenborg, who won fifteen of the previous seventeen league titles, remain clear favourite in the 2009 title-race despite a disappointing fifth place finish last term. According to online bookmakers, the nearest challengers are Stabaek, Brann and Valerenga. I still won't bet, just monitor the games. Mentioned Rosenborg will face Sandefjord, on the road. Odds for away win is bigger in Norway, than in the rest of the Europe (2.00-1.85). If You want to try, best offer is at Expekt, 1.90, but once again, my money stays in a wallet. One day break.

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Will be some analyze(s) for tomorrow, Uefa Cup probably. 

Cheers.

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Shakhtyor 2-1 Dynamo Kiev

After drawing 1-1 in the first leg, Shakhtyour went in front after 17 minutes when midfielder Rodrigues Jadson slotted in from just outside the area. 
Ognjen Vukojevic had a goal disallowed as Dynamo fought back and soon after the break they levelled when Guinea striker Ismael Bangoura converted Olexandr Aliyev's fine pass. 
With the match seemingly destined for extra-time Ilsinho won it in superb fashion, jinking in from the right and keeping his cool to shoot into the bottom corner. 
In the process, Shakhtar became the first Ukraine team to reach the Uefa Cup final.

Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov, Srna, Ischenko, Chigrinsky, Rat, Ilsinho (Lewandowski 90), Hubschman, Gai (Willian 70), Fernandinho, Jadson, Luiz Adriano (Gladkyy 70).Subs Not Used: Khudzamov, Duljaj, Seleznyov, Chyzhov.

Booked: Hubschman, Gladkyy.

Goals: Jadson 17, Ilsinho 88. 

Dynamo Kiev: Bogush, Betao, Sablic, Yussuf, El Kaddouri, Eremenko (Correa 75), Vukojevic, Ninkovic, Bangoura, Aliev, Milevskiy.
Subs Not Used: Shovkovskiy, Ghioane, Kravchenko, Nesmachniy, Zozulya, Yarmolenko. 
Booked: El Kaddouri, Bangoura, Aliev, Vukojevic. 
Goals: Bangoura 47. 

Att: 24,000. 
Ref: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)
www.bbc.co.uk

Shakhtyor - Dynamo Kiev

One my friend said: "Chelsea is cursed!". I think this is the same as Terry's slipping in Moscow. They start to look like Inter Milan in the near past. But, at the end, hats off for Barca's performances, will be a great game in Rome. Two Uefa cup games today.

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Sounds little unreal, two Ukrainian clubs play in semi-final. Shakhtyor is in great expansion since Rinat Akhmetov took a charge in a club. They permanently play Champions League. This season they were third in a group and continued competition in Uefa Cup where eliminated Tottenhem, CSKA and Marseille. This semi-final is fully deserved. In the first game they made a very good result. 1-1 made them a favorites before tonight's game. The most part of the game, they were in subordinate position, but Fernandinho's equalizer gives them an advantage. Beside suspended Oleksandr Kucher, Mircea Lucescu has a full squad available. I expect they'll try to score early and finish the job, instead keeping the advantage.

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Dynamo is still dominant in Ukrain, won another champions title. In the first game, they were dominant, missed a lots of chances in the first half and punishment came after. Now, they have just a draw with conceded goal. Have to attack, but it is way that will leave some space for the hosts. Additional problem for Yuri Semin is missing players. Kravets, Myhalyk and Rincon are out, while Guilherme is in doubt. I think, Dynamo is not without a chance. They know how to play against Shakhtyor and will try to score in the first part of the game. Then everything would be possible.

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Shakhtyor is a slight favorite, but I don't want to underestimate the visitors. These two are the big rivals, stake is final and I expect a real war. My choice are goals with excellent odds. Betfair offers 2.44, while Bwin as the most of the others 2.20. Over.

Cup edge to Hamburg and Shakhtar

An away goal from Piotr Trochowski earned Hamburg a 1-0 win in their all-German Uefa Cup semi-final first leg against Werder Bremen. 
Trochowski rose at the far post to head in a Guy Demel cross in the first half. 
Hugo Almeida missed a couple of good chances for Bremen who contributed much to a superb game.

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Shakhtar Donetsk came away the happier from the all-Ukrainian Uefa Cup semi-final first leg after grabbing a vital away goal in a 1-1 draw at Dynamo Kiev.An important away goal from Brazilian striker Fernandinho earned Shakhtar Donetsk a draw in the first leg of the all-Ukrainian semi-final at the Valeri Lobanovskiy stadium against Dynamo Kiev . 
Kiev took the lead after 20 minutes when Olexandr Aliev's long-range free-kick deflected off Ismael Bangoura's instep across goal to the far post where Chygrynskiy - marking Kiev striker Artem Milevskiy - unfortunately deflected the ball into his own net.
www.bbc.co.uk

Boring Thursday (short view)

Uefa Cup, semi-finals today. In the first game we'll watch two Ukrainian sides (who expected that?). Dynamo Kiev is a leader in domain league with 12 points more than Shakhtyor. After Tottenham, home side eliminated Metalurg and PSG. Boss Yuri Semin have all key players available. Shakhtyor is having a big expansion since Rinat Akhmetov took a charge in club. Thankfully to disaster season start, they lost every chance for Europe competition next year. They surprisingly eliminated CSKA Moscow first, than Olympique Marseille. Mircea Lucescu keeps his keys in domain league and their European games are much different. I don't dare to predict anything here. Bookies fancy under as the odds against the goals are really low. 

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In second game, two German clubs will fight for final. In the previous week, they played a national cup game in Hamburg. Werder was a better side after the penalties. In their mutual games, usually hosts have an advantage. Big relief for a home side is Diego has fully recovered and fit. Schaaf and Jol announced formations with one man in attack, Pizarro on one and Olic on other side. Hamburg lost very good striker, Mladen Petric and he'll miss both games, maybe the rest of the season. Considering bookies offer, Werder is a slight favorite and over is expected. Personally, I fancy away side (though their decreasing shape), but I won't support that opinion with a money.

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I don't dare to predict anything here, won't force any bet, wasting the time and money, and I'm taking a break. I should do that three days ago. Anyway, I guess there are some football fans between "Football Betting (and More)" readers, so I'll post later the third and the last part about Football casuals and casual culture.

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Cheers, Dule.

Hamburg 3-1 Man City

Manchester City were emphatically beaten by Hamburg in the first leg of their quarter-final to leave their Uefa Cup hopes hanging by a thread. 
Stephen Ireland slotted the visitors ahead after 35 seconds but they were under constant pressure after that. 
Joris Mathijsen headed Hamburg level before Piotr Trochowski converted a penalty after Micah Richards' handball. 
Jose Paolo Guerrero then fired in from close range at the far post to put the German side firmly in the driving seat. 
The home side would have been in an even stronger position had it not been for City keeper Shay Given's heroics as the visitors' defensive frailties away from home were again exposed. 
Hamburg boss Martin Jol would have been confident about the chances of his joint Bundesliga leaders ahead of the game, especially as he had won all six of his games against City while in charge of Tottenham.
Hamburg: Rost, Benjamin, Gravgaard, Mathijsen, Jansen, Pitroipa, Jarolim, Aogo, Trochowski, Petric, Olic (Guerrero 71). 
Subs Not Used: Hesl, Ndjeng, Rincon, Schmidt, Torun. 
Booked: Trochowski, Pitroipa. 
Goals: Mathijsen 9, Trochowski 64 pen, Guerrero 79. 

Man City: Given, Richards, Dunne, Onuoha, Bridge (Garrido 46), Wright-Phillips (Fernandes 83), Zabaleta, Ireland, Sturridge (Mwaruwari 62), Bellamy, Robinho. 
Subs Not Used: Hart, Elano, Petrov, Berti. 
Booked: Bellamy, Given. 
Goals: Ireland 1. 

Att: 50,500 
Ref: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal).
www.bbc.co.uk