Tip-Ex -- Sports betting and odds comparison service for gamblers and bookmakers: Bets, odds, betting tips and best prices.

Thursdays Soccer – By Chris.

UEFA Cup

AZ   -   Everton         1.67  -  5.50
Everton have already won this group and they are facing Man United on Sunday. You would think that there would be no way that coach Moyes will use any of his regulars for this match, but quite a few will be playing after all. For instance up front, Yakubu will be rested but A Johnson, Anichebe, McFadden and J Vaughan are competing for starting roles.  Key midfielders Cahill and Arteta have stayed put in England as well as keeper Howard, Yobo and P Neville. Six reserve players are included in the Everton squad. On their injury list are L Baines, Osman and Stubbs.

AZ need to win this match to qualify and although their overall season has been a disappointment, their greater motivation should decide the outcome. Everton, in my opinion, are a football side that needs to be motivated in order to perform to the best of their ability.  Likely home win, but useless odds (1.67).

AZ 2 Everton 3

Larissa   -  Nurnberg       6.10   -   1.67
Only Nurnberg have something to play for, but 1.67 on the away win is still a let down. The Nurnberg players will have 400000 Euros to split if they should qualify for the play offs. They have demonstrated good morale in this competition having been beaten in their first group game, at home to Everton and facing an uphill task after that. They reached a creditable 2-2 draw with Zenit in Petersburg and in their last game, they were down 0-1 at home to AZ with 10 minutes to go, before Mintal scored his two goals.

I will back Nurnberg to win tomorrow (1.67). Their captain Galasek has declared himself fit to play. Larissa still dine out on their home win against Blackburn, but I am beginning to re-evaluate Blackburn. Away win (1.67).

Larissa 1 Nurgburg 3

Aberdeen   -   FC Copenhagen       2.70  -  2.75
Aberdeen have one meagre point but a win here and they have qualified to the next round. They drew their only home game so far with Lokomotive, the same Lokomotive that Copenhagen defeated in Moscow. Aberdeen lost 0-3 to Motherwell at the weekend, while the Danes have only played friendly games lately. Their season has finished.

Copenhagen will be without a couple of influential players, Silberbauer, Hangeland and probably J Grönkajer. Striker M Allbäck and J Christiansen will be OK. Aberdeen welcome back the important Jamie Smith.

Copenhagen have not been as strong as last season and I am not prepared to trust them in this match, although their potential is so much stronger. A draw is enough for the Danes to qualify and the draw will be my choice (3.20).

Aberdeen 4 Copenhagen 0

Atletico Madrid   -   Panathinaikos       1.67   -   6.30
To win this group Atletico Madrid have to win this match, while the draw is enough for the Greeks. A Lopez, Luis Garcia and Ze Castro will be back for A M but Maniche  and Pablo are considered  injury doubts. Franco, Jurado, Motta and Seitaridis remain sidelined. Panathinaikos miss among others Karagounis. Salpingidis, Papadopoulos and Mantzios, two of those will start up front.

My view is that a fully motivated A M side will win this match and so far they have given their best in their UEFA Cup fixtures. Home win, but this 1.67 is hardly tempting.

Atletico Madrid 1 Panathinaikos 2

AEK    -   Villarreal            2.25   -   3.15
No one really believes that Mlada Boleslav will defeat Fiorentina in Florence tomorrow. Conclusion? Both AEK and Villarreal sides will be through. Well, Villarreal are already mathematically safe.

AEK lost the big match in Greece at the weekend against Olympiakos, but life has to go on. They will be without the injured A Zikos. Villarreal displayed that they are over their mini crisis by impressively winning the difficult away fixture at Getafe, 3-1.

Villarreal will rotate their squad for this match. Weakened? Yes, but still a strong squad. G Rossi, Venta and Cygan started on the bench vs Getafe, and they are all likely starters tomorrow. Rossi and Tomasson up front. Another draw (3.40).

AEK 1 Villarreal 2

Fiorentina   -   Mlada Boleslav        1.25   -  14.00
Keeper S Frey will be missing for the home side but both Gamberini and Montolivo are expected to recover for this match. There is only one likely result, the home win (1.25).

Fiorentina 2 Mlada Boleslav 1

Hamburg   -   Basle           1.62   -   6.00
Neither of these two sides have conceded a single goal in their previous group matches. Basle are league leaders in Switzerland, some 6 points ahead of Zurich, while Hamburg are top 3 in Germany.

Hamburg are the better side and I could picture myself backing the home win,(1.62) although the odds are probably not strong enough. Hamburg come full strength with Van der Vaart supporting Olic and Guerrero. Basle miss two important offensive players, S Chipperfield and Streller. Likely home win (1.62).

Hamburg 1 Basel 1

Rennes  -  Dinamo Zagreb           1.93   -   3.75
A strange situation here as both teams can overhaul Brann, but they not only have to win the match, they have to win by 3 goals (Rennes) or 2 goals (D Zagreb).

How will they approach the match? Take an early 2-0 lead and hope that the other team will give up? Only joking. Rennes’ new coach Lacombe has this as his first fixture. Moreira is back in the Rennes squad but Didot, Edman and Marveaux remain on the sidelines. Lacombe will not start his new job with a loss and I do think that the Rennes players will show some eagerness tomorrow. That should be enough for a home win (1.93).

Rennes 1 Dinamo Zagreb 1

Chris.