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441  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24 on: November 09, 2023, 09:58:25 PM
Don't forget that Girona had an amazing performance so far in this season and their performance was even better than Real Madrid's in the 12 games they had so far. However Girona doesn't have the potential to win the title of La Liga in this easo but they be definitely a good competitor for Real Madrid and Barcelona and I think even if they play against Real Madrid, this can't be easy to be precited.
So far, Girona is the club that play most consistent in La Liga. But it is still matchday 12, there are too many matches left. We can't conclude it too early that Girona is playing very consistently during this season. They need to prove that they can maintain their performance until the second half of the season at least. I don't say that Girona will have no chance to win La Liga title, but I think the chance isn't very big because they don't have good squad depth. If some of their main players got injured, they probably get difficulty to keep their good performance until the end of the season. Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid are the teams that have better squad depth.



But leading the table after 12 games is a whole lot different from leading the table after 5 games. But don't get me wrong, I agree that this is very early to conclude anything about their chances to finish the season at the top or among the best La Liga teams, but the consistency they have maintained over almost a third of the season has been remarkable. They enjoy the game and score so many goals. It is great attacking football.

But I am looking forward to December 10th when they play against Barcelona at home and then beginning of January they play against Atletico Madrid also at home. If they then still lead the table and don't lose these games, I think we can welcome a new contender for the La Liga title.  
442  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24 on: November 07, 2023, 10:22:10 AM
-snip

Girona feels like it's living a dream right now. Leicester won the Premier League title, why shouldn't something similar happen in La Liga? Girona is an important team and if they win the championship, there is a possibility that we will see important players of the team in important teams in Europe next year. Even this possible outcome is enough to motivate the players.
quite a reasonable statement and in fact Girona does have the opportunity to win the title in La Liga to eliminate the boredom when every season you only see Barcelona or Real Madrid leading at the top of the standings and I cannot deny that Girona can reach the top of the standings with good performance. quite consistent because Girona does not have scheduled matches in other competitions unlike Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid who currently have to focus on several competitions and this opportunity is utilized very well by Girona and it is very surprising after the return of this team in the season 2017/2018 is only this season which is able to provide extraordinary achievements.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, who are pushing for leadership in the league, will have UCL matches and will have to rest some of their players in the league in order to show high performance in these matches. In this case, they may lose points. Girona needs to evaluate this. If Girona goes without losses, they can increase the point difference even further. Especially Real Madrid may lose a lot of points as a result of Bellingham's possible injury.

Since none of the teams you mentioned can afford to give some of their most important players a rest, I doubt that your assumption will turn out to be correct. Players who have to take a break because of injuries pr bad physical conditions will of course get their needed break, but all other players who are fully available and fit will also play. I would be surprised if one of the coaches decides to let some of the best players sit on the bench, risking to lose important points in the fight for the La Liga title. It never worked that way and I am sure this is the case to date.
443  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ⚽ Football Transfers Speculation, Odds and Predictions on: November 07, 2023, 08:58:01 AM
Mason Mount's transfer made a lot of noise for Manchester United, but it seems Mount was another transfer on which they spent more money than necessary. Antony's transfer also happened like this. The transfer fee given was an incredibly high price, but we can say that Antony has not been able to repay it yet. Maybe Manchester should change their transfer policy.

You are probably right, but the tricky thing here is that retrospectively it is naturally easier to tell whether a player's transfer price was justified or not. But I think this could also be misleading because what would someone say when Mason Mount explodes and his performances develop into a never seen before level in three months from now? When a club signs a striker and that striker scored 30 goals and then scores 15 goals, it would be too easy to say that the transfer price should have been half of what has been paid.

But I think you are pointing towards a problem that more generally exists and not only the transfer price for Mason Mount was too high, but probably for 99% of the players the transfer prices were too high because the system has been flooded with tons of money recently. I thought about this too and whether these prices can ever be earned through success in football and merchandise sales and viewership in the stadiums etc., but my inner voice says that this system is consuming more than it generates. But my insight is too little to really have an educated opinion on that.
444  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Premier League Prediction Thread 2023/2024 on: November 07, 2023, 08:31:01 AM
With the big margins win by Chelsea, I'm not yet saying Chelsea is evolving.

See you next week, Manchester City will beat you. Tongue

No doubt that Chelsea is not really in their best form, Although Manchester City is a stronger team here than Chelsea in terms of strength, current form, their last 6 H2H meetings with Chelsea, the manager, and when you compare the quality of individual players present in both clubs, City is ahead. However, there is no certainty regarding what would be the outcome of any match when it comes to a game of football just as we saw what happened in last night's game between Tottenham and Chelsea,  anything can happen.

I can't believe you are trying to use the H2H statistic under these circumstances. No matter what these statistics say, wouldn't you agree that the Chelsea club we are seeing these days has nothing to do with the Chelsea from two years ago? In the season before last season Chelsea finished third in the Premier League and had 6 losses for the whole season. They now stand at four losses and three draws after eleven games. It's really useless to go and look what happened in the last few games when they played against each other. It is useless up to the point that I wonder why some people think it makes sense to look at that. Everyone is talking about Chelsea because they are so bad that people are speechless.
445  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: French Soccer League Predictions and Discussion Thread (Ligue 1) on: November 07, 2023, 07:15:51 AM
NIce continued their unbeaten run by winning this week's match at home to Rennes. The game was evenly matched, but Nice played more effectively and they were able to create goals from the chances they created. While Rennes several times they tried to create goals but could still be stopped by the defense built by Nice.
It's amazing what Nice have achieved so far, because they can consistently win points from every match they play. They are the only unbeaten club so far, they also have a solid defense, it's just that their shortcomings are on the front lines that still cannot be more productive in creating goals.
Nice won the pre-eminent rival, PSG in the early rounds of Ligue One this season, that doesn't portrayed any effects because there are quite competitive clubs that are fully prepared to face them. On the records, Nice are unbeaten in Ligue One but that doesn't proved anything because I'm confident there first defeat of the season is just around the corner. Les Aiglons have continued to tried their best in all league games played, they also deserved some accolades because we know how hard Francesco Farioli have gathered specific amount of hardwork and innovative ideas to reach this stage at this moment.

But I am sure you recall what happened last season. RC Lens could not beat PSG eventually because they only got 84 points and PSG could afford to lose one game and draw one game out of their last two games, which means it looked closer than it actually was.

I think that PSG will almost always be well over 80 points in Ligue 1 and then the interesting thing to consider is whether there is one other team that can also get well over 80 points. The problem is that draws can already mean failure if they accrue too many of them. Winning is the only way to keep up the pressure against PSG and to force them into making mistakes in their own games. But the resources in respect of play quality is so much higher for PSG than for Nice. This often materializes in a later phase of the season when the first injuries hit hard.
446  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: French Soccer League Predictions and Discussion Thread (Ligue 1) on: November 06, 2023, 05:47:00 AM
I think the so said decline of PSG is not set in stone yet. They are playing erratically so far, but I believe if they can stabilize their game over the coming weeks, we might be talking differently about them very soon. They do have potential and in my opinion that is out of of the question, but can they play their best game over several weeks and months? That great win against AC Milan, that win away which wasn't easy against Stade Brest and then the crystal clear performance against Montpellier, I think this is the PSG team that should be paid some respect to. I want to see how they can do in the next few games and maybe we should still not underestimate them in the Champions League either yet.
PSG's performance seems consistent to me now. Although they were inconsistent in the early part of the season, they are now performing consistently in both the Champions League and Ligue 1. PSG are unbeaten in their last five Ligue 1 matches and have picked up full points in four. Looking at their performance in the last 5 matches, we should not have any doubts about their consistency. Luis Enrique may have got the trick on how to get the best performance out of this team and he is applying that trick which is why the PSG team is getting one success after another. PSG are consistent now and if they play according to plan, they will be very consistent in the upcoming matches as well.

The difference now finally is that they are dominating the games and not win with just one goal difference. That is what everyone expected when they see their attacking line with these superstars although I think that Dembele will only be a talent throughout his whole career. He isn't a superstar in my opinion, but he has always been treated and transferred like one.

Mbappe, no need to discuss about him, but it is still the same as it has been for a while at PSG. If the attacking line delivers a top performance, every other team in Europe will have problems winning against PSG, but only one game is enough when they don't score 3 or more goals and then the defense is still overwhelmed more often than not. 
447  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Premier League Prediction Thread 2023/2024 on: November 06, 2023, 05:44:04 AM

I only saw how much time they took when they made the decision about that goal and whether it was 1) a foul or 2) offside. The offside decision took too long in my opinion because it wasn't offside. But in general I think there is nothing to say against the VAR taking a lot of time to make the right decision, but it is confusing for sure. The commentator said they gave the goal because they have no conclusive evidence against it. That was word for word what he said.

Now when did this situation happen during the game in the above picture with the ball that was supposedly out? I missed that one but was it out 100%? I think it is a disgrace that there are still missing camera angles to make reliable decisions in the aftermaths. There is so much technology available and it could easily be upgraded where necessary that these things should not happen.
I was very shocked to see that the Newcastle United goal against Arsenal yesterday night was not disallowed by VAR because VAR checked on three things in that Newcastle United goal which are the possible ball going over, possible foul, and possible offside against Newcastle United. The VAR was very interested in checking for possible offside when they know too well that it is not an offside against Newcastle  United. The VAR should have focused more on the possible over against Newcastle United because VAR knew if they focused on the possible over the goal could have been disallowed but since they wanted the goal to stand they refused to focus more on reviewing the possible over which could give Arsenal a goal kick. I think they should work on VAR to deliver the right decisions at times.

Ok now I get it, thanks for the clarification because I literally switched on my stream when they were checking for the foul, which I think was not a foul as I did comprehend the explanation by the commentator who said that the Arsenal defender had a natural movement that was first going down and then he missed the header and fell over. I think that was true, which means no foul. Offside, yes it was ridiculous because it was obviously no offside.

And only now do I understand that this "ball not over" decision also pertained to this particular situation. This makes it extra complicated. But as I said before, they argued that since there was conclusive evidence against the goal, they awarded the goal. Such a complex goal scoring situation in such an important game with only one goal, that's a mess.
448  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ⚽ Football Transfers Speculation, Odds and Predictions on: November 05, 2023, 10:45:55 AM
Manchester United currently lack of quality defenders, I don't think they will sell Varane to Al Nassr. It make sense when they want to sell Sancho and Mount because this both players are failed transfers. Even though Varane isn't a starter, he could be used as a substitute player since starting eleven players will not always healthy or never get any injured.

No, they are not failed transfers. But Ten Hag could not make good use of his abilities.  Even in all the current Man United players, they seem to play not optimally.

There has been a lot of gossip regarding Madrid and PSG's discussions for Mbappe. But I just read the story, if it's just a rumor. There was no progress in discussions for Mbappe. For sure he has a contract with PSG until the end of the season.

Source: https://www.skysports.com/football/live-blog/11095/12476234/transfer-centre-live-real-madrid-officially-deny-kylian-mbappe-reports

That is true, both players have great talent, but they are also both players who need a good relationship with the coach in order to be able to show their best football. Although I am really not a friend of this extreme player-coach-relationship importance because I think all these guys get paid so well, have no issues in their private lives that they should be damn ready to perform for the money or otherwise get their salary cut down. But ten Hag is special in that he is very good at doing things wrong and destroying relationships in a way that there is hardly any way to recover them over time. Sancho is one of his victims and Mount is the other victim. If both of them were to play their best, it would really increase Manchester United's striking power significantly, but as it seems Sancho is about to leave and Mason Mount needs more time after his injury.
449  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24 on: November 05, 2023, 08:52:22 AM
Ter Stegan made some quality saves for Barcelona to keep the game leveled until Barcelona found a way finally to put that goal at the back of the net.
Gundogans importance in the club can not be overlooked, he brings so much balance and quality in the game. Midfielder's who get that paranoid in games have standards, yes it's good to control your emotions but if you don't play to that high standard how do you win and maintain balance.

Long balls gave you the win last night, No? Lol.
I don't want to say too much, but I honestly hope Barcelona gets to the top. I'd love to see them successfully defending the La Liga Spanish League tittle.
Marc-André ter Stegen performance was quite impressive, he managed to make several brilliant saves to keep Barcelona's goal from being conceded.
Overall I don't think Barcelona's performance was that good in this match and the goal at the end of the match was lucky for them to get 3 points.

If you want to maintain the La Liga title then there are a lot of things that must be fixed in the Barcelona team, if not and their performance does not improve then I think it will be very difficult for Barcelona to be able to defend the La Liga title.

I agree with you and some could say that Barcelona have been lucky bastards yesterday, but it was ter Stegen who won that game for them. Scoring that goal so late was lucky and Real Sociedad would have deserved that win also.

But the more important part of what you said is that Barcelona has to fix a lot of things. Yes they have won this game, but the result does by no means reflect that they played a well. If they have ambitious goals for this season, this was the last call for them to change something because they won't score the goal in the last minute of the game every game.
450  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Premier League Prediction Thread 2023/2024 on: November 05, 2023, 07:56:46 AM


Today's match wasn't fine due to how they made the goal decision. I was under the impression that Arsenal either won or drew, and because of self-interest, VAR cheated Arsenal by making a fictitious ruling.

In the initial VAR check for a possible ball outside the line, they act as though they saw nothing. In the second VAR check for a potential foul on Gabriel, the third VAR check for a potential offside, and the entire official team allowed the goal to stand. However, I'd like to know why they didn't let the referee go check on his own?

The refereeing decision was the main talking point yesterday and it’s disingenuous to push it to the background. I have come to the realization that the Premier League officiating won’t change. It will get worse. It’s become a business now and the people that should call it out are all hiding behind microphones. Sometimes I don’t like talking about all these ref/VAR issue. What we are seeing now is Nothing. The shit show has been on for 10+ years at least and it won't stop.

There were so many error scenes from VAR during the game but they somehow managed to overlook them. I don’t know how the VAR officials missed Bruno elbow, how they did not review the foul on Gabriel Magalhaes, but went for an offside is absolute shock, it seems like it was a mission to make Arsenal lose.
Arsenal was really into the game. They were the better side if you ask me. Yes there are things they could have done better attacking wise. But defensively they were on point. I think Arsenal did not lose that game because they did not play well. They lost that game because they were robbed. Simple as ABC.
I won't be surprised to see another referee get demoted to the championship again. Yesterday at St James' Park, I witnessed the ridiculous use of the VAR system. It was glaringly evident that the English football system won't change. I received this message from a friend, and everything he shared with me below accurately reflects what happened in the goal against Arsenal.

PGMOL have responded following today’s controversial decisions at St James’ Park.

On Bruno Guimaraes elbow: “He's not used his arm as a weapon, it's not nice but no more than a yellow card.”

On the Newcastle goal: “The ball looks out but we can't possibly give it from that angle.”

On the push on Gabriel: “There's two hands on Gabriel's back but we can't be sure it's a push.”

On Gordon being offside: “There's no conclusive evidence whether Gordan is behind the ball, so stick with onfield decision.”

I only saw how much time they took when they made the decision about that goal and whether it was 1) a foul or 2) offside. The offside decision took too long in my opinion because it wasn't offside. But in general I think there is nothing to say against the VAR taking a lot of time to make the right decision, but it is confusing for sure. The commentator said they gave the goal because they have no conclusive evidence against it. That was word for word what he said.

Now when did this situation happen during the game in the above picture with the ball that was supposedly out? I missed that one but was it out 100%? I think it is a disgrace that there are still missing camera angles to make reliable decisions in the aftermaths. There is so much technology available and it could easily be upgraded where necessary that these things should not happen.
451  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: French Soccer League Predictions and Discussion Thread (Ligue 1) on: November 05, 2023, 07:47:40 AM
But this approach to judging how strong a team really is can also have its pitfalls. If two teams like Manchester City and Real Madrid dominate their domestic league games and they play against each other in the first round of the knockout round, one team will inevitably get knocked out from the competition. But I think it would be wrong to then say that one team is necessarily much weaker than the other team unless one of them got humiliated by the other team. It really depends on how the season is going and at what point in time the big teams face each other.

But I concur with you that dominating Ligue 1 tells nothing about the strength of PSG on the European stages when they face the top teams from other national leagues. The only competition to give answers to that question is the Champions League.
And I am very sure this season will be different, apart from PSG's decline in performance this season, there are several teams such as Nice and Monaco who have consistent performance and they are even now at the top of the standings and I think it is possible for them to break PSG's dominance this season to win the Ligue 1 title.
PSG's inability to dominate and excel in the UCL even though they dominated Ligue 1 several seasons ago indicates that the quality of the teams in Ligue 1 is quite weak compared to other European competitions.

I think the so said decline of PSG is not set in stone yet. They are playing erratically so far, but I believe if they can stabilize their game over the coming weeks, we might be talking differently about them very soon. They do have potential and in my opinion that is out of of the question, but can they play their best game over several weeks and months? That great win against AC Milan, that win away which wasn't easy against Stade Brest and then the crystal clear performance against Montpellier, I think this is the PSG team that should be paid some respect to. I want to see how they can do in the next few games and maybe we should still not underestimate them in the Champions League either yet.
452  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: French Soccer League Predictions and Discussion Thread (Ligue 1) on: November 04, 2023, 11:16:11 AM
This is indeed quite an impressive game from the PSG team but I don't really think that they have risen because I think what PSG showed is very reasonable because the opponents they faced were of far lower quality than them so it is only natural that the PSG team's game develops as well as the players.
We will never know the extent of PSG's strength if it is not when they play against strong teams.
And regarding Kylian Mbappe currently being the player most feared by opponents, of course the opponents who will face PSG will use various methods to stop Kylian Mbappe's movements so that because of this it makes other PSG players more profitable and free.

I don't measure the strength of a club in their various domestic league games, when they get to big European fixtures, how they play and handle games are what matters. But in terms of big side in league ¹, they remain the best side still regardless of the fact that they've had a bumpy journey to the top since the appointment of Luis Enrique.

PSG should master scoring without Kylian Mbappe, and the team is showing these signs that they can manage his exit from the club somehow if it happens in the near future. PSG scored three goals and that is enough to keep send them top of the table if Nice loose their game to Rennes today which PSG supporters and team will be hoping for, so that they can continue on the top. Next preparation for PSG is their champions league game against AC Milan, and they won this game strongly to be in the right mood for it.

That's how a team should be, they make the loads and work easier for everyone. Kylian Mbappe was unhappy I could see that from hais looks. He had chances but they opposing side made sure he was kept at bay. He still leads the league ¹ standing of top scorers with ¹⁰ Goals. Top talent, Real Madrid would be excited to have him.

But this approach to judging how strong a team really is can also have its pitfalls. If two teams like Manchester City and Real Madrid dominate their domestic league games and they play against each other in the first round of the knockout round, one team will inevitably get knocked out from the competition. But I think it would be wrong to then say that one team is necessarily much weaker than the other team unless one of them got humiliated by the other team. It really depends on how the season is going and at what point in time the big teams face each other.

But I concur with you that dominating Ligue 1 tells nothing about the strength of PSG on the European stages when they face the top teams from other national leagues. The only competition to give answers to that question is the Champions League.
453  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Premier League Prediction Thread 2023/2024 on: November 04, 2023, 09:30:28 AM
Manchester United have been playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation since the beginning of the season. The team is not able to do well in this formation and match strategy. Even then Ten Hag kept his formation unchanged like a fool. Ten hag should have done some experimenting with the team since the team is not doing well. Bringing changes in formation and match tactics. But he has kept Manchester United's match strategy and formation unchanged. Even after the team did not play well, Ten Hag did not experiment much with his team. And I will blame ten Hag for Manchester United's poor performance. Manchester United is in such a bad state because of his stupidity. And if Manchester United's form doesn't improve, United management may be looking for a new coach this season.

But he did experiment a lot with the players he has at hand. My impression was that he really didn't have a game plan, but was experimenting on every single position and there wasn't anything the team could consistently adhere to and improve over time. Every single week there was one guy substituting the other and it disturbed the process within the team to find a cohesive formation that knows what to do and that also is able to optimize their paths and get used to certain signature moves of certain players.

Most of the teams have some strengths that stands out and characterizes them. The easiest here is Manchester City with their ball control and possession. Tottenham is known for very strong counter attacks. Liverpool is playing against the ball probably with the highest intensity in the Premier League. Newcastle is also strong in counter attacks and has extraordinary efficiency on some days. But what about Manchester United? I don't know what to mention as one strength that stands out and characterizes them.
Just look at the very state of the players.
on the state in which they enter the field. They don’t always manage to be in great shape. either there are too many trainings or not everything is good in the Manchester United squad. but again the game runs almost like clockwork. it's just fantastic.

I have no idea what your post was supposed to say and what your intention behind that post was, but one thing is for sure and that is the game of Manchester United does a lot of things, but it doesn't run like a clockwork! Cheesy This is as much the opposite of reality as it can be. They have so many problems to solve that it is hard to say where they should begin. I also find it difficult to say whether their quality in players is high enough or not because I believe that none of the players is currently able to play their best. Which I think is a problem that ten Hag is responsible for. I would like to see the same team play under the instructions of one of the best coaches, but that won't happen as none of the top coaches would be interested in Manchester United.
454  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24 on: November 04, 2023, 08:21:21 AM
I can't think of a good reason why Mbappe should fear any competition for individual awards. Whether it is against Bellingham or Haaland or Vinicius Junior, why should Mbappe hide? It is quite the contrary as going to Real Madrid would significantly raise his chances to finally win an individual award. it doesn't matter at which club he would be playing, being against Bellingham and Haaland will forever be a matter of fact and if he plays for a club that can't win the Champions League while Haaland and Bellingham do win the Champions League, I think he won't have a chance to win individual awards like the Ballon Ballon d’Or ever. This is why I consider it more of a necessity to go to Real Madrid more than anything else if his goal is to advance his legacy as a player also on the club level.
I share your opinion. Mbappe should seriously consider a move to Real Madrid, where he could have a better chance of winning major titles. Let's put aside the discussion about this year's Golden Ball, which Messi rightly deserves. However, if Mbappe had been representing Real Madrid instead of PSG, it might have made the Golden Ball race more exciting. Looking forward, I believe that Bellingham and Haaland will emerge as strong contenders for the Golden Ball alongside Mbappe.

Interesting that finally I read someone supporting the award for Messi because I agree. I don't mean that Haaland didn't deserve it or Mbappe, but this award was about more than just one year of Messi playing football. I think this 8th award was more like the crown for the other 7 awards. I accept that there can be discussions about whether that is right or not. And I also think that it is and will forever be difficult to be fair with these awards because a play like Haaland or Salah or many others have the disadvantage that they play for Norway or Egypt or some other nation that has almost no chance to ever win a World Cup. There is an imbalance in chances, but how can that be solved?

Haaland is due as an award winner and I agree with you that Bellingham will show up on the shortlist very soon. Regarding Mbappe, I hope for several reasons that he goes to Real Madrid or anther big club in either Spain or England because that's where he belongs and where we can more often admire his amazing talent.
455  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: UEFA Europa League 2023/24 Season on: November 03, 2023, 10:11:47 AM
Away games always make a huge difference and that applies to games in the Europa League and Champions League much more than it does to games in the respective national leagues. The fan support of the home teams is overwhelmingly stronger because of all the travel aches and strains, depending on how far the fans would have to go of course. I also think that the quota for tickets available to international fans is relatively low? I could be wrong on this one, but I think for games in the domestic leagues the quota for the opponent's fans is higher than it is for games in the Europa League.

If we only look at the tables, one could think that the game against Ajax should be an easy one for Brighton, but I am far from thinking that way. It is still Ajax Amsterdam in their own stadium and that always means hard work to do for any opponent.
Of course, matches at home will be superior in facing every difficult match, whether in the domestic league, European league or Champions League, but matches at home are not a benchmark if you don't have a strong and capable squad depth. We all know that the Premier League is a collection of clubs. which is quite difficult to beat, indeed this match is very meaningful for Ajax, but if you look at it in terms of performance, I think Brighton performance is much better when compared to Ajax in terms of squad, although Ajax will play at home, but that wasn't enough for him to win against Brighton but it is possible that Ajax will maximize the draw.

But look, does it really make sense to compare performances of two teams across different leagues? What does it tell you when hypothetically PSV Eindhoven faces Manchester City next week? PSV Eindhoven has a perfect 10/10 games and wins record and scores 3.5 goals per game while conceding 0.5 goals per game. Manchester City's record is worse than that by far, so is the conclusion that PSV would beat Manchester City?

Also, the Europa League is neither the Eredivisie nor the Premier League. It could be observed many times now that teams did play weak in the league and strong in the Europa League in this example.

This brings me to a nice offer: is anyone willing to take a little bet against me for 20 USD that Brighton will not win the game? I say Brighton won't win. Smiley
456  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: Premier League Prediction Thread 2023/2024 on: November 03, 2023, 09:56:39 AM
Manchester United have been playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation since the beginning of the season. The team is not able to do well in this formation and match strategy. Even then Ten Hag kept his formation unchanged like a fool. Ten hag should have done some experimenting with the team since the team is not doing well. Bringing changes in formation and match tactics. But he has kept Manchester United's match strategy and formation unchanged. Even after the team did not play well, Ten Hag did not experiment much with his team. And I will blame ten Hag for Manchester United's poor performance. Manchester United is in such a bad state because of his stupidity. And if Manchester United's form doesn't improve, United management may be looking for a new coach this season.

But he did experiment a lot with the players he has at hand. My impression was that he really didn't have a game plan, but was experimenting on every single position and there wasn't anything the team could consistently adhere to and improve over time. Every single week there was one guy substituting the other and it disturbed the process within the team to find a cohesive formation that knows what to do and that also is able to optimize their paths and get used to certain signature moves of certain players.

Most of the teams have some strengths that stands out and characterizes them. The easiest here is Manchester City with their ball control and possession. Tottenham is known for very strong counter attacks. Liverpool is playing against the ball probably with the highest intensity in the Premier League. Newcastle is also strong in counter attacks and has extraordinary efficiency on some days. But what about Manchester United? I don't know what to mention as one strength that stands out and characterizes them.
457  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ⚽ Football Transfers Speculation, Odds and Predictions on: November 03, 2023, 05:30:46 AM
It is not going to be as successful as last season. I have looked up what the odds are for Manchester United to finish top 4 and it is around 4.00. This just top 4 and not top 3 as they finished last season. When I saw 7.00, I admit that I was surprised because I thought it is much higher than that. Who does really believe that Manchester United could make it into the top 4 this season? To me this is impossible. Not only are they 8 points behind, but also look at the teams who are currently top 4. They are worlds apart from Manchester United. This is not just a minor problem that will soon be solved and the Manchester United is going to conquer the Premier League.

Honestly, I also highly doubt that they will even be able to finish in a position that will allow them to go to any European championship. something like the European League or Conference League, currently they are doing very poorly in the European Champions League, even though they are lucky to be in an accessible group. in the premier league they are a disaster and now there is news that casemiro was injured

Casemiro suffers new injury as he’s set to miss next game vs Fulham

source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzIpLYcouKr/

With this injury to Casimiro, in Saturday's game that Manchester United will play against Fulham, there is a great chance that the game will end in a draw and Manchester United will end up with a loss of points. In my opinion, the problem lies with this coach who also spends money on hiring meaningless players. Manchester United's attack is excellent, see their recent signing and the results they have had so far:

Rasmus Højlund: 7 premier league games and no goals

Honestly, these errors in Manchester United's hiring are serious. This season Marcus Rashford only scored 1 goal in the 10 games he played in the premier league. It seems to me that Manchester United needs a courageous coach to restructure the entire team.

Agreed, I would put Manchester United on 7th position by the end of the season in a best case scenario. And I am not saying that because the table is looking the way it looks, but because I really believe that they are just not any better than that. Maybe a different coach could change something, but if they keep going like this 7th position is the max for them.

And yes if I were to put money on this game Fulham against Manchester United, I would never ever bet on Manchester United and I would probably pick a Fulham win over a draw. Manchester United isn't just having some bad days, they are bad and they sporadically have a good day. There is a lot at stake for Fulham in this game. This would be a huge jump in the table for them agains a team that they may not have necessarily planned to take points away from. But now there is a real chance for them to do so.
458  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24 on: November 03, 2023, 05:18:12 AM
Quote from: borovichok
~Snip
I know, Real Madrid management will not miss Kylian Mbappe and Victor Osimhen after their contact expire in their current team because all those two strikers are very good to help Real Madrid to handle the attacking level which is the major challenge to the team right now despite they are still toping in the la Liga league competition. I believe, the Kylian Mbappe is willing to join Real Madrid in the summer but PSG management refuse to let him go because it will make their team to experience some challenges that will give other small teams access to start defeating them. If Real Madrid management can succeed in signing Kylian Mbappe, I think they will dominate in other competitions for the whole world to believe that Real Madrid sign in the right player.
Are you sure that Kylian Mbappe wants to go to Real Madrid without any considerations such as his competition with Bellingham, Vinicius or other players in terms of individual achievements?

I'm sure Kylian Mbappe really wants to win an individual award like Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, it's the Ballon d'Or and of course his competition with several Real Madrid players could make him fail to win it. If Kylian Mbappe wants to go to La Liga, then I think he would be better off moving to Barcelona instead of Real Madrid if his main goal is to win the Ballon d'Or and the Champions League. But if he wants to win the Champions League, then he can choose Real Madrid as one of the best teams in history.

I can't think of a good reason why Mbappe should fear any competition for individual awards. Whether it is against Bellingham or Haaland or Vinicius Junior, why should Mbappe hide? It is quite the contrary as going to Real Madrid would significantly raise his chances to finally win an individual award. it doesn't matter at which club he would be playing, being against Bellingham and Haaland will forever be a matter of fact and if he plays for a club that can't win the Champions League while Haaland and Bellingham do win the Champions League, I think he won't have a chance to win individual awards like the Ballon Ballon d’Or ever. This is why I consider it more of a necessity to go to Real Madrid more than anything else if his goal is to advance his legacy as a player also on the club level.
459  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24 on: November 02, 2023, 10:56:50 AM
Even if Real Madrid successfully bring Mbappe, it will not reduce the influence that Jude Bellingham has already created on this team and it will not stop him from scoring because it looks like he's already becoming used to scoring goals for Real Madrid. With Mbappe, Jude and Vini who just extended his contract in Real Madrid, Real Madrid will become very formidable again in how they attack. Mbappe is the last piece of the puzzle to complete this Real Madrid team.
Of course, the presence of Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid, if that happens, will not make Jude Bellingham look weak, but as a team it should actually make Real Madrid an even more dangerous team for any team that will be their opponent, both in Laliga and in other European competitions, because these two players will be the best combination that will make Real Madrid win many titles again.
Seeing how these two young players are in their respective clubs at the moment where they play quite consistently will provide benefits for the club plus if the club has an experienced coach so this will be able to give Real Madrid back the glory days they experienced some time ago, but we all still have to wait to see whether Klyian Mbappe will actually go to Real Madrid.
Developments are still unclear and anything is still possible, but if Mbappe doesn't go to Real Madrid, it shouldn't be a disappointment for Real Madrid, whose condition looks very good this season.

But do you think they would play a new formation like 4-2-1-3 where Bellingham is a mix between offensive midfielder and defensive center forward whereas Mbappe will be positioned in front of him in the center as well? Or do you think they would let Rodrygo sit on the bench and play two semi-center forwards with Vinicius Junior and Mbappe and Bellingham keeps the mixed position of offensive midfielder + defensive center forward?

I don't know what the best solution would be, but right now this game seems to get the most out of Bellingham as he has the freedom to transition into the center forward position whenever he thinks the moment allows for it or even requires him to do it. If he had one player right in front of him, it may cut down on the scope of possibilities he now has and he now also perfectly exploits.
460  Economy / Gambling discussion / Re: ⚽ Football Transfers Speculation, Odds and Predictions on: November 02, 2023, 10:38:23 AM
We'll see how Erik Ten Hag reacts in this winter's transfer window, whether the Glazers will pay a lot of money to buy players or will he again be hampered by financial problems in recruiting players.
That's if Erik Ten Hag will still have a job by the transfer window, I though he was really handling the crisis in the club well, but it looks like I am wrong. The path that Manchester United are on does not look good, they are no longer in the Carabao cup, they look like they will be out of the champions league soon too, and in the premier league, they are not in a good position and may not find it easy to bounce back and qualify for the champions league of next season.

I think it's the time for Ten Hag to to leave no matter how well he performed in the last season but the fact about Ten Hag is he couldn't have a good performance so far in this season and this coach hired poor-performing players and released players like De Gea during the summer which is a good reason to say he couldn't have good players during the summer. I think he is going to leave soon and Manchester United is thinking about a new coach for this season.
  
Maybe it won't be that fast or maybe wait for the final results from Erik Ten Hag at the end of this season if there are no positive changes it is very likely that Erik Ten Hag will really leave Manchester United but if it is as successful as the end of last season I am sure Erik Ten will be retained again and if he still given another chance, Erik Ten Hag should take advantage of this opportunity to recruit the really right players because conditions like this make fans feel doubtful and Manchester United has lost a lot fans after experiencing a bad trend like this and if in the next season the transfer has been opened but Erik Ten Hag hasn't found a better player yet I'll give up hope.

It is not going to be as successful as last season. I have looked up what the odds are for Manchester United to finish top 4 and it is around 4.00. This just top 4 and not top 3 as they finished last season. When I saw 7.00, I admit that I was surprised because I thought it is much higher than that. Who does really believe that Manchester United could make it into the top 4 this season? To me this is impossible. Not only are they 8 points behind, but also look at the teams who are currently top 4. They are worlds apart from Manchester United. This is not just a minor problem that will soon be solved and the Manchester United is going to conquer the Premier League.
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