WORLD football fanatic James O'Rourke (@JamesOR1) continues his quest for global value with a selection of hand-picked best bets from across the planet on Sunday.
Seoul v Seongnam | Sunday 31th May 2020, 08:30
Seoul ended the last campaign in third position during the regulation season, but were a sizeable gap away from ever really threatening the top two positions. Consistency therefore will be their aim this time around and having won their last two in succession it could possibly be a sign of better things to come. They do however face an unbeaten Seongnam this weekend it was promises to be a game defined on fine margins.
That is at least what the bookies suggest should be the case. The reality is that Seongnam finished fourth from bottom in the Relegation Group last season, whilst Seoul were always flirting with the top few positions. On that basis and that basis alone, it should be a routine win for Seoul this weekend. Of course, nothing is routine in this new normal, so we probably have to ask why aren’t Seoul shorter in the betting?
Sure, they’re still odds-on, but only just. As touched upon, they finished third last season but were never close to finishing second. Therefore, they are probably still classed as a run of the mill sort of side at this level. Whilst one who on their day could give anyone a game, those days don’t happen enough, and could easily drop points against all the odds.
That is the issue with backing them so confidently this weekend. They have won their last two games, but both by a one-goal margin and made quite heavy weather of it in the process. This after opening the season with a 3-1 loss at Gangwon. These three results and performances just reflect you don’t really know what you’ll get from Seoul, and expecting them to win three in a row isn’t so likely when you think about it.
Seongnam are also probably not the sort of opposition they want to be facing either. As mentioned, they’re still unbeaten, and that is great for them considering expectations won’t have necessarily be that high across pre-season. Four of the five points they’ve already claimed came away from home, and whilst last season they often struggled on the road, they did spring some surprise results when least expected, including a 1-0 win at Ulsan.
The more I focus on this game the more I can just see Seoul flattering to deceive and being a bit of a coupon buster on Sunday. Tactically I don’t think this game suits them at all and Seongnam will quite like how this should play out. Clearly they’ve improved over the summer and have more of a backbone about them. They’ve also won on two of their last three visits to Seoul, so won’t be overawed.
A bet-builder is called upon for this occasion as we can’t go all-out on an away win or draw, but we do want to keep the visitors on side, or more to avoid the hosts. A price of 11/10 (Bet365) on Seongnam Double Chance and Over 0.5 Goals is a good call at the price. Surely there will be at least one goal in this?!?!
BATE v Isloch | Sunday 31th May 2020, 16:00
Belarusian football has taken more of a high profile stage in recent times and ask anyone about their knowledge, or lack of, regards to football in this part of the world and BATE Borisov will be a team frequently mentioned. It is with good reason as well as they are clearly the most successful team to come out of Belarus having won the top flight on 15 occasions. They had won in for 13 seasons running until Dynamo Brest upset the applecart last season.
BATE however got some form of revenge on Brest as recently as this past weekend however as they struck with virtually the last kick of extra time to secure the domestic Belarusian Cup. This maintained a fine run of form for BATE and they last lost a league game just over two months ago. They are top of the table, but only just after initially starting the campaign a little sluggishly. They’re hitting their stride now however, which will be to the fear of the rest of the league.
Isloch therefore face something of a tough task to get anything from their trip to Borisov on Sunday, but they’ve shown this season that they’re capable of doing something. Their record of won five and lost five clearly suggests that you don’t really know what you’re going to get from them. They are one of only two teams in the league yet to draw a match, and funnily enough to other is second in the table Energetik-BGU. This all-out approach can therefore work, but Isloch do have issues.
Their biggest problem is that they don’t really offer a great threat when travelling away from home. Seven of their ten matches this season have come at home, so them sitting as high as they currently are in the table may be slightly misleading at this point. They’ve lost all three away fixtures and been outscored 8-1 in that time. That includes trips to Dynamo Brest, Shakhtyor Soligorsk and Dinamo Minsk, who can all be classed as better teams in this league and ones who BATE will run shoulders with.
All signs therefore point towards BATE getting another win under their belts this weekend. BATE do play a very aggressive style of play whereby they commit bodies forward and it is all about attacking. They therefore leave themselves a little vulnerable defensively. They’ve conceded an average of 1.00 goal per game, but in terms of shots on goal it is much higher. Watch any highlights reel from any of their games and you’ll see their keeper being kept very busy.
Goals have always been on the agenda as seven of their matches featured over 2.5 goals, and Isloch’s matches aren’t so far behind on six. This has the makings of being another exciting game with chances at either end, with BATE likely to get the job done considering the proven quality they possess. They’ve scored three in each of their last two home wins, and this should be another game they grab the victory.
BATE to Win and Over 2.5 Goals at 19/20 (Betway) therefore looks the most appreciate course of action.
Best Bets
Seoul v Seongnam – Seongnam Double Chance and Over 0.5 Goals (11/10 Bet365)
BATE v Isloch – BATE to Win and Over 2.5 Goals (19/20 Betway)
