SUNDAY sees a pretty impressive looking card but it has been said on the site so many times before, less is often more and, yes, a bigger card means more opportunities but it also offers up more traps to avoid!
Hopefully, I can avoid the bogeys and home in on a few birdies with selections from the EPL and South America …
The Strongest v Oriente Petrolera
(8pm)
Both Bolivar and The Strongest are looking good again in this Apertura campaign and although the Bolivian gods are shining on the two La Paz-based giant, there are a few other teams who will be shaping up to knock them off their lofty perch way up in The Andes.
Oriente Petrolera may not be in the immediate chasing pack but they are sneaking up on the rails and have put a great run together which includes victories over San Jose, Guabira, Wilstermann and The Strongest themselves since the turn of the year.
The Santa Cruz outfit (originally set up for employees of a Bolivian oil company) were one of the better clubs when I first started following SA football around 9-10 years ago but have since been languishing in the doldrums – this campaign has been better though and Petrolera sit in 6th place – just two positions and 4 points below The Strongest.
H2H-wise, 2018 was 50/50 split across the sides with a case of ‘home advantage' being crucial as both won each of the 2 games played within La Paz and Santa Cruz respectively; of note to my selection though, Petrolera scored in each of those 4 matches and, even more tellingly, have scored in 80% of the last 10 H2H's at either ground!
Recommended Bet
- Both teams to score
- (1/1, bet365) 4 Points
Crystal Palace v Man City (2.05pm)
Liverpool v Chelsea (4.30pm)
I reckon these games offer themselves up for a decent corner count. Palace are a decent attacking outfit if they can exploit the flanks whilst City pretty much speak for themselves. We all know of Liverpool's ability to run and move at pace but I'm not sure they'll have it all their own way against Sarri's Blues.
Recommended Bet
- Over 10 match corner double
- (3.59/1, bet365) 1 Point
Born and bred in Bury but now exiled to Hull: long-suffering Shakers supporter and member of Mr. Fixit's site since 2013. Football mad with a depth and breadth of knowledge including specific focus on South American football, the Icelandic Leagues and English Lower League football.
