Tag Archives: Qarabag FK

EUROPA LEAGUE: FC Twente 1-1 Qarabag FK

August 28, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

THURSDAY 28TH AUGUST

EUROPA LEAGUE PLAYOFF – SECOND LEG

FC TWENTE 1 – 1 QARABAG FK

Qarabag win on away goal rule 1-1

In the shock of the night, FC Twente were knocked out on away goals to Azerbaijan side Qarabag FK reports Will Burns.

Twente should have had this tie wrapped up when looking at the sides on paper but tonight, they were below par and rightly so, Qarabag emerged into tomorrow’s group stage draw.

Cuco Martina and Kamohelo Mokotjo were nearly punished for mistakes early on but Brazilian striker Reynaldo failed to have the quality to get past Twente keeper Nick Marsman.

The hosts gathered up the play but failed to trouble the Azerbaijan’s representatives until they took the lead before half-time through Luc Castaignos. Kasper Kusk and Kyle Ebecilio combined with the latter feeding the ball through to the big striker to finish in style.

The second-half began and Twente seemed content in keeping just the one goal advantage, however Qarabag had other ideas and five minutes into the half, they drew level. Albanian Ansi Agolli laid the ball into Macedonian international Muarem Muarem, whose first touch was awful, did well to control after the ball flicked up to volley home past Marsman. This was the away goal that all Twente fans dreaded.

The game dwindled on with chances being missed from Castaignos, Mokotjo and Hakim Ziyech. The latter going the closest, smashing an effort across the post.

Twente ran out of time and Qarabag and their small minority of their fans celebrated as the underdogs head into the group stages for the first time.

TEAMS

FC TWENTE: Marsman, Martina, Lachman, Bjelland, Schilder, Ebecilio (Eghan 64), Mokotjo, Ziyech (Borven 79), Mokhtar (Ould-Chikh 90+3), Castaignos, Kusk.

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Koppers, Breukers, Bengtsson.

GOALS: Castaignos 37.

BOOKINGS: None.

QARABAĞ FK: Šehić, Qarayev, Medvedev, Sadygov, Agolli, Guseynov, Reynaldo, Muarem (Dias 71), Almeida, Chumbinhno(Yusifov 79), Nadirov (Teli 85).

SUBS NOT USED: Veliyev, Quliyev, Ahmadov, George.

GOALS: Muarem 51.

BOOKINGS: Qarayev 86.

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TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

BETTING TIPS, EUROPA LEAGUE, EUROPA LEAGUE PREVIEW

EUROPA LEAGUE PREVIEW & BETTING TIPS

August 27, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Four Eredivisie sides in Europa League playoff action this Thursday night and Total Dutch Football’s Will Burns, Lawk Raoof and Ryan O’Grady provide their best bets for all four encounters.

THURSDAY 28TH AUGUST

EUROPA LEAGUE PLAYOFF SECOND LEG

FC SHAKHTYOR SOLIGORSK vs. PSV (18:00 BST)

The return leg in the Borisov Arena in Belarus will be an interesting match. The prize is €2m or €3m for qualifying, big interest and big prizes for both the teams, who will prevail? Lawk Raoof thinks PSV will find life easy in Belarus.

With a marginal 1-0 home win for PSV in the first leg, this upcoming clash for a Europa League place is hardly settled. The Eindhoven side narrowly defeated a good organized Shaktyor Soligorsk and with the previous Eredivisie clash against arch enemy Ajax, it will be a tough fight to win this game for De Boeren. With the great prize money on the line, both teams will be eager to get through. The home advantage cannot be ignored, winning 5-1 against Derry City and a 5-2 victory against Zulte Waregem are great wins and shows the power and thrive this teams has got in their home ties.

However PSV take with them two players in real form, Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay will be the great weapons for this match. Also, with the one goal lead, PSV can relax and Shaktyor has to attack to force a goal. This leads to an opportunity for Philip Cocu’s side to profit from the room they will get and counter, which was proven to be deadly against Ajax on Sunday.

Place a small stake on 2-0 for a PSV win, as the counter attack combined with the individual class of Depay and Wijnaldum means they will easily win this match in Belarus.

RECOMMENDED BET

PSV to win 2-0 (7/1 – Bet Victor)

FC TWENTE vs. QARABAĞ FK (18:30 BST)

Qarabag FK held FC Twente to 0-0 draw in Azerbaijan last week but Will Burns thinks Alfred Schreuder’s men should progress comfortably.

Qarabag showed last week that they had talents that could threaten Twente. The Brazilian contingent of Danilo Leandro Dias, Chumbinho, Richard Almeida and Reynaldo created problems from Darryl Lachman and Rasmus Bengtsson. However, Schreuder can boast talents like Hakim Ziyech, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Youness Mokhtar, Kasper Kusk and Luc Castaignos, the Enschede side are too strong to see a decent victory come full-time.

Except the home side to come out of this match with a two or three goal win to progress into the Europa League group stages in style.

RECOMMENDED BET

Twente -1 (13/8 – Bet Victor)

FEYENOORD vs. ZOYRA LUHANSK (19:00 BST)

After an awful display at the weekend, Fred Rutten’s Feyenoord will look to bounce back on Thursday and send themselves through to the Europa League group stages, Ryan O’Grady believes they can.

A potentially season-changing game awaits Feyenoord on Thursday night. An uneventful and rather dull first leg ended in 1-1 draw which means that if the second leg ends 0-0, which is a possibility consider the performances in the first leg, it will see Feyenoord progress into the group stages.

However if Zorya were able to spring an upset and Feyenoord were knocked out then it is almost certain that Jordy Clasie will leave, if it is has not already (he missed training on Monday adding more fuel to the fire). Such a top quality player isn’t likely to stay with the club if there is no European competition and it could also affect whom the club bring in as no Europa League means less money with which Fred Rutten and the board will able to play with, which is likely to completely rule out the signing of a striker such as Guidetti, a signing that already didn’t look promising.

A much improved performance is needed for Fred Rutten’s side after a disappointing defeat at home to FC Utrecht at the weekend, whilst Zorya are coming off the back of a 0-0 draw away to Chernomorets.

SPARTA PRAGUE vs. PEC ZWOLLE (19:20 BST)

Ron Jans’ PEC Zwolle are in the form team in the Netherlands right now, starting an undefeated season with wins over Vitesse and Ajax, however Will Burns thinks it may be tough in Prague on Thursday night.

Zwolle improved vastly in the second half on Sunday to clinch a great 2-1 win over Vitesse and were dreadfully unlucky not to grab a win last Thursday. After missing a penalty in the first leg, defender Maikel van der Werff scored a free-kick, albeit deflected, on Sunday in the home victory.

They travel to Prague to face Sparta who over the weekend lost a derby match against Dukla Prague by a goal to nil, which may inspire them to triumph in this match to appease the home fans. They currently sit fourth in the Czech top flight with nine points in five games.

This match could be a tight one, with Sparta defending their away goal or Zwolle will go forward in search to a vital away goal themselves. Either way, expect this game to finish a draw, either going to extra time (1-1) or a Zwolle away goals win (2-2).

RECOMMENDED BET

Draw (3/1 – Bet Victor)

TotalDutchFootball.com

EUROPA LEAGUE, EUROPA LEAGUE REPORT

EUROPA LEAGUE: Qarabag FK 0-0 FC Twente

August 21, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

THURSDAY 21ST AUGUST

EUROPA LEAGUE PLAYOFF – FIRST LEG

QARABAG FK 0 – 0 FC TWENTE

FC Twente held Azerbaijan champions Qarabağ FK in a lacklustre 0-0 draw to begin their Europa League campaign reports Will Burns.

New signing from Heerenveen, Hakim Ziyech made his first appearance for Twente and playing in the middle with Kamohelo Mokotjo was a mouth-watering prospect pre-game. However, despite exchanging passes well, they failed to create the clear cut chances that were expected of them.

The opening half was poor with only Twente keeper Nick Marsman tested the once to prevent Azerbaijani international striker Vüqar Nadirov from long range, a few minutes before the interval.

After the break, Twente had the majority of the play and Swedish defender Rasmus Bengtsson nearly gave the Alfred Schreuder’s men the lead, but Qarabağ captain Rashad Sadygov had a lucky escape and cleared the Swede’s header off the line.

The game dwindled out and in the last 15 minutes you could see Twente were happy with the draw and take the Azerbaijan side back to Enschede next Thursday with no goals in the tie. Twente will be confident of advancing but will need to step it up to make sure of a positive outcome.

TEAMS

QARABAĞ: Sehic, Qarayev, Medvedev, Sadygov, Guseynov, Reynaldo, Muarem (Alaskarov 67), Agolli, Dias (Tagiyev 56), Richard, Leroy George (Nadirov 29).

SUBS NOT USED: Veliyev, Quilyev, Yusifov, Teli.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Medvedev 35.

FC TWENTE: Marsman, Martina, Lachman, Bengtsson, Schilder, Mokotjo, Ebecilio, Ziyech (Eghan 77), Mokhtar, Castaignos (Børven 90+4), Kusk (Hölscher 69).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Andersen, Koppers, Breukers.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Castaignos 35, Kusk 45, Hölscher 86.

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TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

BETTING TIPS, EUROPA LEAGUE, EUROPA LEAGUE PREVIEW

EUROPA LEAGUE: Preview and Betting Tips

August 20, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

Four Eredivisie teams head into the Europa League playoffs this Thursday and Will Burns and Lawk Raoof is here to inform you which bets provide the key to profit in the first legs.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

THURSDAY 21ST AUGUST

QARABAĞ FK vs. FC TWENTE (17:00 BST)

Alfred Schreuder heads into a hard trip to Azerbaijan with the best squad FC Twente has in recent years, however Will Burns suggests that the Horsemen of Azerbaijan will not make it easy for the Enschede boys.

Qarabağ FK’s 2-1 home victory against Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg was an extraordinary result in the Champions League third qualifying round first leg, particularly as Salzburg battered Ajax 6-1 over two legs in the Europa League last year and in this game, Gurban Gurbanov’s side finished the match with only nine men.

Strangely enough, Qarabağ and Twente have met at this stage before in 2009/10 with the Eredivisie side winning 3-1 in the home leg but held to a goal-less draw in the return leg. I feel that Twente will be two strong over the two legs but may find life difficult in Stadium Tofig Bahramov Republican. Their coach Gubanov at only 42-years-old has had six years at the club and he has them playing attractive football and they are not reliant on one player.

The side has a Brazilian contingent, with winger Danilo Leandro Dias, attacking midfielder Chumbinho, anchorman Richard Almeida and forward Reynaldo vital components in the side. However, against the likes of new signings Hakim Ziyech and Kamohelo Mokotjo, creative midfielder Youness Mokhtar, speedy winger Kasper Kusk and clinical striker Luc Castaignos, Twente should have enough power in their eleven to sneak a narrow win.

Twente are favourites and rightly so, however do not expect a whitewash, the Dutch side to win 1-0 or 2-1. A Twente win is valued at Bet Victor at 17/20 and I feel that is the safest and recommended bet in this first leg tie.

RECCOMMENDED BETS

Twente to win (17/20 – Bet Victor)

PSV vs. FC SHAKHTYOR SOLIGORSK (17:45 BST)

Lawk Raoof tells you to tune in this Thursday night for a solid 3-0 win by PSV against Belarusian Cup winner FC Shakhtyor Salihorsk. Be ready to view the clash between David versus Goliath, PSV versus Shaktyor, a Europa League group place versus nothing.

PSV started the Eredivisie season with a great 3-2 win against Willem II and a beastly 6-1 home-win against NAC Breda with World Cup stars Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay in a defining role. The first leg of the two games will be at the Phillips Stadium in Eindhoven this Thursday, while the second game will be in Belarus, against 2014 cup-winner FC Shakhtyor Salihorsk. The team started in 1961 and has a small capacity of just 4,200 fans in their stadium.

It should not be any surprise that the team should not be underestimated, with quick wingers and a direct playing style they are a typical counter-team. To comprise the danger coming from this fit team is to look at their win against Zulte Waregem (BEL) with an aggregated 7-4 win and their aggregated win against Irish side Derry City of 6-2. Both games with a flashing counter-attack.

However, with the current form of the PSV players, their teamwork and class they will easily win this game by my prediction by 3-0. The team out of Belarus comes out of a poor quality league and has only came so far by winning both second and third qualifying round games against weak opponents and winning the 2014 national cup.

I recommend placing a small stake on PSV to win 3-0 at 6/1 at Bet Victor. Cocu’s men will explode out of the blocks and this time with great combination game defeat this enemy.

RECCOMMENDED BETS

PSV to win 3-0 (6/1 – Bet Victor)

FC ZORYA LUHANSK vs. FEYENOORD (18:45 BST)

Fred Rutten’s Feyenoord face a tough trip to the Ukraine to face Zoyra Luhansk, a team that struggled to defeat Norweigans Molde FK in the last round in a narrow 2-1 win. Will Burns feels that Rutten’s men may be too strong for the Ukrainians.

The Rotterdammers will have to be aware of striker Pylyp Budkivskiy who has notched once in four games this season so far but is well capable of putting himself about and ruffling the feathers of any defence. The Luhansk side have done their homework and speaking to UEFA.com, the Zorya head coach Yuriy Vernydub seemed confident: “We didn’t expect easy opponents at this stage. Feyenoord are one of the strongest teams in the play-offs. We will do our best to give a respectable account of ourselves. They have some Dutch international players who played in Brazil, but there is nothing to be scared of. Chornomorets Odesa beat PSV last season and we will have our chances.”

Rutten will also be confident heading into Ukraine with talent on the plane like Jordy Clasie, Jean-Paul Boetuis and Lex Immers and I cannot see Feyenoord being troubled too much, however I find it hard to see where the goals may come from. Stand-in striker Mitchell te Vrede has hardly been inspiring this season BUT to his credit he has been in the right place at the right time and scored two goals in two games so far.

Look Feyenoord to win by the single goal and the 1-0 scoreline is 13/2 at Bet Victor may be worth a small stake but taking Feyenoord to win gets you a price of 23/20 which is a safer bet.

RECCOMMENDED BETS

Feyenoord to win (23/20 – Bet Victor)

PEC ZWOLLE vs. SPARTA PRAGUE (19:00 BST)

Excitement is in the air in Zwolle as Ron Jans leads his side into their first ever European adventure against Czech side Sparta Prague, Will Burns predicts it will be a good night for the Blauwvingers.

Domestically, PEC Zwolle are on fire. First defeating Ajax 1-0 in their own backyard for the Johan Cruijff Schaal then clocking up two wins in two games over FC Utrecht and FC Dordrecht. Like Czech football expert Chris Boothroyd mentioned in his piece yesterday, this is possibly the best time to play Sparta Prague. Champions League elimination via Swedish outfit Malmo FF and then crashing to Banik Ostrava at the weekend, Prague are on the ropes and an in-form Zwolle could smell blood and go to kill this tie off in the first leg.

Sparta will be missing influential midfielder Lukas Vacha, who will sit this game out due to a suspension after his last-minute dismissal against Malmo earlier this month. One link between the clubs will be Zwolle’s latest signing, Czech striker Tomas Necid. The big 6ft 3 forward was introduced in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Dordrecht and set up Mustafa Saymak’s 93rd minute winner. Necid grew up supporting Sparta’s bitter rivals Slavia and has also had two spells at the club, including his youth development.

Zwolle have their tails up and with this being their first ever venture into European football, I see Thursday being a special night and a win against their Czech rivals at the hot atmosphere inside the Ijsseldelta Stadion. Bet Victor are offering 8/5 for the home win and it is a fantastic price that cannot be ignored. I cannot see a price for a Tomas Necid anytime goal, however it would be a lovely story if he gets a run out.

RECCOMMENDED BETS

PEC Zwolle to win (8/5 – Bet Victor)