суббота, 24 ноября 2012 г.

Home and Away: No respite for struggling Arles

Thierry Laurey's side have struggled so far this campaign.

Jonno Turner aims to round off another successful week with two more winners from the continent.

We're off to France for our penultimate Home and Away pick of the week - and in-form Istres welcome Arles to Stade Parsemain, looking to build on the excellent recent form which has seen them climb to fourth in Ligue 2.

The hosts have won five of their last six on their own patch, and that will have delighted boss Jose Pasqualetti, as he aims to improve upon his side's 10th placed finish of last season.

And the Fos-Sur-Mer side have been firing on all cylinders of late - with nine goals scored in their last five on their own turf suggesting that they certainly have the ability to punish their guests here.

But their defensive line are no slouches either, and four clean sheets from seven in front of their own fans shows that Pasqualetti's side have the defensive nous to come out of this encounter scot-free.

Arles travel to their southern hosts in desperate need of a positive result to lift the gloom around their side following eight league games without a win - and six consecutive losses ahead of this tie.

Boss Thierry Laurey will be be keen to arrest that slump here, but three defeats in a row on the road suggests that his side are severely out of sorts at the moment.

Worse still is the fact that the visitors have shipped a whopping 10 goals in that run, which will have knocked confidence in the Lions camp.

Arles are placed second bottom of the table before this meeting - and need to nip this poor form in the bud sooner rather than later if they are to keep within touching distance of safety.

But I'm a real believer in momentum - and their hosts certainly have that at the moment, which means I can't look past the home win this evening.

Bet 1: Istres (HOME) @ 1.84

Over to Germany now as we aim to make it a successful end to the week, and we're focusing on Hamburg, as they travel to struggling Fortuna Dusseldorf in search of a fifth unbeaten outing on the road.

Thorsten Fink's side have been chalking up the points away from the Imtech Arena - and that impressive form has lifted them to ninth in the table, level on points with the last European place.

And three clean sheets from their last three on their travels suggests that the Rothosen are more than capable of grinding out another positive result here - as they face a Fortuna side who can't seem to do anything right at the moment.

The hosts go into this one having lost five of their last six Bundesliga clashes, and 15 goals conceded in five games will be of particular worry to boss Norbert Meier.

Seven without a win at the Esprit Arena has seen the pressure on the newly-promoted side stoked up recently - and their fans will be desperate for three points to get the monkey off their back.

But heavy defeats in two of their last three on their own patch will have knocked confidence in the Flingeranger camp, and it remains to be seen how Meier's side will react to that.

Hamburg are available at cracking odds here, considering the recent form of both of these sides - and I'm backing them to deliver the goods on the road tonight.

Bet 2: Hamburg (AWAY) @ 2.46

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