6pm - Brest v Paris St-G - 1.24 away



Standout stats



This is a Coupe de France match.
Brest are a Ligue 2 side and PSG are top flight.
Brest have had 3 losses in their last 9 matches overall, all 1-0 defeats. In all of those last 9 matches, Brest never conceded more than 1 goal.
Brest have had a rough time of it at home. They used to be Ligue 1. Now in Ligue 2 , they have only won 3 home matches since July 2013, 1 of which was a friendly. They are on a run of 5 home matches without a win.
Brest’s last 2 wins in the cup were at home to Sables and Cherbourg. I suspect PSG are a level above!
Brest are unbeaten at home in the cup, albeit only 3 matches and the last in 2009.
on the 18th December, PSG needed extra time to beat St Etienne after a 90 minute 1-1 draw in the Coupe de la ligue.
PSG have lost 2 of their last 3 away matches , one was against Benfica in the Champions League.
It looks as if PSG are up for the cup in the Coupe de France. They have only lost 2 of their last 28 Coupe de France matches in 90 minutes.
PSG have not had an away defeat in the Coupe de France in their last 19 matches.
5 of those 19 away matches went to extra time, the other 14 were won in 90 minutes.
Profitable in play opportunities
In a tight coupe de la ligue match, it was Cavani who scored PSG’s goal in normal time and winner in extra time, so the importance of seeing Cavani and Ibrahimovic cannot be under-played.
On the surface, PSG like a cup run and should come through, although getting an angle in is difficult as both they and Brest are playing teams from all diffierent levels.
The most PSG have scored away recently in the cup is 4 goals but they did only score a single goal in 2 of their last 3 matches.

6pm - Olympiakos v Asteras Tripolis - 1.1 home

Standout stats

• this is a greek cup match.
• Olympiakos have won 4 head to heads and a cup match after extra time when meeting Asteras.
• Olympiakos have won 14 of their last 15 matches, that loss was in the Champions League, so Greek opponents seem cannon fodder thus far for Olympiakos, as the odds would suggest ( they are illiquid as I write).
• Olympiakos have won their last 10 home matches and 15 of their last 16 matches.
• Olympiakos have not lost a cup match from 2012 onwards. In fact they have won 14 in 90 minutes, 2 after extra time and drew 1 match.
• www.soccerway.com's records begin in 2004 for the cup.
• Olympiakos have won the last 8 home cup matches,  Olympiakos have won 18 home matches in the cup within 90 minutes, won 3 after extra time and drawn 3.
• Asteras have only lost 1 of their last 10 matches in all competitions. That was a 2-0 defeat away to Olympiakos.
• Asteras's recent patterns show a team adept at defending, as they have conceded 0-0-2-0-1-0-0 in those 7 matches.
• Asteras have lost only 1 of their last 6 away matches in all competitions. Their 3 wins in those 6 all came without conceding. 
• In the Cup, Asteras have lost only 3 matches since October 2010 and guess who has beaten them twice  - Olympiakos, 0-1 and 1-3 after extra time.
• Away in the cup, the only defeats for Asteras came when they conceded 2 goals .

Profitable in play opportunities.

• A step too far? Olympiakos are the team spoiling a recent Asteras streak without defeat, and Olympiakos have been the culprits in 2 of Asteras's 3 cup defeats since October 2010.
• It seems that 2 goals will see Olympiakos win, at least.
• Do note Asteras's recent clean sheet-ery. Backing 0-0 pre-match ( its highest point) might offer a trading option. The odds will be high, as Olympiakos's match odds are low.

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745pm - Man City v West Ham - 1.19 home
Standout stats

• This is the 1st leg of a league cup double header so there is no panic should either side lose by a solitary goal.
• 11 wins for Man City broken by 2 score draws, most recently a 1-1 away draw against Blackburn Rovers.
• Man City have won 13 of their last 14 home matches in all competitions, failing to score 2+ goals in only 2 of those matches.
• Since 2011 in the League Cup, Man City have lost to Liverpool 0-1 and Aston Villa ( only after extra time). 
• Since 2010, Man City have only lost 1 match in the League cup, a 0-1 v Liverpool. 
• West Ham have only won 2 of their last 13 matches in all competitions. Is a cup run what they really want, in lieu of Premiership survival?
• West Ham have lost 6 of their last 7 away matches in all competitions.
• West Ham have won their last 4 League cup matches, scoring 2-3-2-2. 
• West Ham have not lost their last 5 away matches in the League cup.They did lose 2 after extra time.

Profitable in play opportunities

• This is only the "first half" of a 2 legged League cup series and this will be clear in the minds of players , especially if their team is only losing by one goal.
• Man City are "up for the cup" and clearly have the better squad in order to cope with what will be a busy January after shooting themselves in the foot v Blackburn in the FA Cup.
• Home advantage is key and Man City are expected to score at least 2 goals as they do on a regular basis.

745pm - St Etienne v Evian TG - 1.59 home

Standout stats

• This is a Ligue 1 match .
• St Etienne have only lost one of the last 6 head to heads.
• 2 of the last 3 head to heads were score draws. The last head to head was equally as tight and would have been 0-0 were it not for a St Etienne winner, care of an own goal.
• This is 5th v 16th. St Etienne are unlikely to get a sniff at the League title.
• St Etienne have only lost 1 of their last 6 home matches. 
• St Etienne have scored in all of their home matches. 
• St Etienne have won 4 of their last 5 matches, keeping clean sheets in their wins.
• St Etienne have failed to score in only 2 matches.
• St Etienne have conceded 10 of their 11 conceded home goals in the 2nd half. 
• St Etienne have had only 1 0-0 this season.
• Evian have only beaten 18th and 20th away from home and were beaten away by 3rd, 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th.4 of those defeats were to nil.
• Evian have not had a 0-0 this season.

Profitable in play opportunities

• Expect St Etienne to score at home again.
• Evian defeats away from home were by 2 or 3 goals. I expect St Etienne to equal or exceed that, so if this match is 0-0 at halftime, back 2-0 or over 2.5 goals at enhanced odds.
• Here's a potential spanner in the works. Evian have recently beaten PSG 2-1 albeit at home.

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8pm - Fiorentina v Chievo - 1.49 home
Standout stats

• This is a Coppa Italia match between 2 Seria A sides.
• Both sides have scored and conceded in the last 4 head to heads with Fiorentina winning the last 2 2-1.
• Fiorentina have won 4 of their last 5 matches and their solitary match since the Xmas break ( 1-0)
• Fiorentina have kept 3 consecutive clean sheets.
• Fiorentina have won 7 of their last 8 home matches in all competitions.
• Since 2012 Fiorentina have lost Coppa Italia matches to Inter ( 2 legs?), and Roma in 90 minutes. An exclusive band! 
• Fiorentina have kept 4 consecutive clean sheets in the Coppa Italia.
• Fiorentina are unbeaten in their last 7 home Coppa Italia matches in 90 minutes. They lost their last home match in extra time.
• Prior to that shut out by Roma, Fiorentina scored 2+ goals in 5 consecutive matches.
• Chievo have only won 4 of their last 14 matches overall. 
• Chievo have only won 2 of their last 10 away matches, 2 0-1 wins v Hellas Verona and Sassuolo ( newcomers to Seria A).
• Chievo have not had a draw in their last 18 Coppa Italia matches. Chievo have only lost 4 of those matches, 3 were by 1-0 scorelines. Chievo like a cup run but did lose 3-2 to Fiorentina in their January 2010 Cup match.
• Away from home Chievo have only won 1match in their last 7 cup matches. All defeats were by a single goal and 4 were 1-0 defeats.

Profitable in play opportunities

• Chievo tend to avoid draws in the Coppa Italia so chance this continuing by laying any late draw .
• Chievo tend to lose by single goals in the Coppa away from home.
• Expect Fiorentina to be the most likeliest winner so lay Chievo if Chievo score first.

9pm - Barcelona v Getafe - 1.14 home

Standout stats

• This is a Copa del rey match between 2 Primera Division teams.
• Barcelona have won the last 4 head to heads, scoring 4-4-6-5.
• Barcelona were around this price against Elche and won 4-0. 
• Barcelona have won in their last 6 matches scoring 3+ goals. 
• Barcelona have won their last 12 matches at home.
• Since the 26th January 2011 only Real Madrid has beaten Barcelona in the Copa del rey.
• There are usually goals when Barcelona play at home in the Copa del rey. Recent total goals 9-4-4-2-4-5-4-4-3. It seems we should expect 3 goals minimum.
• As recently as 22nd December 2013, Barcelona beat Getafe 2-5.
• Getafe have won only 1 of their last 5 matches and that came in the Copa del rey.
• Getafe have had only 2 draws in their last 19 matches away from home and only won 4 of those matches, 3 of them to nil. Will they really keep Barcelona to nil?
• Getafe have only won 1 of their last 5 Copa del rey matches. 
• Getafe have conceded in all bar 1 of their last 14 matches 

Profitable in play opportunities

•  Getafe only seem to win when they keep a clean sheet. Barcelona at their best though will score 4 goals .

9pm - Racing Santander v Almeria - 2.46 away
Standout stats

• Both teams have scored in the last 3 head to heads.
• Racing have only lost 3 of their last 23 matches in all competitions
• Only Sevilla have beaten Racing at home in 14 matches.
• Santander have only won 2 of their last 9 Cup matches in 90 minutes. 
• 3 of Santander's last 5 cup matches have gone to extra time.
• Santander have only lost 1 home match in the Cup since 2006, and that was part of a 2 legged win against Sevilla.
• Almeria have lost only 2 of their last 10 matches and have kept 4 consecutive clean sheets.Almeria are a Primera division champion.
• Almeria have won 4 of their last 4 matches away.
• Almeria have lost only 4 Copa matches since 2010, 2 were against Barcelona, one v Osasuna and another after extra time v Celta de vigo.
• Almeria have scored and conceded in 9 of their last 11 away copa matches.
• Since 2010, only Barcelona have beaten Almeria away in the Copa.

Profitable in play opportunities

• This is not a match I would look at normally , or get involved in. 
• Both sides have reasonable copa form. This falls under the category of a researched match we don't have to trade in.