Busy Football Week Continues with Friday Warm Up Matches
Published December 18, 2020 by Florin P
Athletic Bilbao and Dortmund try to return to their winning ways on Friday, while Charleroi and Anderlecht play for a place on the Jupiler League podium.
This week was terrific for football fans, as the most important European championships have scheduled matches from Monday to Sunday. Action continues on Friday evening, with four matches that are likely to result in high-scoring affairs. German, Spanish, Belgian and Dutch teams take their place in the spotlight, trying to improve their position in the standings after disappointing winless streaks.
Dortmund and Union Berlin Brace for High Scoring Match
Dortmund haven’t won consecutive matches in more than three weeks and without Haaland up front, they continue to struggle. Even without their best striker, last year’s runners-up were able to win on the road midweek and hope for a similar outcome on Friday. In the match scheduled at 7:30 PM UK time they meet Union Berlin in the nation’s capital and are credited with odds of 4/5 by bet365 Sports. Home pitch advantage used to matter a lot for Union, but today they are underdogs with odds of 3/1.
Reeling Bilbao Seeks Redemption against Huesca
Athletic Bilbao lost predictably against Real Madrid, but they put up quite a fight in spite of having a footballer sent off early. Now they have home pitch advantage against Huesca, a team that is still winless on the road. This should give the Basques a clear advantage, as reflected by the even odds offered by bet365 Sports on them to win. Huesca won their first La Liga game last week at home and if they manage to win back-to-back fixtures, punters who bet on their victory will be paid at 3/1.
Zwolle Hopes to Add to Emmen’s Misery on Friday
Zwolle lost back-to-back games after causing a major upset two weeks ago against Vitesse. They seem to have the best opportunity to bounce back with a victory over Emmen, the team sitting in the last place with no victories so far. Zwolle have dominated the recent head to head fixtures, with 8 victories in the last 10 matches and no defeats. 888 Sport offers surprisingly high odds on the hosts to win, currently standing at 4/5, as opposed to 3/1 on the visitors to cause an upset on the road.
Charleroi and Anderlecht Play a Coin Flip Match
Charleroi and Anderlecht play the most exciting match of the day in the Belgian first division, for a chance to climb on the podium. Both teams have won back-to-back matches in dramatic fashion, with goals scored late and against seemingly crushing odds. This match looks too close to call, with 888 Sport offering identical odds of 17/10 on each team to prevail and 23/10 on a draw. The two teams struggle to field competitive starting formations as both are decimated by a long list of injuries and suspensions.
Disclaimer:
The odds mentioned here were accurate at the featured bookmakers at the hour the article was written, respectively on Thursday, December 17 at 11 am UK time.
