Local Rivalries are Reignited on Friday Evening in European Football
Published January 29, 2021 by Florin P
Lyon and Antwerp chase essential points in their catch-up race for the trophy in the French and Belgian first divisions.
A busy week is about to end for European football fans, with matches scheduled across the continent from Monday to Sunday. As always, some of the most exciting games are scheduled for the weekend and a few derbies will be decided on Friday evening. Italian, Belgian, German and French teams will try to turn their season around and capitalize on home pitch advantage even without fans in the stands.
Torino Chase First Home Win in the Italian Serie A
Torino is the only team in the Italian first division yet to win a match in their home city. A string of disappointing results, including scoreless draws against teams playing with a man down and late equalizers have plagued them the entire season. On Friday at 7:45 PM UK time they will play against Fiorentina, a team that recently won a match in front of their fans. As visitors, they struggled heavily, hence the identical odds of 17/10 offered by 888 Sport on each team to win this match.
Mainz goes for Back-to-Back Wins in the Bundesliga
Mainz caused a major upset last weekend to defeat Leipzig at the end of a roller coaster match. They held their ground and were able to defend their lead against one of the most effective squads in the German first division. Now they have an equally daunting task of winning on the road against Stuttgart, one of the two winless teams at home this season. Under these circumstances, the visitors will not settle for a draw and instead chase victory, which is priced by 888 Sport at 7/24 Mainz and 7/10 for Stuttgart.
Lyon Seeks Temporary Lead in the French Ligue 1
Lyon are in the third place but a victory in the first match of this round will propel them to the top. Granted their placement will be temporary and PSG and Lille are likely to overtake them by the end of the weekend, this would still be a major accomplishment. To do so, they need to defeat Bordeaux at home and odds of 9/20 offered by bet365 Sports suggest they are well capable of doing that. The last match against St. Etienne was inspiring and it’s unlikely for Bordeaux to cause an upset which is priced at 6/1.
Antwerp Clings on to Podium Placement in the Jupiler League
Antwerp is famous for being the decisive team and one that rarely settles for one point regardless of the competition. It has the fewest draws in the Belgian Jupiler League and they will surely go for all three points when they welcome Beveren. They won three of the last four games and in those victories they didn’t concede a single goal, hence the odds of 7/20. bet365 Sports justly regards the visiting team as a clear underdog and prices them at 13/2 as they sit in the last place with only five victories this season.
