ECLGS 4th round, Nov. 9.

[bugylibicska]

Astana v Ballkani 1.75 3.60 4.00
Besiktas v Bodo/Glimt 1.85 3.50 3.60
Cukaricki v Fiorentina 8.00 5.00 1.28
Ferencvaros v Genk 2.37 3.40 2.60
HJK Helsinki v Eintracht Frankfurt 6.50 4.50 1.40
Legia Warsaw v Zrinjski Mostar 1.50 4.00 5.50
Nordsjaelland v Spartak Trnava 1.25 5.50 9.50
PAOK v Aberdeen 1.40 4.40 6.50
Viktoria Plzen v Dinamo Zagreb 2.25 3.30 2.80
Aston Villa v AZ Alkmaar 1.40 4.40 6.00
Breidablik v Gent 7.00 4.60 1.35
Club Brugge v Lugano 1.40 4.50 6.50
Ludogorets v Fenerbahce 3.70 3.60 1.80
Olimpija v Klaksvik 1.95 3.50 3.30
Slovan Bratislava v Lille 4.00 3.60 1.75

Missing: Zorya - Maccabi TA

Outright:

Aston Villa 4.50
Fiorentina 7.00
Eintracht Frankfurt 9.00
Lille 11.00
Fenerbahce 15.00
Club Brugge 19.00
AZ Alkmaar, Genk 21.00
PAOK 26.00
Viktoria Plzen 29.00
Slovan Bratislava, Besiktas, Gent 34.00
Ferencvaros, Dinamo Zagreb 67.00
Ludogorets, Legia Warsaw 81.00
Lugano, Maccabi Tel Aviv 101.00
Nordsjaelland, Bodo/Glimt, Astana 126.00
Zorya 151.00
Zrinjski Mostar, Klaksvik, Ballkani, Spartak Trnava, Olimpija, HJK Helsinki, Aberdeen 501.00
Cukaricki, Breidablik 1001.00

[bugylibicska]

Zorya v Maccabi Tel Aviv 4.40 3.80 1.70

[bjkman1903]

Outright:

Slovan Bratislava, Besiktas, Gent 34.00
Nordsjaelland, Bodo/Glimt, Astana 126.00

It's weird that Besiktas have as much chances as Gent to win the cup, despite being nearly eliminated.

I fear that Bodo will win in Istanbul and finish the job tomorrow.

The team lost its coach, its confidence and the season is practically over already.

In one month, a new president will be elected and a new coach is expected to arrive - I don't expect positive results in the meantime.

[Greyn]

@bjkman1903, I don't pay much attention to these odds. Given the current standings in the group, odds for Legia to win it all - 81.00 in comparison to AZ - 21.00 look foolishly imo.

One thing I know for sure - all these odds are profitable for the betting company. Just some of them more than the other ones.

[naaba]

Outright:

Slovan Bratislava, Besiktas, Gent 34.00
Nordsjaelland, Bodo/Glimt, Astana 126.00

It's weird that Besiktas have as much chances as Gent to win the cup, despite being nearly eliminated.

If I recall well at the start of Group Stage Besiktas was considered an outsider to win the competition, with players like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Eric Bailly, or Vincent Aboubakar. However I had mentioned elsewhere that big names do not make a good team. In Besiktas' case, it proved right. But Besiktas isn't done yet. An expected scenario would put them, Bodo/Glimt and Lugano all with 4 points tonight. Many teams that struggled in group stage eventually made it far, with the most famous example being Portugal at Euro 2016. Besiktas, as a "Turkish giant", is considered to having more ressources for going far, while Gent isn't even a top 3 team in Belgium. Gent has the disadvantage of not knowing their real place in the group. Zorya can virtually take first place if they were to trash Maccabi 7-1. Breidablik is also a contender for giving away 6 points to everyone in the group.

However If we look at ranking and recent results, Gent is far above Besiktas.

What I don't understand is Slovan Bratislava ranked at the same level. They have everything against them :
- coming from a minor league
- Lille is huge favorite to end up above them in group
- recent results : 1-1 at home (Swift Hesperange), 2-2 at home (Zrinjski Mostar), lost twice to Maccabi Haifa, destroyed at Aris Limassol (6-2).

[bjkman1903]

If I recall well at the start of Group Stage Besiktas was considered an outsider to win the competition, with players like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Eric Bailly, or Vincent Aboubakar. However I had mentioned elsewhere that big names do not make a good team. In Besiktas' case, it proved right. But Besiktas isn't done yet. An expected scenario would put them, Bodo/Glimt and Lugano all with 4 points tonight. Many teams that struggled in group stage eventually made it far, with the most famous example being Portugal at Euro 2016. Besiktas, as a "Turkish giant", is considered to having more ressources for going far, while Gent isn't even a top 3 team in Belgium.

Yes, but no one expected Besiktas to be that bad at the beginning of the season because last year (2nd part of the season) we were nearly at the level of Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, beating both of these teams.
In this group where Besiktas fail miserably, Galatasaray & Fenerbahçe would easily qualify - I don't say they would finish above Club Brugge, but top 2 would have been highly likely.

But right now Besiktas is a team in crisis (a bit like Ajax in the Netherlands) - the coach is gone, Burak Yilmaz (who was still an active football player last year) is temporarily in charge of the team until a new president is elected in one month and new coach arrives.
In this situation, we can hardly expect anything from this team at the moment as even players seem to have given up on the season already.

I hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling that Bodo will win tonight and end our misery.

[TommyChat]

Ludogorets at 81, Nordsjaelland at 126 is a bit weird as well given the result in the match between them.

[amenina]

[matt]

A reminder for those of you that can watch it: today there's an early game at 16:30 CET between Astana and Ballkani, and it's actually quite important for the fate of the group involving also Viktoria Plzen and Dinamo Zagreb.

[seso]

I expect Ballkani to beat Astana; I saw some 'favourable' odds for the match.

[Greyn]

I thought that Astana will beat Ballkani more or less comfortably, but basing on statistics away team is a slightly better side. This Ballkani team is so unpredictable. They are capable of producing a very wide range of results.

EDIT: 0-0 FT. Dinamo Zagreb is the only winner of this match.

[Jackson Harrison]

Is it me or are red/blue group alternations not being followed?

[Greyn]

Legia started the match being very nervous in defense, making many technical mistakes. Zrinjski are pressing high. Legia without even a bit of chance in first 10 minutes.

[Juliusz]

First chance for Legia and first goal after a corner after 141 attempts this season! Augustyniak!

[Lorric]

Aberdeen take the lead, low cross put in by Duk!