European Football Betting: Best of the rest of the midweek European football

European Leagues / Richard Aikman / 28 October 2008 / Leave a Comment

Richard Aikman picks the top midweek match from the German Bundesliga, Dutch Eridivisie and Greek Superleague and gives us the best betting opportunities on offer.

Frankfurt v Bayern Munich

After a shaky start to the season Bayern Munich are slowly beginning to get their act together under Jürgen Klinsmann, although the German champions have yet to come anywhere near producing the sort of quality worthy of their stellar squad. Bayern moved up to fourth place in the Bundesliga after overcoming VfL Wolfsburg at the weekend but only woke up after going two goals behind against the side coached by their former coach Felix Magath.

Grafite put Wolfsburg ahead after half an hour when Martin Dimichelis gave away a needless penalty and two minutes later Dzeko extended the visitors' lead with a header as Wolfsburg continually hit Bayern's alarmingly brittle defence on the break. Franck Ribéry, on his third game back from injury, reduced the arrears, before Klinsmann dispensed with defender Massimo Oddo in favour of midfielder Tim Borowski at half-time. The same Borowski and then Bastian Schweinsteiger added to Mark van Bommel's equaliser to complete a 4-2 win.

Although Eintracht Frankfurt have won their last two matches on the bounce, Bayern who are [1.56] will expect to win with ease, not least because this time last week Friedholm Finkel's men were the only Bundesliga side yet to win a league match.

Under-fire Finkel's decision to march his charges off to boot camp paid off with six points from a possible six, albeit from matches against Karlsuhe and Energie Cottbus.

The Cottbus success was all the more impressive for the fact that, like Bayern, Eintracht had to recover from a two-goal deficit, before winning 3-2 thanks to goals by Michael Fink, Martin Fenin and Nikos Liberopoulos. The fact is though that even without the injured Luca Toni and Philip Lahm, Bayern - who also beat Fiorentina 3-0 last week - should make light work of a Frankfurt side that has almost conceded as many goals (14) as they have (15) this term but scored only half as many. The porous defences of both sides suggests a high-scoring game is in store.

Verdict: Over 2.5 goals @ [1.66]

Sparta v Feyenoord

If Hull City's presence in the top three of the Premier League is hard to comprehend, then a quick glance at the Eredivisie is utterly Double Dutch. Not only are Groningen and NAC Breda sharing top spot but AZ Alkmaar and FC Twente are close behind, before Ajax and PSV Eindhoven hove into view.

As for Feyenoord, they find themselves joint third from bottom alongside Wednesday night's opponents Sparta Rotterdam - and facing the prospect of celebrating their centenary by getting relegated. Gertjan Verbeek's side did at least snatch a draw from the jaws of a 2-0 defeat this weekend as goals by Roy Makaay and Michael Mols prevented the Rotterdam outfit from succumbing to their fifth straight defeat against Heerenveen, ending their three-match goal-drought in to the bargain.

That late comeback, inspired by fine performances from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Kevin Hofland and Makaay, added to the fact that they face the equally poor Sparta Rotterdam, could well work in their favour in Wednesday night's local derby. Sparta were beaten 3-0 by Groningen at the weekend and have the second-worst defensive record in the Dutch top-flight. They did win their last home match 1-0 against Utrecht but Feyenoord's growing belief, unquestionably superior players and extraordinary local support should bring them back to winning ways at last.

Verdict: 2pts Feyenoord to win @ [2.06]

Panathinaikos v Ergotelis

Panathinaikos ([1.26]) may be without a win in four matches but they should prove too strong for Ergotelis to handle at the OACA Spiro Louis Stadium on Wednesday. Pana were lucky to salvage a 2-2 draw against Iraklis at the weekend - their third consecutive drawn match - as Dimitris Salpingidis grabbed a last-gasp equaliser for Henk Ten Cate's side.

Panathinaikos have struggled with the twin commitments of league and Champions League football but they were incredibly unfortunate not to come away from their match against Werder Bremen last week without a win. Vangelis Mantzios scored twice and Salpingidis hit the bar against the Germans before Hugo Almeida ruined the Greek party with seven minutes left and the hangover from that match carried into the Iraklis match.

Ergotelis, who have not won a match since 14 September, were humbled 5-2 on home soil by Panionios at the weekend, with Labros Choutos and Alvaro Recoba scoring twice each, and Pana striker Mantzios must be rubbing his hands at the prospect of adding to the three goals he has managed in the last two matches.

However, Ergotelis are likely to react to their trouncing by adopting the sort of cautious approach that earned them 0-0 draws in their two previous games against Iraklis and PAOK. At [6.4] another draw is attractively-priced but with Gilberto Silva and Austria captain Andreas Ivantschitz forging a good understanding in midfield unbeaten Pana can fully expect to move up to fourth place with a win, albeit a narrow one.

Verdict: 3pts Under 2.5 goals @ [2.06]