Everyone is basing this bet on Spain's performance against Russia. Well, Russia played an open game, and Sweden will not abandon their defensive positioning for 1 second during this match. Why should they? Ibrahimovic can score alone anytime.

And, as I said, everyone expects Spain to repeat that same performance. If they did, then of course they'd demolish Sweden by 3:0. But...that performance was tightly linked with Russian game style. Sweden plays something else. So I expect Spain to play 75% as good as they did in round 1.

So I wouldn't say the odds on Spain are fair, and this certainly isn't a sure bet. Sweden isn't strong but doesn't suit Spain. This won't be the same match as Spain - Russia, Sweden will close down, so beware, don't put too much money on Spain. It isn't such a sure thing.

For me, a classical no bet. I believe Spain will win in the end, but it isn't a 1.60 match.

However, betting on Sweden +1.25 ball might sound as a good idea. Just to back up my thoughts with a solid pick.

IMHO Russia is a much better bet than Spain vs Sweden. Much more value.

Russians played a great game of short passes, they resemble Zenit a bit. Greece won't be able to stop that, especially now when the "0:0 and 1:0" strategy fell apart so soon. Will Greece play on 0:0 or will they go for the win? Something in between.

I don't think Greeks can score at all. They're a dreadful team with 9-0-1 formation as their only option. Russia will destroy them with their pace and movement of the ball.

And, the Greeks will HAVE to open up sooner or later in this match. They need a win here, 1 point is not enough, and they're not a team which can go for the win when they need to.

I'd never bet on a team which hopes to score by accident, like Greece does. Russia scores from offensive combinations.

Russia wins by handicap.

Varteks is an automatic fade these days, they have 0-0-5 2:14 score and show no signs of improvement, although they changed the coach. Okay, most of the goals in a 0:6 loss from Slaven were amazing long shots, but still...this is currently the worst team in the league. It's not so much because of low quality of players, but because they're completely out of key. And that is way better for fading a team.

We placed a bet on Šibenik in the last round, and they were unfortunate to play 2:2 against Inter because they missed one penalty kick and one clear chance after which they conceded a goal. Šibenik plays good, even better at home, and good enough to beat an out of tune Varteks.

Maybe a long choice, but I see this as an open game, knowing Bosnian game style. The game is supposed to be competitive and not friendly, so both teams will push hard. Croatian top stars will get substituted early, so the subs will try to prove they deserve a spot in the opening 11. Both teams love to dribble, and the only thing that could ruin our bet is excellent Croatian defense. But, Bosnia is very good, and I think the odds are valuable.

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After being undefeated for 34 games, Dinamo lost at Bremen, only because of the bad coach decisions and inexperience. In Croatian league, however, no one can come close to Dinamo and basically, every round you can bet full stake on Dinamo. Last season that kind of betting was the most profitable in the league.

Osijek tends to cover the entire field with players. Meaning, they play full court press, and in offense they're pretty good, they can finish their actions promptly.

Still...we can talk about it as much as we want, but there's only one truth - Dinamo was one class above everyone else last season. Now they're two classes above everyone else, even though Eduardo isn't here anymore.

Short and simple, this will be a high-scoring game. Dinamo comes to attack, and regardless of the public opinion against the underdog, Dinamo has a good chance to even win this game. Werder is missing their defensive midfielders, Dinamo's defense is shaky, Dinamo's offense is awesome, Werder's high balls can't be defended by Dinamo.

Neither of the two teams can maintain a defensive tempo for 90 minutes, both have 20-30 minute holes in their gameplay.

Expect an even faster game if Dinamo scores first. Which is very likely.

To read a very big preview on this game, click the banner on my blog, or go directly to www.bookie-hates-it.com.

Remember what I said about Slaven? Their counter-attacking style is perfect for visiting games, and in three games so far (two away) they didn't yet concede a goal. Nation is amazed with their football style which sent Albanian Teuta out of the UEFA cup with 8:4 score on aggregate. Slaven Belupo plays the best football in Croatia right now.

Sibenik is a good team, but struggling to be on the same track as they were last year. With their best players sold, they've lost the edge and remain a "good" team which can't really win as often as they should.

I'd go for over 2.5 goals here if it wasn't for the rain, but we'll take the same bet as in the previous preview.

Home team is in obvious problems, and they're terrified when looking at how things stand. Coach Kuže is saying he's not to blame (he's one of those coaches who needs a lot of time and peace to get things right), and the general opinion is that things couldn't be any better with Varteks' current 30 players. Varteks played three games, losing all of them, scoring only twice. Things won't get any better today, as playing in front of TV cameras has always been their weak point.

Zagreb was supposed to be in problems after dropping out of Intertoto cup too soon, but they found new strength and brought home 4 points from 2 visiting games, losing at home to a counter-attacking Slaven Belupo. Zagreb does have a nice game style, and a set of good players, they're capable of winning visiting games.

It's impossible to predict games played during heavy rain, but still, someone has to win. For this price, Zagreb is really worth a shot, and Asian handicap is always the best bet on Croatian football league.

A good, strong home team with a good coach is playing against newly appointed 1st league team, who still has a 2nd league mentality. Dan Petrescu is doing a good job and not making mistakes in coaching, and this game is a perfect chance to book three points. And a few units for us.

Cluj will miss their captain due to injury, and that is very important, not because of captain's playing quality, but because when you play visiting games as an underdog you need your captain to lead you. To show to the other team that you're not afraid.

I remember what Robert Prosinečki once did as a captain of Dinamo Zagreb when playing in Belgrade against Partizan. In the first minute, first he made a sliding tackle (possibly the only one of his career), and then got in a fight with the opposing player. Two words: no fear. And Cluj doesn't have a captain today, let alone a leader like Prosinečki was.

That's why I believe Cluj will surrender after the first goal, and therefore we will confidently take the European handicap. There's already an AH-1 preview on this website, but this is a completely different bet as we don't get our stake back in case of a draw.

Read the other preview please.

This is Asian handicap, and we will get our stake back in case Hajduk wins by one goal.

You see, Hajduk managed to grab two amazing players on loan from Dinamo Kiev, Florin Cernat and Maris Verpakovskis. If you don't remember the latter, he's the one who almost singlehandedly beat the German NT, and only the referee saved the Mannschaft from losing to Latvia. Florin Cernat is a playmaker, delievering amazing defense-splitting passes. It is my strong belief that this duo will trash many opponents, including Sampdoria in UEFA cup.

Hajduk played a great game against Budućnost, they could have won 11:0, but didn't because their strikers are pathetic. Strikers are their only problem, but now Verpakovskis is here, and will start this game.

Cibalia is famous for being a tough nut to crack at home, they tend to win their home games by 1:0, and they did that already this season, in the first round against Varteks. In Rijeka, they lost 3:0 and I travelled to watch that game live.

My observations? A solid team, seems to me they play smoother offense than in previous seasons, but can't finish the attacks off. By the way, their victory against Varteks came from a penalty kick. So technically, they still didn't score a real goal.

I do expect them to score against Hajduk. I got a feeling they will. But, I am also confident that Cernat and Verpakovskis will punish the holes in Cibalia's defense, and it's not one of those things when tipsters "hope so", this thing WILL happen. Hajduk creates a LOT of good goalscoring chances, and Verpakovskis should finish them off.