Saturday, 22 September 2012

European Focus - 22nd September 2012

PSG’s start to what was expected to be their biggest season since the 90’s had been underwhelming for some following draws against Ajaccio, Lorient and Bordeaux, but Carol Anecelotti’s side have finally hit their stride proper and now look like the team to beat.

A 2-1 win at Lille provide t be just what they needed to kick start their season, as a home win against Toulouse has now seen them rise to fourth place and on Tuesday they were as impressive as any side in Europe when smashing Dynamo Kiev 4-1. Cohesion has been a while coming for the expensively assembled side, but they looked well capable of fighting with Europe’s best during an impressive 4-1 destruction of Dynamo Kiev, with three goals coming from somebody other than talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic – scorer of 6 of their 7 goals so far in Ligue 1 this season.

Little and Toulouse lie 11th and seventh respectively which isn’t such bad form on the domestic table and today’s opponents Bastia (Ligue 2 winners last year) have let in 19 goals already and suffered here straight defeats on the bounce. PSG are a different class to those two sides, so the 8/11 with Hills looks well worth taking.

Over in Germany, the feature game is far more even than Bastia v PSG will ever be, with Champions League sides Schalke and Bayern Munich meeting in the headline fixture of the Bundesliga so far this season. Schalke have made a truly excellent start to the season, winning two of their three games to keep their unbeaten start to the season going with wins over Greuther Furth and FC Ausburg, while Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League win at Olympiakos was a real achievement considering the Greek’s home record (and the fact that they missed a penalty).
That said, Bayern’s start to the season has been just as impressive. One of few teams left in Europe to hold 100% records in the League thanks to a 3-0 win at Greuther Furth, a 6-1 demolition of Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena, and a 3-1 home victory against Mainz, while they were clearly the better side in their 2-1 win over Valencia in midweek.  Mario Mandzukic has maintained his excellent form from Euro 2012, scoring six goals in six games, while their 1st XI has class stamped all over it. Jupp Henyckes will only have the end of the season on his mind but Bayern can continue their fine start with a win at their rivals.

Advice

3 pts PSG (8/11 Hills)

1 pt Bayern (5/4 Blue Sq)

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