It was a week of near-misses and maybes last week, as two of our five BTTS picks hit the spot.
Leicester were thoroughly outclassed by Tottenham and never looked like scoring – no excuses there, but as the Expected Goal data shows both Augsburg and Frankfurt had chances to find the net against their respective opponents, which would have pumped up our return considerably.
The 4/5 about Empoli vs Bologna was a nice price though, so at least we had some ROI to enjoy.
Without further ado, we go again with this week’s both teams to score betting tips:
| Match | Both Teams to Score Yes/No | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Southampton vs Arsenal | Yes | 4/7 |
| Hull City vs Brentford | Yes | 1/2 |
| Port Vale vs Cheltenham Town | Yes | 5/6 |
| Fiorentina vs Empoli | Yes | 7/10 |
| Sampdoria vs Parma | Yes | 4/5 |
| All Five Results as an Accumulator | 12.51/1 | |
Southampton vs Arsenal – Yes (4/7)
Southampton fans waited with interest to see what changes new boss Ralph Hasenhuttl would implement at the club, and the truth is that against Cardiff it was a case of same old, same old.
They looked extremely fragile in defence, could and perhaps should have conceded more than just Calum Paterson’s winner, and there was no marked improvement to speak of.
The Austrian should be given the benefit of the doubt until he has spent more time with his troops on the training ground, but the point is that there appears to be no quick fix forthcoming.
Mind you, the Saints should be looking forward to the visit of Arsenal on Sunday. Why? Look at the Gunners’ list of defensive absentees: the injured Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi, the suspended Sokratis and the unfit Laurent Koscielny. That’s pretty much every first choice centre half on the shelf!
Arsenal’s task may simply be to outscore the Saints in a south coast shootout.
Hull City vs Brentford – Yes (1/2)
When two teams with defensive problems collide, you’re always hopeful of an entertaining BTTS led contest.
Hull have the ability to throw in a curveball – see the 0-0 draw with Norwich City recently, but typically their games are goal-laden affairs.
The Tigers have conceded two or more goals in four of their last five outings – evidenced by the huge number of ‘big chances’ they concede per game, and yet they have still found the time to net a healthy eight in five themselves.
Brentford’s tumble down the table has been ominous and yet no surprise, either. Their Expected Goals data is poor from a defensive perspective, and evidenced by the fact they have shipped 17 goals in their last eight league matches.
The silver lining is that they are still a force in an attacking sense (ten goals in their last six fixtures), and their performance level, if not the result, improved against Swansea last time out.
Port Vale vs Cheltenham Town – Yes (5/6)
We know that in football, the home team has an advantage and more often than not gets the job done.
So with BTTS punts, the question is can the away side score at least?
We certainly have to give Cheltenham a chance of achieving that feat. They’ve won three of their last four league outings and have scored ten in their last five, so all is good in the Robins’ camp.
Port Vale have a negative goal difference on home soil this term, which gives a hint as to their vulnerability, and while the Valiants don’t concede many all told, they have failed to keep a clean sheet in eight of their last twelve.
Fiorentina vs Empoli – Yes (7/10)
Fiorentina are going through a strange run of form. The Viola have only lost one of their last seven outings….the bigger issue being that they’ve drawn the other six!
BTTS has landed in five of those seven, and incredibly they will be without three suspended players for this visit of Empoli: Edimilson Fernandes, Jordan Veretout and Nikola Milenkovic.
Empoli’s performance data is typically excellent, and a little unbeaten run of four (W3 D1 L0) is testament to their confidence improving too.
They have scored in each of their last seven – 14 goals in total, and they’ve bludgeoned two or more in each of their last four outings.
Sampdoria vs Parma – Yes (4/5)
When you combine Sampdoria and Parma’s 30 matches played in Serie A so far, BTTS has landed in exactly 50% of them.
But the closer detail reveals BTTS success in each of their combined last eight, and that’s our guide here.
Sampdoria are particularly interesting. Both teams have scored in each of their last six, and look at some of those scorelines: 2-3, 1-4, 1-4, 4-1 and 2-2. There’s goals aplenty.
Parma are nowhere near as prolific, but their seven away matches thus far have yielded 18 goals in total and that’s a handy starting point.