European football races towards the 2022 World Cup break as leagues get their final round of matches in. Friday sees just a few league fixtures before a jam-packed weekend of games.
There’s just one game in Serie A, one in the Bundesliga, and one in the French top flight, plus a single game in the English Championship.
There’s even very little outside the Big Five European leagues, as there is just one Eredivisie match, two Turkish Super Lig games, and two Cypriot games.
Otherwise, there are just two pre-World Cup international friendlies to take in, with Canada taking on Bahrain and South Korea meeting Iceland. Those games will serve to help the two World Cup participants Canada and South Korea ahead of the tournament in Qatar.
Check out all of our picks below.
MORE: The Sporting News soccer betting guide
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Borussia Dortmund prediction, best bet
- Kickoff time: 2:30 p.m. ET
- Best Bet: Borussia Monchengladbach to win
- Odds: +210 (BetMGM)
- Prediction (Win/Draw): Gladbach to win
Teams with a significant amount of World Cup participants on the roster have struggled mightily as the tournament nears. It’s hard to ignore that players look desperate to avoid injury in the run-up to the big event. Dortmund are chock full of World Cup players, and it showed last time out against Wolfsburg in what was an embarrassing loss. That could continue against Gladbach who have have been better at home and have been unlucky to concede as many goals as they have recently. — Kyle Bonn
Lyon vs. Nice prediction, best bet
- Kickoff time: 3 p.m. ET
- Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals
- Odds: +105 (BetMGM)
- Prediction (Win/Draw): Lyon to win
Teams across Europe are limping to the finish line of the season’s first half, with the World Cup break fast approaching. Goalscoring is down significantly, with teams suffering significant injuries or running out of steam. Add in two of the best defenses in Ligue 1, and this has all the makings of a low-scoring game. Additionally, both these teams underperform up front compared to their expected goals, especially Nice who have bagged nearly five fewer goals compared to their xG total of 18.74, the second-worst underperformance in the attack behind only last-placed Angers. Lyon, meanwhile, can rack up goals on their day, but they’ve underperformed their xG in each of their last three games, including a dud at Marseille last time out. — Kyle Bonn
Yesterday’s picks
After a fantastic 4-for-4 day on Wednesday, it all came crashing down the following day as Kyle’s four picks were blanked. It was incredibly frustrating as many of the games failed to produce.
In Ukraine, Olexandriya were underwhelming, but could have pulled out a result had they not conceded late goals. Rayo Vallecano and Celta Vigo played to a complete snoozefest, with more yellow cards than goalscoring chances, a rare occurrence for both sides.
The afternoon’s games were more promising. Man United and Aston Villa played through a scoreless first half, but the under fell to pieces on four goals second-half goals. The most frustrating result was in Italy, where Monza fought hard against Lazio as expected, but they had a first-half goal ruled out on VAR in the first half before conceding on a goalkeeping error in the second half, eventually losing 1-0. We will trust the process moving forward.
| ✔️ or ❌ | |
|---|---|
| FC Olexandriya double chance (at Dynamo Kyiv) (Bonn, +115) |
❌ |
| Rayo Vallecano to win (vs. Celta Vigo) & over 1.5 goals (Bonn, +170) |
❌ |
| Monza double chance (at Lazio) (Bonn, +130) |
❌ |
| Man United vs. Aston Villa — Under 2.5 goals (Bonn, -110) |
❌ |
Soccer best bets records
Records below compiled since the first edition of this post on Monday, October 3.
| Kyle Bonn | Simon Borg | |
|---|---|---|
| Best Bets (Won-Lost-Push) |
40.4% (44-65-2) |
28.6% (12-30-1) |
| Total Units (+ Won / – Lost) |
+2.90 | -16.55 |
| Match Predictions (Correct picks) |
46.7% (49 of 105) |
46.5% (20 of 43) |
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