European Football Tips for the Weekend 24th & 25th September
Mallorca haven’t scored since the opening game of the season and the departure of Canadian forward Jonathan de Guzman and last seasons top goalscorer Patrick Webo has really affected the Balearic side. Manager Michael Laudrup is feeling the pressure having fallen out of favour with the chairman, but has kept games tight conceding only 4 goals in the league to date.
Opponents Real Sociedad have recently appointed Phillipe Montanier and have turned to youth in order to build on their two victories and draw so far in the Spanish Primera Liga. There has just been two goals in Sociedad’s last two games as Montanier seeks to organise his troops and another low scoring affair seems likely in Sunday’s early kick off.
Under 2.5 goals (Mallorca v Real Sociedad) @1.66
Schalke have lost their last two games in the Bundesliga and find themselves without a manager as Ralf Rangnick left due to health reasons.
Die Königsblauen are blessed with enough firepower to overcome recent defeats against Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich with the likes of seasoned veteran Raul, Jefferson Farfan and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar up front, but defensively Schalke have shipped 10 goals in 6 games so far, managing just one clean sheet all season.
Opponents Freiburg have the joint worst defensive record in the division with 18 goals conceded at the back and every game involving Freiburg this season has had at least 3 goals. Marcus Borg has managed to keep hold of star striker Papiss Cisse until at least January, which will give Freiburg a touch of quality that is badly needed after picking up only one win so far this season.
Over 2.5 goals (Schalke v Freiburg) @1.53