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Esbjerg and Fiorentina will square off in Denmark in the first leg of this Europa League Round 32 tie. The bookmakers are heavily favouring Fiorentina with odds around 1.60, which seems like a fair price at a first glance.
Esbjerg caught an excellent patch of form early in the season, which allowed them to knock out St. Etienne in the EuroLeague playoffs and then win against Standard Liege and Elfsborg early in the Group stage, wins that pretty much got them the qualification to the round 32. But since then, it all went downhill for the danish side. Esbjerg is currently on the 11th place in the Danish Superliga, which is second to last, with just 19 points in 18 matches and relegation is a huge threat for the team right now. Esbjerg`s form in late 2013 was simply abysmal, with 9 losses in the last 14 games played! The hosts are currently in the winter break, having not played an official since early December when they were routed 3-0 by Salzburg.
Fiorentina is still trying to deal with the injuries of Mario Gomez (back from injury but not at 100%) and Giusseppe Rossi, but they are doing a pretty good job. Matri has been signed on loan from Milan and he has done a good job to lead the attacking line so far. The visitors continue to be on track to finish in the Serie A top 3 (currently 4th) and have just knocked out Udinese in the Coppa Italia, qualifying for the final. Fiorentina is in decent form, winning 2 of the last 3 games, but they lost over the weekend 1-2 against Inter at home. In the Europa League the “La Viola” side cruised to a first place finish in the company of Dnipro, Pacos Ferreira and Pandurii Tg. Jiu.
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Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle. |
Team news and lineups
Esbjerg does not have notable squad concerns for this game. Fiorentina will miss Rossi, Cuadrado and Gonzalez, while Ambrosini, Tomovic, Vargas and Savic are doubtful. Aquilani and / or Matias Fernandez might be rested, while Gomez will start from the bench.
Esbjerg: Ronnow – P. Ankersen, Hansen, Drobo-Ampem, Knudsen – J. Ankersen, Andreasen, Lekven, Lyng – van Buren, Bakenga
Fiorentina: Neto – Roncaglia, Tomovic, Compper, Pasqual – Ambrosini, Pizarro, Borja Valero – Joaquin, Matri, Ilicic
Esbjerg is in a really bad spot right now. Their form is horrible, they do not have official matches under their belts and the quality gap between them and Fiorentina is simply huge. The visitors did well on the road this season both in Serie A and in Europa League, so playing in Denmark should not be such a big disadvantage, especially gainst this kind of opposition. Fiorentina’s injury crisis in the offensive department might not count so much considering Esbjerg has an abysmal defense. Having watched a couple of their games in the Superliga, I could see second half of the table teams creating chances at will against them so I`m sure the likes of Matri, Borja Valero, Joaquin or Ilicic will have little trouble bagging a few goals. The italians will approach this with the best available first 11 and are motivated to virtually assure qualification in Demnark so they can give some guys a rest in the reverse leg. My tip is Fiorentina to win with a 1 goal asian handicap and I`t say the odds are fair for this pick. Prediction: Esbjerg – Fiorentina 0-3.
Pick: Fiorentina (-1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.11 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.88
Event date: 20 February
