CFL: March 19th + 20th

CFL: (-0.75) SLAVEN BELUPO – Istra

(1,68@Pinnacle, 1.66@12Bet)

Slaven's home record vs struggling teams is impressive, and although they only manage to share points vs Istra this September, I think they'll comfortably win this one – just like their won 2:0 at Istra in December. Istra won only 3 points in the last 10 rounds (3 draws in the last 3 away matches, and that series can't last forever). If we take a closer look, 2 of those were at fellow strugglers Zagreb and Osijek, while at RNK Split they were lucky enough to equalise in the injury time.

CFL: Hajduk – (-0.5) DINAMO

(1,77@Pinnacle, SBO, 1.74@12Bet)

These 2 clubs played on Wednesday in Split. Hajduk was nowhere to be seen, Dinamo scored 2 goals in the opening 30 minutes and they weren't interested in demolishing Hajduk, so it ended 0:2. And I can't see things changing much in only 4 days, although Marko Pjaca got injured (he broke key-bone, and won't play till the end of the season), and athough Hajduk's defender Velazquez migh be fit for this one. Hajduk is missing the key players they sold this season, while the players they brought are not even close to their level – sports director Goran Vucevic offered to leave to the Board, and we'll know few hours before the match what will happen to him. I have to admit that – if Pjaca is fit – would go for the -1 AH at Pinnacle (2,52), but I can see Dinamo winning 1:0 od 2:1. Btw, Hajduk failed to score in 300 minutes – except for the goal from the non-existing penalty vs depleted Zagreb.

Picks coming at usual time

We'll have one pick for today, one for tomorrow, while additional one for Sunday might arrive tomorrow at usual time, I just have to see the latest team news for that one. So, tune in at 10.30 AM GMT.

CFL: March 18th, Friday

CFL: (-0.75) OSIJEK – Zagreb

(1,80@Pinnacle, 1,78@12Bet, 1,76@SBO)

It seems that Osijek already feels some benefits of the fact they have new owner from Hungary. In the last 3 rounds, they shared points (2:2) at Hajduk, lost in the injury time at Rijeka (2:1) and beat Inter Zapresic in the last round (1:0). Sorsa and Saric are back after suspension, which means only Lukic (suspended) and goalkeeper Mikulic are not availabe, and that's definitely rare situation for coach Zoran Zekic. On top of that, they play at home vs Zagreb, a club that won only 10 points in 27 matches, and 9th place which would bring them to play-off match vs 2nd placed team from 2nd league is huge 12 points away, and only 9 rounds till the end of the season. Osijek won 6 of the last 7 matches they played this season (Zagreb scored only 1 goal in those 7 matches, Osijek kept the clean sheet in the last 6 H2H matches). On top of that, Mudrazija and Sulc are suspended for Zagreb, their best player, defender Kolinger is still on the bench (because of the interview in which he said what he thinks 3 or 4 months ago), while Cubel is injured. Although I wouldn't be surprised with with 1:0 or 2:1 here, in that case we'll still make some profit, but I wouldn't be surprised with 2:0 or 3:0 or 3:1 neither.

Next picks

Hello. Next possible pick will be published tomorrow at 10.30 AM GMT. But, all the possible picks for both Saturday and Sunday will be publisher on Saturday at usual time, as my father-duties don't allow me to be near the computer on Sunday morning.

Last weekend was disasterous - Slaven Belupo conceeded a goal from a doubtful penalty, while Inter didn't manage to recover after early Osijek's goal - on top of that, their best goalscorer Nestorovski was sent off 30 minutes before the final whistle.

CFL: Saturday, March 12th

CFL: (0) SLAVEN BELUPO – RNK Split

(1,80@Pinnacle, 1,75@12Bet, 1,78@SBO)

Slaven Belupo are doing just fine, specially at home – 5 wins, 4 draws and only 3 defeats (vs Dinamo, Hajduk and Lokomotiva, so Top 4 teams). After the winter break, they won both matches they played at home – 1:0 vs Osijek and 3:0 vs Zagreb. They'll miss their best player this spring Filip Ozobic, but Mateas Delic and Muzafer Ejupi are back for this one, and since coach Kopic has to choose between Stefan Savic and Sandi Krizman (one of them will replace Ozobic), the only selection problem is not that big.

RNK Split has only one win this spring – 1:0 at home vs poor Zagreb. They only have 2 away wins this season – at the very same Zagreb and at struggling Osijek. It's also a fact they have 6 draws in the last 10 – or 10 of 26 this season, but in case of another draw, we get our money back. Split's probably best player – goalkeeper Zagorac is suspended for this one, so 23rd year old Tomislav Duka will have his debut in the first league. On top of that, it's a fact that Split doesn't look good – they were dominant only vs Zagreb, and even poor Istra was able to be better then them – on their own pitch.

CFL: Friday, March 11th

CFL: Osijek – (+0.25) INTER ZAPRESIC

(1,83@Pinnacle, 1.80 @SBO, 1.79@ 12Bet)

I really don't see why is Osijek favourite in this one. Osijek has only won 2 points after the winter break – in a goalless draw vs fellow strugglers Istra at home, and away at Hajduk Split, where they score equaliser in 95th minute. As usual, the have selection problems – Sorsa and Saric are suspended, Mikulic and Pongracic are injured, while Arsenic has not yet fully recovered after injury. Vojnovic and Knezevic will have to play in this one, although they're not ready for 90 minutes of football after injurie. Osijek has only 1 win in the last 10 matches – away at Zagreb, who strongly holds the last position since the beginning of the season. They conceeded 8 goals in the last 4 matches, and I can definitely see them conceeding a goal or two today.

Inter Zapresic are still undefeated after the winter break. In fact, 3 wins and 2 draws make them 2nd best team this spring, after 10-years-in-a-row champions Dinamo. Goalless draw vs Hajduk in the last round was the only match this „spring“ they failed to score, and since they have the best goalscorer of the league (Nestorovski), I can't see them failing to score once again. Condition of the pitch won't be perfect, but as goalkeeper Covic put it – „you can see that we're doing pretty well on arable lands“. When these two teams played this summer, Osijek won 3:1, but first two goals were score from at least doubtful penalties (2nd one in 87th minute). 

Recap - 5th-8th March

What could I say after the first round on blog? There's no doubt that I'd say that +0.42 is ok, if the start of the season wasn't that catastrophic as it was. We were a bit lucky with RNK Split - Istra bet. The match started great - RNK Split scored from a doubtful penalty, but they weren't looking for the second goal. Istra was much better team, and scored equaliser in the injury time, and Split's best player was their goalkeeper. If there's a team who deserved to win, that was Istra. But, it ended 1:1 and we lost a 0.5 point there.

In yesterday's match, Inter - Hajduk played a goalless draw in a match that was an anti-commercial for football. Hajduk was a bit better team (only 1 shot on target, though) in the first half, while Inter was much better in the 2nd, untill Mazalovic got red card. The biggest Hajduk's "chance" was a penatly, but the referee remain silent.

The next round is scheduled for the weekend, from Friday till Sunday, so you can expect the first possible pick on Friday. I'm also interested in one of the two matches on Saturday, and one of two on Sunday, which doesn't mean we'll have 3 picks this weekend as well. So, if you want to be sure not to miss any picks - just tune in every day at 10.30 AM GMT, and see what do I have to say.