French Ligue 1
Fixture: Auxerre 2-0 Grenoble
Venue: Stade l'Abbe-Deschamps (Auxerre home)
Kick-off: 6pm BST (SAT)
Verdict: Auxerre have not started as well as some expected, but they had begun to turn things around before this week's cup exit against Ligue 2 side Sedan.
However, that result for a second string-looking Auxerre side should be ignored and form spotters should focus more on the creditable draws away to big guns Bordeaux and St Etienne, and a home win against Nice in the last three.
Alpine side Grenoble are pointless this season for good reason. We said it would be more than tough for them this season they only just survived last year and this time they are a lot weaker and it is proving the case
Betting Advice: 5pts Auxerre to win at 4/6 (1.67 generally)
Fixture: Lyon 2-1 Toulouse
Venue: Stade Gerland (Rennes home)
Kick-off: 8pm BST (Sat)
Verdict: Toulouse are in trouble at the back. They have pretty much their entire first-choice back line out injured - Alain Casanova. Mohamed Fofana (fatigue), Cheikh M'Bengué (hamstring), Albin Ebondo (calf) and Mauro Cetto (collarbone) - and have been forced to put out a four that do not know how to play with each other.
The only bonus for them is the fact that Lyon are possibly going to be without their star striker Lisandro Lopez is doubtful, but I suspect he will start and sit out the international break.
Toulouse are OK up front, though, with Andre-Pierre Gignac, in good form.
All that means the Evens on more than 2.5 goals is a farce.
Betting Advice: 3pts more than 2.5 goals at Evens (2.0 generally)
Fixture: Lorient 1-1 PSG
Venue: Stade du Moustoir (Lorient home)
Kick-off: 6pm BST (Sat)
Verdict: Lorient are the archetypal French team that is they generally win at home and lose away.
However, they generally don't do so well against the bigger sides and PSG are back in the big time this season, which was highlighted when they almost took three points off Lyon last time out.
PSG also have plenty of success at the Stade du Moustoir, winning three out of their last four trips.
The bookies seem to have forgotten that stat in their pricing.
Betting Advice: 2pts PSG win at 6/4 (2.5 at Coral)
German Bundesliga
Fixture: Hamburg 1-0 Bayern Munich
Venue: HSH Nordbank Arena (Hamburg home)
Kick-off: 5.30pm BST (Sat)
Verdict: This is traditionally a very tough fixture for Bayern, but there is still a lot of value in following them here. Considering that they were a 2/5 shot to win the title, the bookies are offering some very choice prices on them winning even though they are in form and scoring goals.
Betting Advice: 1pt Bayern Munich to win at 11/8 (2.38 at Skybet and Coral)
Italian Serie A
Fixture: Udinese 2-0 Genoa
Venue: Stadio Friuli (Udinese home)
Kick-off: 2pm BST (Sun)
Verdict: Despite almost nicking three points off the current leaders of Serie A, I am backing in-form Udinese to take all three points here.
The Bianconeri have put aside an indifferent start to be unbeaten in the last three, including a 1-0 against AC Milan in midweek.
Betting Advice: 1pt Udinese to win at 5/4 (2.25 generally)
Spanish La Liga
Fixture: Malaga 0-2 Barcelona
Venue: La Roseleda (Malaga home)
Kick-off: 2pm BST (Sun)
Verdict: The absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a real blow to Barcelona, but they should come through it.
However, don't expect them to stuff Malaga who have a tough start to the season but have managed to get through it and had a decent record at home last season.
The one thing keeping the strength of this bet down is that Malaga conceded 10 and scored one against the champions last season.
Just for the record a winning bet for us here is if Malaga win, draw, or lose by one goal.
Betting Advice: 1pt Malaga +1.5 on Asian Handicap at 47/40 (2.175 at Bet365)
