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« on: July 31, 2012, 08:55:57 AM »
8. pick
I think Dinamo Kiev is an average european team, with big ambitions, and big traditions. Last season was a huge disaster for Dinamo. They lost in the Ukraine Cup, in the Supercup, and in the Championship too, all won by Shakhtar Donetsk. Also they were kicked out from EL groupstage early. So Dinamo signed this summer some very good level players like portugal Miguel Veloso (Genoa), Marco Ruben (Villareal) and Niko Kranjcar (Tottenham), so a failure in Champions League will make things very complicated them. They have almost a new team, so much money invested in the club, probably these three players will play in the starting line-up.
Feyenoord returns in Champions League for the first time in 10 years and they have a very young and inexperienced team. With the loss of John Guidetti, Otman Bakkal and Karim El Ahmadi, I can see them surprise this year again. They have brought Harmeet Singh, Daryl Janmaat, Ruud Vormer and Lex Immers. I think Vormer and Immers are nothing special, they are average players, while Janmaat is a decent rightback. They are subpar midfielders who will prove not to add much to Feyenoord. Defence of Feyenoord is very strong, but they played only the Duthh Leage, so hard to predict their realy knowledge. Their team is inexperienced, but very talented and they fight for each other. It's not sure, but one of the key players and captain Ron Vlaar will go to Aston Villa so he won't be playing for Feyenoord any more, which is a big blow. New central defenders will be de Vrij (also new captain) and Martins Indi, which is a good duo but are not used to playing together. In a friendly match these duo played together and Martins Indi looked a bit uncertain. They had one serious preparation game against Mallorca, and reached 0-0 draw.
Kiev is the favorite as they have the better squad and the advantage of playing at home. They did some good additions while Feyenoord have lost their best scorers of last season in Guidetti and Bakkal, plus midfielder El Ahmadi to Aston Villa. They are not replaced them well enough. Feyenoord's new forwards are not very good, they have a lot of trouble scoring goals. I think the home ground, and the bigger home motivation will be enough to win this match.
Dinamo Kiev - Feyenoord
Pick: Dinamo Kiev
Stake: 10 $
Odds: 1.55