Back the visitors to be first over the finish line at Le Mans

15Feb 2013

Betfair

Jonno Turner aims to end the week with more winners as he looks to France and the Netherlands for his Home and Away picks.

Two winners yesterday at combined odds of 13/2 gave us a boost ahead of the weekend, and we're off to the Netherlands now for our penultimate pick of the week, as Veendam host struggling Almere City at De Langeleegte.

The hosts sit 10th in the Eerste Divisie, and are unbeaten in four of their last five Eerste Divisie outings - a run which will please boss Gert Heerkes ahead of this clash.

And nine goals scored in that time suggests that the Veenkolonialen have the attacking quality to punish their guests, and they will be looking to extend their recent run of three undefeated on the bounce.

The away side go into this game in the midst of a miserable run - and have lost five of their last six games, losing the other, leaving them sitting 13th in the table.

Dick de Boer's side have conceded a whopping 11 goals in four, and worryingly for the Schapenkoppen will be the fact that they have two or three games more than the majority of their rivals this season, so could find themselves cut even further adrift in a few weeks.

And a 5-1 thrashing at De Graafschap last week will have knocked confidence in the away camp in a big way, and the Mitsubishi Forklift Stadion side will be keen to arrest that slump in this clash.

Veendam are unbeaten in four of their last five meetings with their visitors, and with Almere having secured an average points return of just 0.67 against sides in the mid six of the table, I feel that the home side will come out of this one on top.

Bet 1: Veendam (HOME) @ 1.75

Over to France now for our final selection of this week, and Caen travel to Le Mans in impressive form, unbeaten in their last five outings.

Patrice Garande's side have climbed into third place in Ligue 2 following consistently positive results, and now sit just four points from the top of the division as we enter the final third of the campaign.

Three clean sheets on the bounce will have the Normandy side high in confidence ahead of this tie, and 11 unbeaten from their last 13 away from the Stade Michel d'Ornano is an enviable record to say the least.

Garande will be desperate for his side to heap the pressure on the top two by securing another three points in this clash, and they certainly look a decent bet to topple a Le Mans side which is struggle to achieve any kind of consistency at the moment.

Much is being made of the fact that Caen have some players likely to miss out tonight - and the likes of Cuvillier will be a big miss to the visitors, but hotshot forward Mathieu Duhamel will line up this evening.

The hosts have players missing themselves - the likes of Sylla, Thomert, Adenon and Kassai are out - and currently sit just three points outside of the drop zone.

They will be keen to correct a slide which has seen them win just one of their last eight games, and just one clean sheet in that time will ring alarm bells for boss Denis Zanko, who will be hoping that his rearguard can stand up to the pressure and momentum of this Caen side - but three losses from their last four at the MMArena, and eight goals conceded in those six hours of football suggests that those defensive weaknesses could cost the Reds here.

A 3-0 thrashing by Nantes last time out will have knocked morale in the home camp, and the pressure is on the hosts to get back to winning ways here - but unfortunately for them, I can't see past the visitors for the three points.

Bet 2: Caen (AWAY) @ 2.6