OB-Esbjerg

Friday 20/3 18.30

OB (9th) played a rather poor match last weekend and lost deservedly 2-0 against Brøndby. They failed to adjust their playing style to the poor pitch in Brøndby. When they started to play simpler in the second half, Brøndby were put under pressure. OB have a team with great potential and they should be able to advance during the remainder of this season. This match welcomes the strong midfielder Martin Spelmann back from suspension, and striker Thomas Dalgaard is finally starting to look fit after his rib injury. This might lead to a formation change to a 4-4-2 to use all OB’s strong attacking weapons at once (Falk, Larsen, Zohore and Dalgaard). Esbjerg (10th) are experiencing a miserable period. They have lost three league matches in a row and have played poorly (tough opponents though). Adding to insult, the strongest player in recent matches, midfielder Jeppe Andersen, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the last match, while strong left back Jonas Knudsen is out with a shoulder injury. Esbjerg have no other left backs in the squad and will be forced to use a central defender instead (Stenderup or Almebäck). Esbjerg will probably also have to do without their charismatic head coach, Niels Frederiksen, who was expelled from the last match after kicking some water bottles. In total, the situation looks grim for a Esbjerg team low on morale.

OB are free of absences and face a demoralised Esbjerg team. Esbjerg still have many fine players, but OB have to be clear favourites here. The potential to use the four strong offensive weapons at once, should be concerning for a Esbjerg defence that has not looked compelling in 2015.

Recommendation: 1 (AH -0.25) – 2.10 at Bet365

UPDATE: OB striker Zohore suffered a knee injury during the week, and is almost certainly out for the match. A tough blow, since a new striker duo with him and Dalgaard was in store. Instead, OB will probably field their usual 3-4-3 formation with Dalgaard on top instead of Zohore. No longer much value left with the odds at 2.05 at Bet365. 

UPDATE v2: OB maybe also with out energetic right midfielder Desler. He has been strong recently, so not good. However, Esbjerg will be without their striker Rise, the only dangerous player in the squad currently, and the odds have risen on OB. Looks like a good bet right now.