Icelandic Football
2012-08-23 - IA Akranes vs Stjarnan Gardabae
A Sports Betting Pick by Cornholio
Football : Icelandic top league - Round 16
Thursday 23 August 2012, Kickoff 18:00
Since Stjarnan played in the Cup final last Saturday this game is being played later than other games in round 16.
The results in recent rounds have been all over the place and it seems that every team is able to beat any other team on a given day in the Championship. Last two rounds had many goals and the first four games in this round also offered many goals with a total of 13 goals.
With the table so tight each win is very important and for the teams involved here a victory will keep them in the battle for a European place.
IA Akranes
IA Akranes dominated the league in the early 90's but have since then not produced a lot. They are newcomers in the top league this season and went on securing their place among the best in the first six rounds where they got four wins and two draws. Then they went on losing four in a row but managed to rise up again losing only once in last five while winning three.
This performance has placed IA Akranes in 5th place with 24 points an an overall of 7-3-5, 24:28. They trail the 3rd place by only two points so a win here could put them in a European place. They seem to have overcome the trouble around their former players, Mark Doninger and Gary Martin, who have left the club for Stjarnan and KR. Their departure doesn‘t seem to be affecting them at all in recent games.
IA got a good win in last round at Keflavik winning 2-3 but had previously beaten Fylkir at home 2-1 bringing their home record to 4 1 2. They have scored 15 of the 24 goals on their home turf. Keeping up their scoring from last two games will certainly give IA Akranes a good hope of getting some in against the poor defence of Stjarnan bringing them closer to the top battle.
Stjarnan Gardabae
After being in pole position to dive themselves into the top battle Stjarnan went on a five games run without a win drawing three and losing last two. Interestingly both losses came after they secured their place in the Cup final. Now that the Cup project is over Stjarnan can fully concentrate on the league hoping to get back on winning track against IA Akranes.
In last round Stjarnan lost at home against Grindavik 3-4 in a game where they made some horrible defencive errors making their manager close to speachless after the game. Before that they lost 1-3 against Keflavik, also at home. In last three games they have conceded a total of ten goals, something not acceptable for a team trying to be in the top battle.
This bad form has dropped Stjarnan to 7th place with 22 points but still just two points behind IA Akranes. Stjarnan‘s overall is 5 7 3, 32:29, and what has kept them going is their ability to score goals and they have the second highest scoring after top placed FH Hafnarfjordur.
Stjarnan have been pretty firm on the road with a 3 3 1 record and they will want to ad another victory to that against IA Akranes since losing that game will certainly move their European dream further away.
Mark Doninger has been strong for them ever since he joined from IA and he will want to show his former team mates what they are missing out on. It will be interesting to see how he performes. With their high scoring Stjarnan should also be able to net some in this game since IA Akranes haven‘t got one of the strongest defences in the league.
A win here could move Stjarnan up to 4th or 5th place keeping their European hopes alive.
Head to head
Only five games since 2000 with 2 wins for IA Akranes and 3 draws. The game at Stjarnan this season resulted in a 1-1 draw but the two before that, both in the small league cup, produced high scorelines of 3-1 and 4-4. Not much to take from this.
The Betting verdict
This one is hard to predict. IA Akranes are pretty firm at home as Stjarnan are away. Both have pretty weak defences, especially Stjarnan. IA Akranes are in a great position to jump very close to the top battle while Stjarnan need a win to compete for that important European place.
With the results being all over the place lately I don‘t like to go for the 1x2 here but instead look at the amount of goals. In last 16 league games we have had an amazing stats of 13 games being over 2.5 goals and in fact 11 going over 3.5.
IA Akranes last two went over 2.5 as did Stjarnan's last three. All but one of Stjarnan‘s away games have been over 2.5 goals and the same goes for Akranes‘ home games so I‘m going for the goals in this one.
The Pick :
IA Akranes 2-2 Stjarnan
