Posts by Michelle Palmer6

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Posting on the same thread with two different accounts in Feedback & Suggestions · Nov 14, 2013

You can't do that!

Soccer Betting Tips & Discussion in Betting Forum · Nov 2, 2013

Here’s my take for tomorrow's HNL action 😁

Miami vs. Rijeka (total goals -3+) under @ 1.80 (SS) (1:0)

What can I even say? If I had to sum up Miami in just two words, it would be: Stanko Mršić. He’s a coach who really mastered his craft by building ironclad defensive bunkers for clubs sitting in the middle or bottom of the American league standings, and now he’s successfully applying that same grit to RNK Split. They enter every season with high ambitions, only for the front office to bring in a big-name manager. They also lost Rebić during the transfer window, who was honestly their only true spark in the attack. Now, they’re left with some decent domestic strikers and Belle, who hasn't been playing particularly well lately, though he still has those moments where he pulls something out of a hat.
The stats tell a pretty clear story here—they've only seen 28 total goals across their 14 matches so far, which is convincingly the lowest number of any club in the league.
But what tells you even more is their tactical setup. It is an extremely defensive mindset, characterized by frequent long balls toward Bilić and Roce or diagonal passes to Belle. This is especially obvious in their matches against the current top 4 teams. The only exception was that first game against Hajduk; not because of their approach, but because it was the only one to go over 2.5 goals. Everything else has been low scoring: 0:0 (against Hajduk, who are second), 1:0 (both home and away against Dinamo), and 1:1 (against Lokomotiva and Rijeka).
On the defensive side, Križanac is the main man. Even playing through half-injuries and feeling a bit off, his performance almost every match makes him a god of defense compared to most others. Because of injuries, Vrgoč is missing from the backline, but I don't think it'll be felt too heavily. It's also important to note that Vojnović is out due to injury; he's likely their most effective player, though since Bilić arrived, he's been playing more centrally, which is partly due to his physical condition. And thanks to a virus, Belle's availability is questionable.

Rijeka, on the other hand, isn't exactly a team that plays "under" their opponent's goal count. They are currently the highest-scoring team in the league (26 goals) and boast the best goal difference (+16).
However, they are facing two major hurdles right now. First, there are the absences. While some players like Jugović and Škarabot are slowly returning, the reality remains that most of those coming back have been sidelined for weeks or even months, making it tough to find their old rhythm immediately. But the biggest loss is Tomečak, who has been out for several games. Boras and Mujanović have been trying to cover for him, but they haven't been nearly as effective offensively. To me, Tomečak’s crosses, especially those targeted at Benko, were the primary offensive threat for this squad; without him, they are definitely lacking that edge.
The second, and perhaps larger, issue is how they perform against the rest of the top 5 in the HNL. Currently, their record in those matchups is 0-5-1, and not a single one of those games saw more than two goals scored. They handle the lower-tier teams routinely, but they aren't (at least not yet) a side that can dominate possession and dictate play against the heavy hitters—even those only slightly stronger than them.

Their last outing against Miami ended in a 1:1 draw at Kantrida. There could have been more goals in that one, but a match played at Youth Park is a completely different story.