These matches will see us reach the half way point of the inaugural Matchday Matrix.
Yesterday's fixtures were tough and unlike the 3 that came before, didn't provide an opportunity for a perfect score. We did however have our first match (Everton v Man City) that guaranteed a win on any of the 5 outcomes you happened to choose!
I don't think we'll be able to give such a match this evening...
We've got some real challenges for you in round 5 with matches from leagues I'm pretty sure many of you will never have watched!
Arsenal v Atletico
The first of the Champions League semi finals and some might say simply an appetizer for the fixture to come tomorrow night...
1-1 from the first leg puts the Gunners in a strong position. They've already beaten this Atletico side 4-0 here earlier in the season while Simeone's team more generally doesn't have a great record on English soil with 6 losses from their last 7 visits.
I'd expect it to be a bit tighter than their previous encounter in North London. BTTS and over 2.5 odds are both hovering around the 1.85 mark but odds on the draw are still out at 4.00.
There were only 7 corners in the fist leg and just 1 of those Arsenal. I'd expect them to generate more this time around but over 10.5 corners is still out at odds of 2.1.
Surprisingly in a game where 2 penalties were conceded and 18 fouls total committed we had just 1 yellow card. Over 3.5 in this match might be one to look at though with odds of 1.44
Dunfermline Athletic v Arbroath
We're back to Scotland this time for 2 sides battling for the opportunity to join the SPL via the Championship playoffs.
I have a friend who is an Arbroath supporter. Did you know that their home ground, Gayfield Park, is closer to the sea than any other professional football stadium in Europe. On a particularly rough day, the waves come over the wall at one end of the ground!
These 2 sides will meet each other 3 times in the space of a week having played out a 0-0 draw in their final league match against each other on Friday just gone before the first leg of the playoffs tonight.
Historically, those kind of runs against the same team don't tend to produce lots of goals particularly when you add knockout football into the equation too. Odds of another draw are 3.10
That being said there were 14 goals in the 3 matches prior to last Friday's nil nil that these 2 have played against each other this season. Suffice to say they know each other well! Odds on it being an open game are BTTS 1.73 and over 2.5 goals 1.91.
The game on Friday produced a whopping 16 corners. Can MM players get a repeat of that outcome?
3 of last 8 games featuring these 2 sides have produced 3.5 yellow cards or more. Might we get a bit more needle in this one given what's at stake?
Al Khaleej vs Al Hilal
I'll be honest, I find it very difficult to remember which club is which in the Saudi Pro League given that 16 out of 18 the clubs start with 'Al'.
What's easier to remember is the players who jumped ship from European football to chase their millions in the SPL.
This then in the AL Hilal of Karim Benzema, Darwin Núñez, João Cancelo, Rúben Neves, Theo Hernández, Kalidou Koulibaly and many more familiar names. Up against Al Khaleej whose star overseas import is former United and Bournemouth forward Josh King.
One of these teams is 2nd in the league, one is 11th. I'll let you guess which...
For Al Hilal though it is a crunch match and an opporunity to take advantage of top placed Al-Nassr's (that's CR7's team) slip-up on Sunday and cut the gap to them to just 2 points with 3 games to play. Those 2 powerhouses of the Saudi Pro League actually play each other next Tuesday in what might be a championship decider.
This is a game between 2 sides who know how to find the back of the net. Al Hilal have done so 79 times in their 30 games to date while Al Khaleej are no slouches either, 51 goals in their 30 this season. BTTS is 1.65 but over 2.5 goals is a very appealing 1.30!
I'm afraid that I don't have season long stats on the likes of corners and cards at my finger tips for this league so you might just have to take a punt. Looking at Al Hilal's most recent matches there have been plenty of corners, not so many yellow cards.
Gnistan v Inter Turku
From Saudi Arabia to Finland!
Inter Turku, unbeaten in their first 5 matches of the Finnish season, have the opportunity to go top against a Gnistan side who are winless to date and sit bottom with just a solitary point.
The mismatch opens up the possibility of Inter Turku racking up a few goals but it's also worth noting that in 9 matches total this season, these 2 have produced just 8 goals. The bookies seem to understand this too with odds of 1.67 on BTTS and 1.70 on over 2.5 goals.
However, it's not for lack of trying, at least as far as generating set pieces opportunities. Inter Turku are generating 7.6 corners for per game for an average total of 11.20. Gnistan matches average bang on 10.5 corners per game.
Gnistan picked up 6 yellows themselves last time out (9 match total) but Inter Turku's games have been far calmer. None of their 5 matches to date have exceeded the 3.5 yellow mark.
Magesi v Orbit College
We're clocking up some serious air miles today. From Finland to South Africa and a relegation battle to stay in the top flight.
Orbit College are bottom of the league 20 points. Magesi are 3rd bottom on 21 points and until recently looked dead and buried. However, 2 wins in their last 5 have pulled them out of the relegation zone.
If you were hoping for high scoring exciting football then you should probably look elsewhere. These 2 sides have generated 22 and 19 goals respectively from 26 games this season.
Given all that, we are presented with that rare opportunity to go for a draw at odds of under 2/1. This game to finish in a stalemate is 2.75
Matchday Matrix Standings
As noted above, everyone was guaranteed a point yesterday by the Everton v City match, even me who otherwise had an absolute disaster of a round!
The highest score in the round was a 5 but I'd see that as a major win - the equivalent of grinding out a result on a wet and windy night at Stoke (does that analogy still hold value?). I think this afternoon will be similar and these next couple of rounds will separate the men from the boys.
| Place | Account | Previous Round Score | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 4 | 19 |
| 1 |  | 5 | 19 |
| 3 |  | 4 | 18 |
| 4 |  | 2 | 17 |
| 4 |  | 3 | 17 |
| 4 |  | 5 | 17 |
| 7 |  | 2 | 16 |
| 7 |  | 3 | 16 |
| 9 |  | 3 | 15 |
| 10 |  | 1 | 14 |
| 11 |  | 3 | 12 |
The round closes at 5pm (BST) today!