All posts · page 100

Two home sides, two opponents with holes at the back. In both games the team with the ball also has the clearer route to goals, while the visitors rely on counters and set pieces.

Two very different shapes in this pair. In Japan, a draw-prone home side meets a team that leaks goals nearly every week. In the Netherlands, two strong attacking teams meet with their defensive and midfield cover both thinned out.

Christian Ilzer says Hoffenheim want to press Leverkusen early and break their momentum. The awkward part is who has the legs for it. Hoffenheim needed a proper performance to beat Lyon 3-0 in midweek, Bambasé Conté came off early in that game and is a doubt, and Wimmer and De Cat were already out. Leverkusen made five changes for their 2-0 at OFI Crete, so Flekken, Tapsoba, Diaby and Maza are likely back fresh, and the side being pressed may well be fresher than the side doing the pressing.

Two matches built on leaky defences at both ends. Anfield and Sittard both feature sides that concede chances in volume while still producing goals of their own.

Two matches where the stronger side holds a concrete edge in how the game is set up. In Yokohama the pitching matchup and bullpen workload lean one way, and at Hull the gap in shot quality and defensive depth is wide.

Two very different matches, both decided by who controls the ball and the late innings or possessions. In Tokyo, an unbeaten away side built on pressure faces a home team in the middle of a dense week. In Yokohama, a Japan Series Game 2 pits a deep, high-scoring lineup against an offence that has been scraping runs.

Three Turkish women's volleyball matches where the question is how many sets the favourite really drops. The sets tend to be closer than the table suggests.

VakıfBank’s comeback against Eczacıbaşı is a better clue for the Galatasaray match than a string of wins. They lost the first two sets, then found a way back with blocking and stronger scoring from Markova and Boskovic. Galatasaray have shown they can stay in long matches too, so I’d watch who controls the first stretch after a lost set rather than assume an early lead decides this one.

The BayStars–Hawks opener took eleven innings, so the rematch starts with a relief-pitching question as well as a fresh scorecard. DeNA tied it on Shugo Maki’s late homer, then needed seven pitchers before SoftBank broke through in extras. I’m watching which lineup makes the opposing manager reach for the bullpen first; that choice may matter more after the long opener.

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