FI Weekly Mag Issue 010 - 08/07/19

Issue 10 08/07/19

Weekly Magazine Unofficial Weekly Magazine for Football Index Traders

Can Anyone Topple Juventus in Serie A? Juventus continue to steamroll their way to the Serie A title, aiming to lift a record 9th in a row in 2020. Can anyone stop them?

Never in the history of the top 5 European Leagues has there been a spell of dominance like Juventus are currently enjoying in Serie A. They head in to the 2019/20 season on the back of an unprecedented 8th title win in a row; the best consecutive run of titles in England, Spain, Germany, France or Italy. Worryingly for their rivals, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would bet against them making it 9.

The Old Lady are one of the biggest clubs in world football. In Italy alone, it is estimated that around a third of all supporters follow the Turin club. Since recovering from the Calciopoli scandal that saw them relegated to Serie B back in 2006, they have steamrolled their way back to the top as the dominant force in Italian football. Their squad boasts the perfect blend of talented

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can be subdued by the appointment of Maurizio Sarri; a man responsbile for pushing Juventus with an exciting brand of football at Napoli, before an apparently unsuccessful season at Chelsea Martinez Icardi Current Price Current Price that saw him win the Europa League, reach £1.38 £1.51 the final of the League Cup and finish 3rd in the league. youth prospects (Moise Kean, Given that the club are £2.24, and Rodrigo Bentancur, likely to flex their muscles £0.77), superstars just hitting further this summer with a or in their prime (Paulo big-money signing - rumours Dybala, £2.66, and Miralem continue to circulate that Paul Pjanic, £1.28) and legends of Pogba (£6.85) may be set for the game (Cristiano Ronaldo, a return to the club - it is hard £2.66, and Giorgio Chiellini, to see anyone trumping them £0.34). over the course of 38 games.

And they continue to Napoli’s second-placed strengthen their team; already finish last season masks what this summer, they have was their worst points return brought in Aaron Ramsey since 2015. Third-placed (£1.19), Adrien Rabiot (£1.16) Atalanta, meanwhile, were and returning legend Gianluigi a surprise package, securing Buffon (£0.36); remarkably, their highest ever league finish without spending a penny on and their first appearance in transfer fees. the Champions League.

Additionally, any fears It could therefore come that Massimoiliano Allergri’s down to the Milan clubs, Inter departure could hinder the club and AC, who have flattered

Bad Week

Lionel Messi: International success eludes him once again as Argentina were beaten in the semi-finals of the Copa America to fierce rivals Brazil. To make things worse, he was (unfairly) sent-off in the 3rd place play-off.

to deceive in recent years yet may very slowly be building the foundations to make the race for the Serie A title competitive once again.

Having both been bolstered by new investment from the East in recent years, both teams have splashed the cash to get their teams back to the levels they were at throughout the 2000s.

The Nerazzurri boast a fierce Argentine attack consisting of the controversial Mauro Icardi and wonderkid Lautaro Martinez, who appears to be slowly finding his feet. They have also been bolstered at the back by the free signing of Diego Godin (£0.40), who’s experience could be invaluable alongside talented youngster Milan Skriniar (£0.94).

The Rossoneri, meanwhile, haven’t held back when it comes to writing cheques; so much so, the club will be banned from European football this season. (Something that could actually strengthen their fight in Serie A, given the question marks that continue to be raised against playing Thursday night football in the Europa League.)

Good Week

Frank Lampard: After what should be deemed a relative success in the first season of his managerial career, Lampard returns to Stamford Bridge. With the transfer ban, he should be given more time than others.

Whilst such sanctions may have witheld them from spending huge amounts this summer (albeit signing Theo Hernandez, £0.53, and Franck Kessie, £0.93, for £20m each). their signings from January could play a key part in their fortunes this season.

Krzysztof Piatek continued his good form at Genoa by hitting a goal every other game for Milan, whilst Lucas Paqueta (£1.18) has shown flashes of brilliance as he looks to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Kaka at the San Siro.

It’s likely that this season, and quite probably the one after that too, will still be Juventus’ for the taking. But as the Turin giants look to end their long wait to lift the Champions League, Serie A is slowly rising again after a difficult spell; and two-thirds of the country will be hoping this means a new champion.

Piatek Current Price

£1.37

Dividend Winners 01/07 - 07/07

01/07/19 5 x Media Day Media Buzz (First to Fifth) 1030 Neymar 840 Marcus Rashford 790 Wilfried Zaha 400 Sadio Mane 330 Paul Pogba

05/07/19 5 x Media Day Media Buzz (First to Fifth) 920 Paul Pogba 600 Neymar 370 Bruno Fernandes 330 Matthijs de Ligt Antoine Griezmann 320

02/07/19 5 x Media Day Media Buzz (First to Fifth) 1300 Harry Maguire 920 Wilfried Zaha Neymar 510 490 Tanguy NDombele 420 Jack Clarke

06/07/19 5 x Media Day Media Buzz (First to Fifth) 640 Paul Pogba 510 Wilfried Zaha Harry Maguire 500 470 Matthijs de Ligt 340 Lionel Messi

03/07/19 5 x Media Day Media Buzz (First to Fifth) 750 Lionel Messi 600 Wilfried Zaha 580 Harry Maguire 390 Neymar 340 Bruno Fernandes

07/07/19 5 x Media Day Media Buzz (First to Fifth) 900 Paul Pogba 440 Harry Maguire 410 Gabriel Jesus 290 Lionel Messi 260 Wilfried Zaha

04/07/19 5 x Media Day Media Buzz (First to Fifth) Harry Maguire 670 Christian Pulisic 580 Paul Pogba 550 Tanguy NDombele 410 Wilfried Zaha 380

This Week 5 x Media all week ALL SUMMER! Footie: 104,966

-1,319

Football Index Guru

Guest Blog

Football Index Guru has been on Football Index since May 2018 and has a 67% ROI. Over the course of the summer, he will feature in a weekly guest blog. You can follow him on Twitter @IndexGuru.

Part 2 of Football Index Guru’s focus on Real Madrid’s summer transfers. If you haven’t read part 1, make sure you catch it in last week’s issue! (Issue 9.)

For Real Madrid the 2018/19 season was one of the most disappointing in recent history.

For a club of such magnitude, such poor league form that has seen them win only one title in the last seven years would normally seem like a serious failure. However, this form was brushed aside a little by winning 4 Champions League titles in this time including 3 in a row from 2016-2018. Last season the Champions League exit in the round of 16 to a young Ajax side showed that with their weakness in the league, a lot was left to be desired in the club since the unexpected departures of talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and manager Zinedine Zidane at the end of the 17/18 season. Zidane has since returned to the club and has made 5 huge big-money signings to try and make up the 8-point deficit to local rivals Atletico Madrid and the 19-point gap with Barcelona as they seek to lift the clubs’ 34th La Liga title in the 19/20 season. Let’s take a look at these signings and how they might compare to the players who have similar roles at there already.

Eder Militao: £45m (£0.92) Another defender that has signed for Madrid this summer, though for this young, versatile defender it may be difficult to see where he gets into the team regularly. The 21-year-old has been very impressive, playing at both centre back (26 appearances) and right back (12 appearances). With club captain Sergio Ramos (£1.01) and Raphael Varane (£0.71) at the back, I feel that Eder Militao could make his way into the Real Madrid squad at right back; so I will compare his stats to Dani Carvajal (£0.73). Militao seems to offer great attacking contributions having mostly played in the centre at Porto with 5 goals and 1 assist. In defence he has averaged 2.1 tackles a game compared to Carvajal’s 1.7. He also averages double the amount of interceptions as Carvajal with 2.2 and in the Champions League has averaged 4.4 clearances per game compared to 1.5 for Carvajal. For a limited selection of PB games Militao has produced some strong scores with a PB average of 86.95 and a max score of 160.

Luka Jovic: £54m (£2.48) Moving into the attacking positions we are looking at the area that Madrid have struggled since the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo. Zidane has looked to Serbian forward Jovic to try and get the missing goals and you can see why with the 21-year-old scoring 27 goals in his 46

appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt. Compared to Karim Benzema (£0.58), Jovic takes more shots (3.3 v 2.8) per game. An area of his game that he may need to develop is his supply play for others around him. Being a typical poacher, this isn’t something he does a lot, only providing 0.8 key passes again compared to Benzema’s 1.3. With passes being a key part of the scoring matrix Jovic’s PB average suffers because he doesn’t supply a lot at 66.92 compared to Benzema’s average of 80.23.

However, when Jovic picks up the goals his scores begin to fly with his PB max of 325. Under £2.50 Jovic could be a great asset for IPDs or if he strings a few goals together in the same game he could create another huge score like he did this season.

Eden Hazard: £90m (£4.48) The signing that has felt like it has been coming for years has finally been completed. When Christian Pulisic joined Chelsea in January with their upcoming transfer ban it was always expected that Hazard might make his dream move to the Bernabeu. Following the Europa League final when Hazard said he would be looking for a new challenge there was only one place that he would go. What can be said about the talent that Eden Hazard presents? When it comes to competing with hopeful pro golfer Gareth Bale this is the biggest improvement in the Madrid squad. Last season Hazard scored 16 goals and provided 15 assists; compared to Bale’s 8 goals and 3 assists this could see Real moving well up the table. His stats are all incredibly high in the attacking department with 2.6 key passes a game (Bale: 0.6), 3.7 dribbles (Bale: 0.8) and being fouled 2.8 times a game (Bale: 0.8) he could really turn around the Real Madrid attack. It is hard to know what could come from this Real Madrid this season but if all 5 of these players make the kind of impact that the players they are replacing are lacking then the La Liga push that they have been craving for years could be a reality: unless Barcelona begin to make some similar improvements.

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