FOOTBALL
Oh yes, this cheerleader is down with our Champions League Treble
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING PREVIEW
Oh yes, this cheerleader is down with our Champions League Treble
Makedonija v BATE Borisov – BATE win @ 2.10
Pyunik v Dinamo Zagreb – DINAMO win @ 1.67
EB Streymur v APOEL Nicosia – APOEL win @ 1.40
COMBINED ODDS – 4.91
We’re only in mid July nevertheless the Champions League qualifying games are already in full swing. The competition kicked off with the game between Sant Julia and Tre Fiori a fortnight ago and now we come to the phase where some half-decent teams enter the competition. For instance BATE Borisov were in the group stages last year where they even mananged two draws with Italian giants Juventus. Dinamo Zagreb also have a rich pedigree having won the UEFA Cup in their day as well as grooming Premiership talent like Eduardo Da Silva, Vedran Corluka and Luka Modric in recent years.
Paddy Power offer great odds and also give you the chance to win £1000 EVERY SINGLE MONTH. Don’t miss out - sign up here!
If you do have a bet remember that you can also check up on all the results and fixtures throughout the footballing world via our LIVESCORES option. For detailed reasoning behind today’s picks please read on..
We begin our predictions with the game between Macedonian champions FK Makedonija and their Belarus counterparts BATE from Borisov. BATE made a big splash in last year’s competition having drawn with Juventus both home and away as well as holding Russian champions and then current UEFA Cup holders Zenit to a 1-1 draw in Russia. BATE have continued where they left off last year and are top of their domestic league and they have 6 wins out of 6 on the road. Their hosts on Tuesday are definately the best team in Macedonia however, that won’t be enough to contain BATE. Although Macedonian and Belarus football is on a similar level there is one big difference and that is in the number of players from these respective teams that actually play for the national team. Not a single member of the FK Makedonija squad is a full international whilst 8 members of the BATE squad have been capped by Belarus in the last year. Therefore we suggest a quick click on the BETFAIR link which provides the best odds for the away win at odds of 2.10.
Our second game is between EB Streymur, the Faroe champions and APOEL Nicosia who won last season’s Cypriot league. APOEL are the big favourites in this clash however, this is a certain away victory and it is worth having a flutter despite the relativley low odds of 1.40. APOEL won the Cypriot league ahead of Anorthosis Famagusta who were unlucky not to enter the second group phase of last year’s Champions league. Anorthosis beat Werder Bremen, Olympiakos and Panathinaikos last season as well as drawing 3-3 with Mourinho’s Inter Milan. APOEL have full internationals like Poland’s Kamil Kosowski in their squad and they’ll routinely dispose off their lowly hosts. For this games the best odds are being offered by GAMEBOOKERS, just click on the blue link to have a wager on this fixture.
LUKA MODRIC CELEBRATING A GOAL IN HIS DINAMO ZAGREB DAYS
Our final game sees Pyunik of Armenia take on the Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb. As I’ve already mentioned in the introduction to this article, Dinamo Zagreb has a rich tradition of bringing talented youngsters through their youth ranks. Full internationals like Ivica Olic (currently with Bayern Munich) as well as the aforementioned Da Silva (Arsenal), Corluka and Modric (Spurs) have all worn the blue kit of Dinamo in the last few years. This season Dinamo have managed to keep hold off last season’s top scorer Mario Mandzukic who incidentally scored on his international debut against England whilst adding Greek international forward Dimi Papadopoulos to the squad. A rear-guard marshalled by experienced goalkeeper Tomo Butina as well as international defenders Igor Biscan and Robert Kovac (Kovac will miss the game due to injury) should be enough to contain the Armenian champions who although determined and rugged won’t have enough skill or guile to defeat the Croatians. The best odds for this clash are avilable with PADDYPOWER who are offering odds of 1.67.
