This week sees the final hurdle in qualifying for the Champions League, and there’s plenty on the line. There’s a huge jackpot available for sides who book a place in the competition, and surely Manchester City and Celtic can book their way through? They have huge leads going into the play-off second legs on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Aside from their clashes, there are plenty more top European sides in action, some of whom couldn’t have imagined going out of the competition so early.
The play-offs give us some early midweek clashes in Europe, and there are a varied range of games. From City’s massive mismatch against Steaua to clashes which are hanging in the balance. Last week’s first legs saw more than a few high scoring games, as sides are only starting to get in the new season groove. Ahead of these massive games, we’ve picked out our latest both teams to score bets, and we’re expecting another high scoring round this week.
Tuesday 23rd August 2016
- Hapoel Beer Sheva v Celtic (7/10 with Coral) – These two traded quite a few goals when they met in Glasgow last week. Hapoel really have to go for it in this game, as they trail 5-2 from the first leg. This one looks set to be another high scoring encounter.
- Monaco v Villarreal (10/11 with Ladbrokes) – Villarreal are a mess, but they face a Monaco side who are weak at the back. While the Ligue 1 side should finish off the job here and qualify, they’ve got a poor defensive record and we aren’t backing them to keep a clean sheet.
- Roma v Porto (10/11 with Betfair) – We’ve see the top Italian sides weakened this summer, as Juventus hoover up all of Serie A’s top talent. While Roma are a good side, they have defensive issues, and that has us backing BTTS in this one.
Wednesday 24th August 2016
- APOEL Nicosia v Copenhagen (evens with Bet365) – APOEL need to turn around a first leg defeat, which should give Copenhagen chances on the counter. The Cypriots have hit three goals in their last two at home in this completion, so we are confident both sides will score.
- Rostov v Ajax (13/15 with 888Sport) – Ajax drew 1-1 in their first leg, but they did that in the last round too. They needed a big away performance, and we see them repeating that against a Rostov side who are strong at home.
- Manchester City v Steaua Bucharest (11/8 with Betfair) – Man City are 5-0 up here, and that could lead them taking their eye off the ball. We think Steaua might sneak a consolation goal in this second leg.
- Salzburg v Dinamo Zagreb (Evens with Bet365) – The first meeting between these two finished 1-1, and we can see Zagreb getting an away goal against Oscar Garcia’s Salzburg side.