Will Bohemians continue their European chase on Friday night? They head south to Waterford this weekend, aiming to continue the chase for a top three finish and Europa League football. However, the Bohs had gone through a rough patch, leading to questions about their ability to keep the pace at the top of the table. That’s left the Dubliners attempting to show their talents, but can their recent turnaround survive this weekend’s visit to the Blues?
The hosts are set to miss out on European football, despite their top four finish last term. They had taken fourth spot, but UEFA rejected their bid for a European license. That allowed fifth-placed St Pats into the European mix, with their opening game in the Europa League coming early in July. Waterford’s chances of making it into Europe next term also seem slim, as they now sit down in eighth, just a place above the relegation slots. While they have a 19 point lead over ninth, Waterford have still fallen quite a way from last term.
Bohemians are chasing European football of their own after their title chase faded. They are in third as things stand, sitting 12 points off the top of the table. However, the Bohs do have a six-point lead over Derry City in fourth, so as things stand Keith Long’s team are on the right track. They have established that lead thanks to an improvement in form in recent weeks, as they’ve now won three matches on the bounce.
Uganda were able to get their Africa Cup of Nations campaign off to a fine start, claiming a 2-0 victory over DR Congo in the opening weekend. With as many as three sides potentially going through from this group, that’s left the Ugandans in a strong position ahead of this midweek clash with Zimbabwe. They come into the game as favourites, while they know another victory would see them ease into the next round with a round to spare. Can Uganda get themselves into the last 16?
It would be Uganda’s first game past the group stage in the Africa Cup of Nations since 1978 were they to win this clash. Uganda were runners-up in Ghana that year, but they weren’t able to return until 2017 when they left the competition at the group stage. With a win to their name Uganda have already outstripped their display in 2017, but can they kick on from here and record back to back victories in Egypt?
In what is a huge game for both sides, the fact that a draw would be enough for both to qualify could mean that neither really opens up.
Hosts Italy currently occupy the best runner-up spot so the local support within the stadium could turn on the players if they feel both teams are playing for a point.
France haven't performed particularly well for large parts of their matches so far and will need to improve to beat a Romania side that have scored eight times and are fast becoming a dark horse to go all the way.
Croatia’s youngsters have a high bar to reach, as they approach the tournament following the success of the senior side 12 months ago. They were able to make the World Cup final, while their place at this tournament does suggest that young talents are on their way up in Croatia. While there are problems behind the scenes in the Croatian setup, but they’ve still produced talents like defender Duje Caleta-Car, midfielder Nikola Vlasic and attacker Alen Halilovic. While they have a balanced side ahead of this tournament, it was their defending which brought them here.
Croatia made it through their qualifying group having let in only five goals across their 10 matches. They were able to win to nil in six of those games, so we expect them to keep things tight when they meet Romania on Tuesday. They have the talents within their side to play a possession-based game, while they are likely to rely on patient build-up play with Romania likely to be solid too.
At home in the Nations League, Iceland were no strangers to goal-filled games, as each of their two games in front of a home crowd produced three goals. There was also an average of 3.57 expected goals in Iceland’s home games in that competition.
When we put all the pieces together, the chances of goals arriving at Laugardalsvöllur appear to be slightly greater than the current odds suggest, so a bet on ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ represents a smidgen of value.
In the absence of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus represents Brazil’s most likely source of goals up front, but midfielder Philippe Coutinho is a creator and scorer of goals for his country. Romell Quioto has 9 goals in 43 appearances for Honduras, but is likely to be starved of service this weekend against a mean Brazil defence. We’re confident that Brazil will win to nil and have predicted a final score of 2-0. The hosts don’t tend to score a lot of goals these days, but they do have a really good record of clean sheets and should be able to deal with anything Honduras have to throw at them.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds will be desperate for some silverware following the superb season they have had and I believe they have too much quality for Spurs all over the pitch.
Which one of these two sides will make it to the top flight next season? The Serie B promotion playoffs have been whittled down from six to two, leaving Cittadella and Hellas Verona fighting for a top-flight place. The pair have defied the odds to be here, but they are aiming for one last push to make it into to the top flight. So, will it be the hosts who take the first leg advantage, or can Hellas Verona boost their chances of an immediate return to top flight football?
Cittadella come into the final as the outsiders, especially given that they’re away from home in the second leg. On top of that, they’ve never made it into the top flight before, so this would be an incredible feat for the hosts to get over the line in this week’s playoff final. They are aiming to build on a solid campaign which saw them finish in seventh place, bumped up from eighth thanks to the penalties applied to Palermo.
Hellas Verona finished just a place ahead of Cittadella, so it’s set to be a tight tie, despite the Verona side approaching this clash as the favourites. They make this trip just two games from a speedy return to Serie A. Last term they finished 19th in the top flight, but Verona are pushing to bounce back. They have the chance to become Verona’s sole side in the top division, with Chievo disappointing as they were dumped out of Serie A this term. Will Hellas Verona pass their old rivals in their move up the ranks?
Arsenal impressed in the latter stages of the knockout rounds by overcoming Napoli and Valencia with convincing displays as they went one better than last season when crashing out in the semis under Arsene Wenger.
Chelsea have proven pedigree in UEFA's secondary competition, having gone all the way in their only previous participation in 2013, though they have some injury problems to contend with.
Only two points and two places separated the sides at the end of the regular campaign so a tight match can be expected in Baku. We are tipping this one to finish all square, and then it comes down to a battle of nerves from the penalty spot - something Chelsea have more recent experience with, which could prove telling.
Ultimately, though they are a goal down, Independiente are still big favourites to win the tie and should have more than enough to come back against a Rionegro outfit that hasn’t won a single away game in their last 15 attempts. The hosts cannot afford to slip up, given the backlash they will receive if they do so and thus, they will arrive fully motivated to turn the tie around.
All things considered, we can’t look beyond Independiente and feel that backing them on the -1 handicap looks to provide good value. It’s one thing for Rionegro to beat them on their own patch, but the Colombians aren’t likely to have the resolves needed to hang on and we think the hosts will run out 2-0 winners. Independiente have won 5 of their last 6 Copa Sudamericana home ties by more than a single goal and that’s a streak that should continue here.
This match up looks like one of the standout games in Serie A this weekend and it should be very entertaining to watch. Both teams have talented attacking players in abundance and with it not in either’s nature to sit back, an open and end to end 90 minutes should be in order.
All things considered, backing both teams to score looks the best way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going at current prices. Santos are scoring goals for fun on home soil but with Internacional a potent force themselves, it’s hard to see either team keeping a clean sheet and a 2-2 draw that would build on a run that has seen both nets hit in 3 of Internacional’s last 4 games looks on the cards.
From a betting point of view, there are two angles of attack. Firstly ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ stands out. Neither side has given a great deal away in their respective home and away games, so it’s easy to feel that a lack of goals is slightly more likely than the current odds suggest. After all, the hosts have shipped an average of just 0.69 goals at home, while the visitors have surrendered only 0.56 on the road.
Secondly, it’s hard to avoid a small punt on the visitors getting a positive result at the prices. Gala have offered plenty going forward on their own patch, while they’re very tough to beat, though they’re up against one hell of a defence. Moreover, if anyone is going to go to Türk Telekom Arena and deliver a smash-and-grab, then it’s Basaksehir, who’re no strangers to defending well before stealing a goal. Given that they’ve conceded both less goals and less expected goals away from home than the hosts have a home, ‘Basaksehir Draw No Bet’ is worth a go.
Waterford should boost their fourth place ambitions this weekend, having picked up a huge result in their last trip. They won 3-0 at St Patrick’s, which saw them close the gap on the fifth-placed outfit. In order to keep closing the gap, they need to start turning draws into wins. However, scoring three goals in each of their last two matches suggests they now have the firepower to pull that off.
Waterford are heading to a Fin Harps side which has lost six times at home in eight games this season. The hosts have lost 11 times overall, while three of their last four games here have been defeats. The visitors should be able to add to their opponent’s poor home form, while we think that Waterford are well priced for the win, given how poor Finn Harps have been at home this term.
Arsenal’s only chance of playing Champions League football next season now rests solely on Europa League success. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s late goal last week has put Arsenal in the driving seat for the tie.
Valencia are unbeaten in their last 12 Europa League matches at the Mestalla – a run stretching back to 2013. It’s worth pointing out that they have lost three Champions League games at home in that period.
Valencia scored a vital away goal in London and are by no means out the tie, although they will need to adopt an entirely different approach in the second leg.
New York City FC haven't lost in their last six matches.
Philadelphia have only lost one match in their last six.
New York have won four out of the last five meetings against Philadelphia.