Playing on the road in Europa League qualifying hasn’t exactly been kind to Runavik, who since 2010, have lost seven travelling matches in UEL qualifying. They have played some good sides during that time, though they’ve also faced low-level opposition such as Linfield (Northern Ireland), Gefle, Shakhtyor (Belarus) (Sweden) and Differdange 03 (Luxembourg).
From a betting point of view, this is no easy fixture to assess and is thus not a game to get seriously involved in. One bet that may be worth a small play at the prices is ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’. Both will be keen to get something ahead of the second leg, while both are known for being involved in high-scoring matches in their respective leagues. Moreover, for all Runavik have conceded a lot of goals when playing away from home in UEL qualifying, even against weak opposition, they have scored in each of their last two away, notching against Minsk in 2017 and Hibernian in 2018.
Egypt come into this game having won four of their last five meetings with DR Congo, so we expect them to claim a victory. However, their recent tournament record marks them out as a low-scoring side. They’ve also seen fewer than three goals in four of their last five matches, which means we see value in backing Egypt and under 3.5 goals.
Both Croatia and Romania get their campaigns underway at the Under 21 European Championships on Tuesday, with these two sides aiming to cause a shock this summer. The pair have landed a place in Group C alongside England and France, so their chances of making it through the group and into the semi-finals seem slim. Despite that, these two sides have done well to make it this far, while things could get even better for one of them in this encounter.
Romania are making their first appearance in over 20 years, while this is their second time at this tournament. Romania were quarter-finalists in 1998, but they return to the tournament this week aiming for another impressive run. After all, the senior side are trying to return to the European Championships next summer, while some of these Romania players could be included in that group if they can impress in Italy this month.
If there is anywhere that is a concern for Roberto Martinez, it’s the defence. Belgium have a high scoring home record, but their defence isn’t unbreakable. With Scotland in good form going forward we see them faring better than their 4-0 home loss to Belgium in the Autumn. We’re going with both teams to score as our tip for this clash.
However, while the visitors aren’t the easiest side to get the better of, their overall numbers make them tough to fancy in the betting. Not only have Lugo scored just 0.65 goals on average away from home this season, but they also average just 0.7 expected goals for. In contrast, Gimnastic average 1.26. What’s more, the hosts have surrendered an average of just 1.0 expected goals at home, while Lugo have given up an average of 1.43 on the road.
Add in the fact that the hosts come into this game having scored five in their last two at home, couple it with the fact that Lugo are without a goal in two on the road, and it’s becomes very easy to make a case for a home win. Frankly, Gimnastic’s home efforts, especially in the final third, outweigh Lugo’s antics on the road, so much so that the home win looks more likely than the current prices suggest.
Liverpool will be desperate to win after their Premier League disappointment. They boast a better attack and Kane’s lack of fitness could prove a huge blow to Spurs.
Ultimately, this is a tie that is far from over and if anything, Tolima are still probably slightl favourites to advance. Man for man, they are a touch stronger than Argentinos on paper and with the crowd behind them, they should be able to put the visitors under pressure and try to mount a comeback.
All things considered, backing a home win looks the best way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going. Tolima are unbeaten in 6 continental home games overall and that’s a sequence we can see them prolonging, with a 1-0 margin of victory that would force penalties looking on the cards.
This is a tough one to call with both sides showing strengths and weaknesses throughout the season, especially in the two previous matches. But Arsenal have more to fight for and a fuller squad to choose from, which could see them with the slight advantage. 1-1, Arsenal to win on penalties.
Ultimately, anything other than a Colon win on Tuesday is very hard to imagine and the hosts should be able to easily avoid slipping up. River are a far weaker side than them and are extremely poor on the road, so the hosts have to be fancied to advance comfortably.
All things considered, backing a Colon win to nil looks the best way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going. Not only have River lost 6 of their last 7 away games, but they’ve failed to score in all but one of said defeats and with that in mind, a 2-0 margin of home victory could well be on the cards.
Parma have struggled in front of goal this season, scoring just 40 goals in 37 matches. They come here with their season over, but that doesn’t mean this is going to be some final day thriller. They make this trip without Roberto Inglese and Gervinho, who have scored 20 of those 40 goals between them. The visitors are away to Ranieri’s Roma, which is a very different prospect to the Eusebio Di Francesco side. The hosts have become a lot more defensively sound under their new boss, but it’s come at the cost of their impressive attacking football from earlier this term.
The hosts have seen under 2.5 goals in six of their last seven matches, while they’ve won to nil in their last three at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi have kept five clean sheets in their last seven outings overall, while they won the reverse fixture 2-0. We expect another low scoring clash, with Parma seeing fewer than four goals in 70% of their Serie A games. Against this Roma side, we expect little joy for the visitors. Under 3.5 goals is our pick here, along with a 2-0 home win.
Nani top scores for the hosts this season with five goals, while Cruz is the only Cincinnati player to have scored more than one goal in the MLS this season and has just two to his name. We’re confident that under 2.5 goals will be scored in what we are expecting to be a tight and tense game this Sunday, and have predicted a 1-0 win for Orlando City. Orlando City have the home advantage against a side that has struggled on the road in their debut MLS season, and both teams have been involved in a large number of low scoring games of late and we’re expecting another this weekend.
Like the hosts, Gijon have struggled to come across goals on their travels, as they too have notched just 17 in 19. That said, unlike the hosts, they’ve not performed particularly well in terms of expected goals for, as they average just 0.93 on the road. They’ve not conceded a great deal, shipping 17, which is the fourth-lowest total in the division, though again in terms of expected goals, they’ve done slightly worse than Zaragoza have at home, as they’ve surrendered an average of 1.27 on their travels.
From a betting point of view, if we compare Zaragoza’s overall home efforts with Gijon’s exploits on the road, then it’s not difficult to make a case for the hosts at the prices. Specifically, ‘Zaragoza to Win & Under 3.5 Goals’ catches the eye.
They don’t score many goals at home, though in terms of creativity, Zaragoza have offered considerably more at home than Gijon have on their travels. Add in the fact that neither have conceded many goals in their respective home and away matches and backing the home side to edge a low-scoring affair begins to stand out as a viable option.
Stadio Renato Dall’Ara will host Monday’s football game between Bologna and Parma. Both sides are eager to secure the Serie A survival and seeing that they are five and six points respectively clear of the relegation zone, a close encounter is on the horizon. The Rossoblu have been impressive at home ground in the 2018/2019 season and we predict that they will go for a victory against Parma.
Despite the fact that many people expected that Parma would suffer relegation to the Serie B, Roberto d’Aversa’s troops are on the right track to secure the top flight survival. As things stand now, both teams should be happy with one point from the relegation six-pointer, therefore, we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw. In each of their previous three meetings in the Italian top flight the two teams shared the spoils.
Valencia will fancy their chances of getting the better of Arsenal in Spain, but Arsenal showed against Napoli in the quarter-finals that they are capable of defending a lead away from home. We feel that the visitors will get on the scoresheet, and that could prove decisive come the full-time whistle.
Bohemians come into this clash having just beaten second-placed Shamrock Rovers 2-1 in their last game. The visitors have also claimed wins over Finn Harps and Cork in that time. They’ve hit scoring form by firing in at least two goals in each game, while they head into this match a full 14 points clear of Waterford in the table.
There’s little doubt that the Bohs are the better of the two sides, especially given that they’ve won 11 of 21 games this term. Waterford have won just one of their last four at home, conceding twice to Derry City and three each to Dundalk and Sligo Rovers in that time. They’ve got clear defensive issues, while they meet a Bohs side who have kept a clean sheet in 60% of their away trips. That has us backing the visitors to claim the points on Friday night.