Can African champions Cameroon edge this rematch from the 2017 tournament? These two met in the last four two years’ ago, with the sides each aiming to land silverware this time around. However, they’ve had very different starts to the competition, which has left both sides pushing for a victory for different reasons. The defending champions could edge into the last 16 on Saturday with a game to spare. Meanwhile, Ghana are hoping to get their silverware chase back on track.
Cameroon were comfortable 2-0 winners against Guinea-Bissau in their opening game of the tournament. That’s set them up to return to the knockout round as they look to defend their title in Egypt. They were supposed to host the 2019 edition of this competition, but instead, the Indomitable Lions are on foreign soil seeking their sixth title in this competition. Will they be able to deal out a blow to perennial contenders Ghana?
Defending champions Germany are continuing their bid to secure another Under 21 European Championship this week. They are going up against Romania – the dark horses in this tournament. We’ve seen some impressive displays from Germany yet again, as a nearly entirely new squad looks to emulate the achievements of 2017. Can they stamp their authority on this tournament with a victory on Thursday?
The Germans made a flying start to the group, kicking off with a 3-1 win over Denmark. They then trounced Serbia 6-1 in their second game, all but securing their place in the semis. All Germany needed in their last group game was a 1-1 draw with Austria, which saw them make it through as the top side in Group B. Their next aim is to book a place in this weekend’s final.
Ghana have made the semi-finals in their last six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and may well extend that streak in Egypt.
However, they must improve their performances. They recorded no wins and scored no goals in two pre-tournament friendly games against Namibia and South Africa.
Six players, Thomas Partey, Jordan Ayew, Andre Ayew, Mubarak Wakaso Christian Atsu and John Boye, who featured in semi-final defeat to Cameroon in 2017, are expected to start against Benin.
I believe in Ghana today
It’s been an excellent campaign for Mallorca, who kept themselves in and around the play-off places for almost the entirety of the season. However, their last few efforts haven’t been great, which is why they come into the post-season games having won none of their last three. Fortunately for the hosts, much of the same can be said for Albacete, who lost each of their final two regular season matches.
Mallorca will be very happy that this first leg is being played at Iberostar Stadium, as there has been a huge contrast between results at home and away for the Balearic side. On their travels, Mallorca managed to win only four out of 21 during the regular season, accumulating a total of 20 points, though on their own patch, they emerged victorious from 15 of their 21 games, while they accumulated a pleasing total of 49 points in front of a home crowd. Only champions Osasuna claimed more points at home than Mallorca, while only Osasuna won more and lost less at home. In addition, Vicente Moreno’s men ended the season as the highest scorers on home soil with 35 goals.
It’s going to be tough for Israel to land another win here, especially as they’re heading to a Poland side who have won their last nine home matches in qualifying campaigns. They’ve scored at least twice in their last eight home European Championship qualifiers, while they racked up 28 goals on their way to Russia at an average of 2.8 per game. That came with Robert Lewandowski topping the scoring charts, but he has a new rival this time around.
Eran Zehavi is the current top scorer in European qualifying, the Israeli striker has scored seven in three games, finding the opening goal in each of the group games so far. He’s helped Israel to a successful, high-scoring start. Given how Israel are playing along with Poland’s consistent home form, we can see a few goals in this clash. Poland to win with over 2.5 goals in the game is our tip here.
Gibraltar provides Friday’s hosts with the perfect opportunity to get off the mark.
Not only have Georgia lost each of their first two qualifiers, but their performances have been very displeasing. Against Switzerland on match-day one, the Georgians failed to get involved offensively, as they mustered just a single shot on target and accumulated only 0.38 expected goals for. In contrast, they shipped eight shots on target and conceded 2.36 expected goals. They did do better when losing 1-0 against Ireland, though their attacking efforts were still weak, as they clocked just 0.58 expected goals for. They surrendered 1.16 on that occasion.
Fortunately, Georgia performed well at home against lowly opposition during the UEFA Nations league, as they won three out of three on their own patch, beating Latvia, Andorra and Kazakhstan, averaging 2.0 goals for and 1.36 expected goals for. They conceded an average of just 0.33 goals and 0.62 expected goals. Such numbers bode well ahead of a match against Gibraltar.
Gibraltar may have only lost by a goal to nil at home to Ireland in their only previous EURO 2020 qualifier, but they were slightly flattered by the result, as they clocked only 0.61 expected goals for and conceded 1.9.
As well as failing to get seriously involved against Ireland in their most recent competitive game, Gibraltar were poor on the road in the UEFA Nations League. They did beat Armenia away from home, though they lost against both North Macedonia and Liechtenstein, conceding six goas and scoring none in the process.
On their travels in the Nations League, Gibraltar surrendered an average of 2.16 expected goals, while they averaged just 0.57 for. They also conceded a rather worrying average of 27 shots, whilst averaging only 5.67 at the other end.
From a betting point of view, ‘Georgia -3 Asian Handicap’ stands out. For all the hosts haven’t thrived in EURO qualifying, their home efforts against lesser sides in the Nations League suggest that they can really get at Gibraltar, who found it very tough to keep teams at bay when playing away from home in that competition.
The hosts will try to seal the deal with another victory here. They are in a great form currently, with four wins in the last five games in all competitions. Also, they scored at least two goals in three out of those four occasions. The visiting side is also in an excellent form at the moment. They recorded four wins in a row, all without conceding a single goal! The only defeat in the last eight games they played came against this opponent, in the first Copa do Brazil 1/8 finals leg.
In the end, we’re expecting Emery’s Europa League experience to shine through here. Arsenal have been the much more impressive side in the latter stages of this competition, so we’re going for a 2-1 win for the Gunners for our correct score prediction.
We’re also backing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to get on the score-sheet in Baku, with the Gabonese marksman netting 31 goals in 50 appearances for Arsenal this season. Eight of these have come in 11 Europa League outings, including a hat-trick away to Valencia in the semi-finals, so he looks a top choice for our anytime goalscorer predictions.
After all, Napoli have won the last six meetings between these two sides. They’ve done it in impressive fashion, scoring 25 goals across that time. Napoli have scored at least twice in their last five visits to this ground, racking up 17 goals in that run. They also come here having won seven of nine trips to the bottom half sides while they’ve averaged 1.95 goals per game on their travels. After scoring 10 times in their last four, we expect a lethal display from Napoli and we’re backing at least two goals for the visitors.
Paris beat Reims 4-1 when the team last met in September and even though they aren’t the same team that they were back then, we’re still backing them to get the victory here. Reims haven’t been great recently and PSG should have too much quality for them here, as the likes of Ángel Di María and Kylian Mbappé are in great form, with the former scoring nine goals in his last eleven games. PSG have conceded twelve goals in their last four away games though so we’re backing Reims to get on the score-sheet here as they have in their last five clashes with Paris. We’re expecting a 2-1 victory for PSG as they should round off this season with a victory.
All things considered, whilst Atletico are by far a bigger name than Union La Calera, this is a match the hosts will be confident of their chances in. They are typically strong on home soil and are taking the competition far more seriously than Atletico seem to be, with the changes they’ll make here in mind.
As such, backing a Union win looks the best way to play as far as the betting’s concerned and is exactly where our money is going at a more than reasonable price. It won’t be easy by any means, but Union should have enough to edge ahead of a weakened Atletico outfit in the tie via a 1-0 margin of victory.
Not only do the hosts boast an impressive record at The Valley, but Doncaster have generally struggled to be at their best on the road this season. Grant McCann’s men finished the regular campaign with only the 12th best away record in the division. The fact that they lost three more games than they won away from home is displeasing. As is the fact that they conceded an average of 1.61 goals and 1.65 expected goals. Moreover, when they visited this venue earlier in the campaign, Donny lost by two goals to nil.
From a betting point of view, it’s very difficult to oppose the hosts. The best option appears to be ‘Charlton to Win & Over 1.5 Goals’. The Addicks, who proved that they can both create chances and score goals against Donny’s back-line on Sunday, average 1.78 goals for at home, while Friday’s visitors have conceded an average of 1.61 on the road.
Ultimately, when we consider that Charlton have offered more (in all areas) at home than Doncaster have on the road, it’s not overly difficult to conclude that there’s a slightly greater chance of the hosts scoring twice on route to victory than the current prices suggest.
Portsmouth offer plenty going forward at home, Sunderland haven’t exactly spent 2019 battering teams on their travels. Since the turn of the year, Jack Ross’ men have certainly been tough to beat on the road, while their individual quality has carried them over the line at times, but they’ve been halted by some fairly average teams and have often posted some rather displeasing figures.
The Black Cats average just 1.25 goals for away from home in 2019, while they also average a rather measly 1.17 expected goals for. Add in the fact that they ended the regular campaign by losing away against both Fleetwood and Southend, both of whom scored twice, and it’s easy to fear for the visitors ahead of Thursday’s second leg.
Given both the numbers produced by Portsmouth at home and the numbers produced by Sunderland on the road, ‘Portsmouth to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ stands out as a viable option with the betting the way that it is currently. Pompey have little choice but to adopt an attacking approach, while their previous efforts at this venue suggest that the chance of such an approach yielding a couple of goals is slightly greater than the current prices suggest.
History seems to point to Leeds getting out of this clash with the required result. The team finishing third in the Championship haven’t lost the home leg of the play-off semi-final since 2009-10, when Nottingham Forest lost 3-4 to Blackpool – third-place teams have won seven of their eight home legs since then (W7 D1 L0). Leeds are expected to keep that streak rolling, especially after a solid season at home. Their home record was only bettered by the top two, who each picked up just three points more at home than Bielsa’s men.
Derby’s away record was ranked ninth in the league overall, as they won just two clashes at sides above them. They were beaten home and away by Leeds in the regular season, which has set them up to make it four from four at Elland Road. At home to sides below them this season Leeds have won 14, drawn four and lost three. We expect them to follow that up by beating a Derby side who just can’t seem to get to grips with Bielsa’s approach. We think the hosts are well priced to wrap up a victory, while we’re tipping a 2-0 home win.
After losing their last game, Ivory Coast have work to do in their meeting with Namibia. They are aiming to pick up a win in Cairo on Monday, which would help them into the next round. Despite their defeat, the Elephants remain in the top two and they’ll stay there with a victory in this clash. However, they need to come back from a recent defeat against this week’s opponents. Namibia won 1-0 when these two met just last year, but can they repeat that on the big stage?
So far, Namibia have struggled to make that kind of impact in Egypt. They come into this clash bottom of the pile, while they’re set to drop out of the competition this week. It hasn’t been the greatest tournament for the outsiders, who lost their only realistically winnable game when they lost out to South Africa on Friday. Now they are up against one of the strongest sides in Africa as they wrap up their campaign in the Africa Cup of Nations.