BR Team Tips
This Champions League qualifying match is an all-Eastern European affair as Qarabag of Azerbaijan take on Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova. Qarabag came through their previous qualifier against Samtredia of Georgia with ease as they ran out 6-0 aggregate winners. Last season they won the Azeri league at a canter, finishing top of the table with a ten-point gap over Gabala in second and, although it has not started yet, they are the favourites to win the title this time around as well. As mentioned in my winning tip for their last match against Samtredia, Gurban Gurbanov’s side have had little…
This Champions League match is the first European fixture of the season for both AEK Athens and CSKA Moscow. Not only is this AEK’s first European match of this season, but it is also their first competitive outing this campaign. Although they have done very well in their pre-season matches, with no defeats in their five friendlies, there is nothing like competitive football and so it will be interesting to see how AEK adjust. The Yellow-Blacks actually finished fourth in the regular Greek Superleague season last term but then blitzed the Greek UEFA playoffs to finish top of the group…
These two former Russian Premier League champions have been starved of success in the last couple of years, however, they have overhauled their squads this summer in a quest for glory. Zenit have spent €44m in this window as they look to claim their first Russian league title since 2015 as well as Champions League football; which they have now missed out on for the past two seasons. Roberto Mancini’s first match in charge of Zenit ended in a reasonably comfortable 2-0 win away at SKA Khabarovsk in the Far East. The Blue, White and Navys’ frontline looks sublime with…
This Russian Premier League match sees two of the more recently founded clubs in the country take each other on as Krasnodar, founded in 2008, host Tosno, established in 2013. Both of these teams have climbed up the ranks in unbelievably quick fashion since their creation. This is Krasnodar’s seventh consecutive season in the top flight and they are known as one of the more stable Russian clubs. As well as looking to finish well in the Russian Premier League, Krasnodar are looking to make a bigger impact in European football this time around. The Bulls got their domestic campaign…
This match is the second Moscow derby of the week after Dynamo and Spartak played out a 2-2 draw on Tuesday. Hopefully, Friday night’s fixture between CSKA and Lokomotiv is just as entertaining. Although CSKA are one of the more likely candidates for the title this season, most people still consider them outsiders behind the likes of Spartak Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg. Despite this, they got off to a good start in the opening round of Russian Premier League fixtures with a 3-1 win away at Anzhi Makhachkala. Usually we associate the Army Men with being strong at the back…
Having drawn 1-1 last week, this is another of the Europa League qualifying ties that is finely balanced. With an away-goal safely in the bag, Siroki will be feeling upbeat but all is certainly not lost for Aberdeen and, after a decent performance last week, they’ll also be quietly confident of getting the right result here. Considering that the first-leg was fairly even – Aberdeen fractionally dominated in terms of possession and shots on target but both teams created a reasonable amount while neither were really on top for a substantial part of the match – it’s somewhat surprising that…
Shkendija managed to secure a 3-1 victory against HJK Helsinki in their home leg last week which should be enough to see them through barring any mishaps on Thursday. Having said that, HJK have the away goal in the bank and a home tie to come which will give them some hope. HJK are Finland’s most successful club with 11 championships to their name and, after a relatively barren run which has seen them fail to win the league since 2014, they are currently top of the Finnish Veikkausliiga after 17 matches of the 2017 campaign. Having said that, they have…
Larnaca managed to scrape a valuable win in their first leg match against Cork City. However, given they are such strong favourites in this tie, they are still under a fair bit of pressure going into Thursday’s return fixture. The Cypriot side have been in good form in this second quarter of 2017 and are yet to lose a match in all competitions, including friendlies, since 12th April. Larnaca also have the advantage of playing a decent amount of European football over the years, although, it must also be pointed out that they have reached the group stage of a…
Despite being favourites last week, Galatasaray came unstuck against Swedish side Ostersunds and now find themselves without a precious away-goal and trailing by two. The Turkish club will of course fancy their chances of turning things around on home soil but they’ve certainly put themselves in a difficult position and it is the visitors who’re likely to come here with more confidence. Even though they failed to live up to expectations last week, Galatasaray are still heavily fancied by the bookies ahead of this one as they stand at a general price of 1/3 in the betting. However, there’s absolutely…
Having drawn 1-1 last week, this Europa League tie is finally balanced ahead of the second-leg in Belarus. Minsk will probably be happier with their first-leg effort as they secured an away-goal but, with the score-line at 1-1, anything is possible. The Macedonians, who equalised late in the day last week, are likely to be confident of getting on the score-sheet here and could very easily outperform their long odds. With their away goal, and the fact that they’re now on home soil, Dinamo Minsk are warm favourites ahead of this match and it’s fairly hard to argue with that.…
Having secured a 1-0 victory away from home in the first-leg, Lyngby, who finished third in last season’s Danish Superliga, are in a strong position ahead of this second-leg. Failing to score at home in a two-legged European tie is often the catalyst for elimination and now the onus is very much on the Slovakian visitors to force the issue in this second fixture. However, as they’re playing away from home, that could be easier said than done. Given the fact that they currently hold the lead thanks to an away-goal and the fact that they were capable of winning…
Having somewhat stumbled their way through the groups, USA manager Bruce Arena has called for reinforcements ahead of this quarter-final match as Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Darlington Nagbe, Tim Howard, Jozy Altidore and Jesse Gonzalez have all been added to the Gold Cup squad, although it has been the said that the last player on that list (Gonzalez) won’t feature on the pitch and is simply in the squad to get a taste of life with the national team after recently having his switch from Mexico approved. Such players definitely add experience and tournament nous but there’s no guarantees that…
With the group stages now done and dusted, this summers’ Gold Cup really begins to hot up. As one of the better known nations, at least in terms of footballing exploits, Costa Rica was expected to do well at this competition and, as they’ve made it to the quarter-finals undefeated, have lived up to their name. In Panama, they face one of the lesser sides and should feel reasonably confident about making the final four. Panama also came through the groups undefeated as they secured two wins and a draw against Martinique, Nicaragua and USA respectively; however, their wins were…
Despite the fact that APOEL hold a 1-0 lead going into this second leg, some bookmakers are not leaning very heavily towards the Cypriot side as they travel to Luxembourg. F91 Dudelange won the Luxembourg National Division title on goal difference for the second season running last term to ensure passage to the Champions League. Despite the fact they are clearly a European minnow, they have done remarkably well to keep themselves in this tie by losing by just the one goal margin to APOEL last week. Dino Toppmoller’s side were sublime in both attack and defence last season with…
With Celtic already holding a 2-0 lead going into the second leg of this tie, this qualifier is pretty much done and dusted with Celtic likely to now go through to the next stage. Value on the market is hard to find for this match but there are a couple of options if you look carefully. Although we are entering a new season, you cannot escape Celtic’s fantastic form last year which saw them win the Scottish title at a canter, breaking several records along the way. The challenge for The Hoops now is to make a bigger impact in…
This match is quite finely balanced with Astana currently holding a 1-0 advantage over Spartaks Jurmala. However, this will undoubtedly be a tough match for the Latvian side. Astana have been in fantastic form in this 2017 Kazakh season and they currently top the Kazakhstani Premier League, looking like they will win their fourth consecutive title. This is particularly evident given their recent run which has seen them win their last six matches on the bounce. Stanimir Stoilov’s side have been particularly good at the back in recent times with five clean sheets in their last six matches in all…
This Champions League tie is a bit of a dead rubber as the first leg ended in a 5-0 victory for Azerbaijani side Qarabag. Samtredia won their first Georgian title since 1972 in their last season, however, things are not going quite to plan this time around as they currently sit third in the Erovnuli Liga and ten points off the top of the table going into the second half of the 2017 season. Gia Tsetsadze’s men, as personified in that 5-0 thrashing by Qarabag, have been pretty poor in both boxes this campaign. Their Goals For record of just…
Having secured a victory on match-day one, Martinique will probably have been feeling quietly confident ahead of their fixture against a weakened USA side; however, they were unable to get anything from that match, despite some promising moments. During a 3-2 defeat, they once again proved themselves to be competitive going forward but their defending left plenty to be desired. Had USA come equipped with their shooting boots, the score could’ve reflected far less positively on the Caribbean islanders. With Panama recording a victory, albeit from behind, against Nicaragua last time out, they were always likely to be favourites ahead…
After two rounds of games at the Gold Cup, it’s probably fair to say that Canada have been one of the most impressive teams involved, if not the most. They’ve adopted an attacking style and have certainly entertained the crowds. With four points to their name, they’re looking in good shape and will be confident of making it through to the knockout rounds. In contrast, Honduras have made a rather low-key start to this tournament as they sit on just a single point. They’re yet to score a goal but hope is not lost and a positive result here could…
Friday sees the start of the Second Test between England and South Africa. England made easy work of South Africa in the First Test at Lord’s and will be looking to take a 2-0 lead in this series at Trent Bridge. England captain Joe Root led by example in that First Test, particularly in the first innings where he scored an incredible 190. Although he was bowled out incredibly early in his second innings (5 runs), his confidence is clearly high and I imagine he will once again look to lead from the front with his batting. Joe Root to…
The Russian Premier League gets back underway on Saturday and the last kickoff of the day is arguably the most interesting as Anzhi Makhachkala host CSKA Moscow. Anzhi have undergone a revolution in the last few months. In the winter transfer window, they sold a large number of their squad in favour of more Dagestani players with this revolution continuing in this summer transfer window. At the time of writing, they have signed 17 new players so far. However, they also have a registration ban due to monies owed which means they have only registered 11 players so far –…
Having both returned victorious from their opening fixtures at this tournament, Mexico and Jamaica are currently sharing supremacy in Group C and are both likely to feel confident about making it through the next round. Neither sparkled as such on match-day one, but it is was Mexico who were more eye-catching, albeit for the wrong reasons. With the majority of their big-name players enjoying a rest period following their Confederations Cup antics, Mexico came into this tournament with a weakened squad. This was telling in their first match as, despite winning 3-1, they looked very shaky, particularly at the back.…
Kazakhstan might not be considered a hotbed for footballing talent (let’s face it, it’s not); however, in recent years, the country has begun to make strides as far as clubs competing slightly better in Europe goes. Last season, Kairat Almaty made it through to the Europa League proper while both of the Kazakhs’ two entrants are still in the competition this time around. One of those entrants is Irtysh Pavlodar, who, having secured a comfortable 3-0 aggregate victory in the first round, will be in good spirits ahead of this match, even if it against one of Serbia’s most successful clubs…
Hungary meets Denmark in Europa League qualifying action on Thursday evening as Ferencvaros play host to Midtjylland at Groupama Arena. Having secured a comfortable 3-0 aggregate victory over Latvian side Jelgava in the first round, Ferencvaros will be hoping to progress further. Similarly, the Danish visitors also enjoyed themselves in the last round as they trounced Derry City by a staggering ten goals to one on aggregate, hitting the Irish side for six in the first-leg. Midtjylland are coming off the back of what was a tremendously convincing victory in the last round and it’s clear that this has been reflected…
Having made it through the first round of qualifying in high-scoring fashion, Irish outfit Cork City are likely to be in bouyant mood ahead of this second round fixture. The Irish Premier Division leaders have been in strong form of late, especially at home, and could easily give their Cypriot opponents plenty to think about in this match. AEK also came through the first round in convincing style (6-1) although their victory was perhaps less impressive since they were playing a side from Gibraltar. Despite commanding that tie, it is very surprising that the visitors are considered favourites ahead of…
On Thursday evening, England U19’s will be hoping to emulate their U20 counterparts (and outdo their U21 equivalents) by reaching the final of the Under-19 Euros in Georgia. Having dominated their group, winning all three of their matches in good style, England have been probably the most impressive team at this tournament and appear to have an excellent chance of going all the way. Czech Republic are by no means a weak opponent, they wouldn’t be here if they were, but, based on what we’ve seen so far, it will probably take their best performance at these finals so far…
Having come out on top on match-day one, Martinique, who’re playing in the Gold Cup for just the fifth time in their existence, come into this fixture against USA as group leaders. With that win behind them, the Caribbean team should be feeling pretty good about their chances here. In contrast, USA, who’ve assembled a weak-looking squad for this tournament, turned in a fairly poor performance first time out as they drew 1-1 with Panama. After that disappointing result last time out, it’s surprising that USA come into this second match so heavily fancied. They’re of course the bigger footballing…
