Tuesday marks a pivotal moment in the 2024-25 European footballing calendar as the first legs of the UEFA Champions League play-off round are set to begin, signalling the final hurdle for teams aiming to reach the prestigious competition’s newly revamped league phase.
These matches promise high stakes and intense competitions as each team battles for a lead to take into the second leg as they aim to successfully reach the Champions League league phase. In this article, we’re going to take a look at Tuesday’s first leg matches and pick out our top tips and best booking code: (odds at time of writing)
Bodoe/Glimt vs Crvena Zvezda
Bodoe/Glimt come into this one having comprehensively beaten RFS and Jagiellonia in the second and third rounds of Champions League qualifying, while they are also sitting comfortably at the top of their league table with 41 points from 19 matches, five more points than second place.
Crvena Zvezda are also top of their league, winning four and drawing one of their opening five matches to sit three points clear at the top of the table, and this is set to be their first match in the qualifying rounds this campaign.
While Crvena Zvezda have had a positive start to their league season, Bodoe/Glimt should have higher levels of match sharpness due to being midway through their campaign, and having lost just one of their last 15 matches across all competitions, we expect a narrow victory for the hosts.
Bodoe/Glimt to win & over 2.5 goals, 2.40
Lille vs Slavia Prague
Lille will undoubtedly come into this tie, and especially their home leg, as the favourites to secure the victory, but Slavia Prague are unlikely to be an easy opponent.
The hosts narrowly progressed past Fenerbahce in the previous round, winning 3-2 on aggregate thanks to a 118th-minute goal from Jonathan David, before beating Reims 2-0 in their opening Ligue 1 match, leaving them in good form at the beginning of the season.
Slavia Prague have also enjoyed a fantastic start to their 2024/25 season, winning six of their seven fixtures so far, only dropping points in an opening day draw with Slovacko in the league. They have impressively conceded just twice in those seven matches, showing their fantastic defensive qualities, and we expect them to make this a difficult match for the hosts.
While we do believe the visitors will showcase their solid defensive quality throughout the game, we believe the hosts will ultimately secure the first-leg victory.
Lille to win by 1 goal, 3.05
Dinamo Zagreb vs Qarabag
Dinamo Zagreb will be coming into this one expecting to be favourites to progress, especially after a strong start to the season that has seen them win all three of their league matches by an aggregate score of 10-1.
The visitors, however, have showcased their quality in European football in recent times, most recently winning 8-4 on aggregate against Ludogorets in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, while they were also narrowly defeated by Bayer Leverkusen in last year’s Europa League round of 16 – conceding two stoppage time goals to lose 5-4 on aggregate.
For those reasons, we believe this one will be an extremely hard-fought encounter between two sides with plenty of quality, suggesting this one will end all square.
Draw, 3.65
Best Booking Code @26.72:
6XQG5RD – Book Here
1 Comment
by Uba chukwunyere Emmanuel
I love it