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Champions League Qualifiers Top Betting Picks

Rangers Expected to Advance in Group Stages

This will be a historic game for Union Saint-Gilloise as they will take part in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time in Tuesday’s match against the visiting Rangers. Our sportsbook offers a great range of betting markets and props for the UCL qualifiers.

Let’s check the latest Champions League news, stats, injury reports and Champions League odds for Champions League Qualifiers. We’ve plenty of Champions League picks and predictions for you to consider.

Rangers' Croatian defender Borna Barisic (R) and Rangers' Canadian-Scottish midfielder Scott Arfield (L) celebrate on the pitch after the UEFA Europa League Semi-final
Andy Buchanan / AFP

Union Saint-Gilloise vs Rangers

The Rangers kicked their Scottish domestic season off in style beating Livingston 2-1 last weekend, but last season’s superb Europa League campaign may still be lingering fresh in the memory. The Glasgow side narrowly fell to a 5-4 defeat on penalties against Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEL final, but that journey all started after being eliminated at this stage of UCL qualifiers last season.

Union SG secured their spot in the third qualifying round of this season’s tournament by finishing second in the champions playoff in the Belgian First Division last term. They were only promoted back to the top flight of Belgian football in March 2021, with the Brussels outfit returning to the top tier for the first time in 48 years. Yes, we respect them because they were the surprise package last term, but we don’t expect them to pull off the upset. So if you’re betting online, we suggest you fade them.

Ismaël Kandouss was injured in the game against Charleroi and remains sidelined for the match. On-loan defender Koki Machida will also miss out due to a hip injury. Dennis Eckert Ayensa completed the injury list for Les Unionistes while new signing Gustaf Nilsson was not included in the squad for the first leg.

For the visitors, Ianis Hagi and Filip Helander are long-term absentees and will likely miss the entire qualification campaign. Kemar Roofe’s injury keeps him out of action while Alfredo Morelos was also absent from the game against Livingston and his involvement remains doubtful. The Rangers have a superior record in European fixtures and should come out on top in this fixture.

Benfica vs Midtjylland

Benfica has been one of the most consistent teams in the Portuguese top-flight league for the past several years and it seems that they have carried over this momentum into this new season. Meanwhile, Midtjylland has been struggling to keep clean sheets lately. The hosts have the experience on their side and they are by far the better team so we will include them in our soccer picks and parlays.

Benfica hasn’t kicked off their domestic league yet, but they enjoyed a super preseason campaign by winning their five friendly games against English, French and Spanish teams. They kept two clean sheets and they scored 17 goals in the process. The Portuguese giants beat Ajax 3-2 on aggregate in the UCL round of 16 last season, but they were eliminated by Liverpool in the last eight, losing 6-4 on aggregate. They lost probably their most important player in the summer transfer window, with Darwin Nunez signing with Liverpool, but they were very busy adding extra quality in their squad. They signed David Neres, Enzo Fernandez, Joao Victor, Alexander Bah, Petar Musa and Mihailo Ristic.

Midtjylland overcame Larnaca in the previous round, ultimately winning on penalties after the two sides had played back-to-back 1-1 draws. Midtjylland is certainly capable of making this an uncomfortable match for Benfica, but ultimately they should return home empty-handed. Head coach Bo Henriksen made changes for the league game against Odense on Friday, with Charles, Paulinho and Edward Chilufya among those to drop out, but the trio should return here.

The visitors are priced at +1000 on the three-way moneyline according to the latest soccer odds while the goal line is set at three. The Danes have now played five competitive games, with each fixture seeing both teams score and two of them containing three or more goals. They have a poor away record in the Champions League qualifiers, going winless in the previous seven games and failing to keep a clean sheet in the last six of those fixtures.

Benfica should easily cover the spread and solve the qualification issue from the first leg. They simply have been on fire lately. They are on a long winning streak and are also scoring goals at an absolutely impressive rate. On top of that, they are playing in front of their fans and they have been a force to be reckoned with on home soil almost for the entirety of this year.

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