A place in the Champions League’s third qualifying round is at stake when Shkupi and Dinamo Zagreb collide Tuesday at Cair Stadion in Skopje. Live-bet on the Champions League action by using our sportsbook.
Shkupi vs Dinamo Zagreb
After finishing, 2-2, in the first leg of this competition, the Croatian champions are tasked with clinching victory on the road in order to progres. Both Shkupi and Dinamo Zagreb have been finding the back of the net at an absolutely impressive rate in the past several fixtures across all of the competitions. Goals are quite probable at either end of the pitch.
Shkupi’s still seen as underdogs, despite in the tie with the Croatian champions. They are priced at +800 on the three-way moneyline, according to the latest soccer odds. Jamaica international Ronaldo Cephas is pushing for a start, scoring the first-leg’s late equalizer. Goce Sedloski’s troops will now try to use home advantage as they search for a win that would lead to a third-round qualifying tie against Ludogorets Razgrad or Shamrock Rovers.
Dinamo Zagreb are already involved in domestic action after winning the Croatian Super Cup tournament, beginning their league campaign with a pair of victories. Clinching the Super Cup was clinched on penalties after a goalless draw against Lokomotiv Zagreb, their last three outings have been exciting. As a result of injury issues, Dinamo Zagreb could opt to use Rasmus Lauritsen and Dino Peric in central defense. Expect them to win but also to allow goal at least once.
Pick: Over 2½ goals (-125)
Plzen vs. HJK
The visitors enter the game seeking to overturn a one-goal deficit after suffering a 2-1 defeat in the last reverse. It was a fine preseason run, which ended with four wins and two draws in seven friendly matches. There’s a four-game winning run on home turf entering Tuesday. If you’re betting online, the hosts are by far the better of the the two sides, and you should back them to easily qualify further with another win.
The Finnish side is looking to avoid a fourth consecutive elimination in the second round, while Plzen is eager to win at this phase of the competition for the first time since the 2013/14 season. While Plzen’s domestic season begins in a few days, HJK Helsinki has six games left of their league campaign, with the defending champions currently three points behind league-leading KuPS. Since they’ve won only one of their last six away Champions League games inside 90 minutes, HJK will have a mountain to climb in the second leg.
HJK’s not going to concede without a fight. Even though Plzen was able to get a lead in the first leg, they are likely to surrender goals, even at home. However, a straight home win has no value, so for our second pick of the parlay, we are backing the over. For the visitors, Renho and Raitala were rested, with the duo set to return and form a back three alongside Arttu Hoskonen.
Pick: Over 2½ goals (-120)
Slovan Bratislava vs Ferencvaros
Slovan Bratislava were having a disappointing slump entering into the Champions League qualification fixtures. They were on the back of a set of friendly-outing winless displays. They somehow managed to raise their game last week in the first leg, pulling off the upset by beating Ferencvaros, 2-1, on the road.
It was a strange game, with the Slovakian outfit managing to come back from one goal down and score twice in the final 10 minutes of the clash. Then, a 4-0 victory against Trencin in their domestic-league competition, so they enter this clash eager to make it three wins in a row across all of the competitions.
Meanwhile, Ferencvaros have been some decent unbeaten form in their last fixtures. They’re in excellent form on the road at present, unbeaten in 13 games on the road. We did back them in the first leg, and we’ll include them in our soccer picks and parlays as they are the better side of the two. Slovan’s recent form at home is not that consistent, entering winless in three of the last four.
