PSV Favored in UCL Qualifier

Game: PSV vs FC Midtjylland
Location: Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Time: Tuesday, 2 p.m. ET
Television: beIN Sports
Live Stream: fuboTV

UEFA Champions League Qualification Betting Lines

Head to Head

This will be a first. That’s right, they’ve never met, but both have played against other Danish and Dutch teams. PSV owns a 4-1-1 record against Danish teams, 21 goals for and seven against. FC Midtjylland owns a 1-1-2 record against Dutch teams, six goals for and nine against.

Why Bet on PSV?

There’s no doubt that PSV deserves to be the sports betting favorite here. They constantly fight for the Eredivisie title and they own a very competitive roster. Mario Gotze, Eran Zahavi, Marco van Ginkel and Denzel Dumfries are at the top of the list.

To get here, PSV crushed Galatasaray in the previous round. They won both games with a 7-2 aggregate. Van Ginkel, Zahavi and Gotze played very well during the series, boosting the entire team’s confidence up to the roof.

“It was not a walkover, but we conceded hardly anything,” said Van Ginkel after the second leg. He’s not wrong. Defensively, PSV was almost perfect even though they were facing Radamel Falcao, Ryan Babel and Mostafa Mohamed.

Including some friendly matches, PSV has played six games since early July. They’re 5-1-0, scored 24 goals and allowed only five. Another blowout in the first leg would be great for them. They want to take the series to focus on the domestic Super Cup, where they’ll be facing Ajax.

Defender Olivier Boscagli is out due to suspension. He was sent off in the 74th minute of the second leg against Galatasaray. Their expected lineup is Joel Drommel; Phillipp Mwene, Andre Ramalho, Nick Viergever, Philipp Max, Marco van Ginkel, Ibrahim Sangare, Noni Madueke, Mario Gotze, Yorbe Vertessen; Eran Zahavi.

Why Bet on FC Midtjylland?

The Danish Super League began three weeks ago, which means FC Midtjylland has the competitive rhythm advantage. They started the season with a 2-0-1 record, four goals for and two against. They finished their last two games with a clean sheet.

Regarding the UEFA Champions League, they eliminated Celtic in the previous qualification round. The first leg ended 1-1 while they won the second one 2-1 thanks to a very late goal from Raphael Nwadike.

Three of their last five games in all competitions were on the road and they didn’t lose any. Overall, they’ve scored at least one goal in their last eight games in all competitions. They scored two goals in six of those games.

Individually, Evander da Silva has been sensational. He scored two goals in their last four matches. Anders Dreyer will be back after missing the second leg against Celtic due to suspension. He scored one goal in their last domestic game against Viborg.

Their expected lineup is Jonas Lossl; Henrik Dalsgaard, Erik Sviatchenko, Daniel Hoegh, Paulinho; Mikael Anderson, Evander, Raphael Nwadike; Pione Sisto, Junior Brumado, Anders Dreyer.

Final Analysis, Predictions

PSV is a very strong side, especially when playing at home. Their offensive power is too much and their roster is more experienced. They’ll go all-in from the start looking to grab a comfortable victory while FC Midtjylland will wait to counterattack.

With Gotze approaching his best level, PSV will be a tough side to beat in any competition. Also, van Ginkel is set to become one of the best midfielders in Europe. The UCL is the perfect scenario to do it.

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Score Prediction: PSV 2, FC Midtjylland 0

Pick: PSV -1½ goals (-130)