Tonight is the night again, and we bring our good form into the evening's matches. Yesterday we hit ⅔, and with a bit of luck, we could have gotten our money back on the Sparta Prague match. Now, we turn our attention to tonight's games.
As mentioned, yesterday, city rival Sparta Prague only managed a 1-1 draw against FCSB. Will Slavia show who the big brother in town is tonight? The team made it to the qualifiers thanks to a second-place finish in the league last year, which they were likely disappointed with. This year, they are aiming for the title again and have started the season with a draw and two wins, so the team is clearly up to match tempo. This season, they also chose to bring in Jan Koller copy Tomas Chory from rival Viktoria Plzen. Chory is a household name not only because he stands at 1.99 cm but also because he is a reliable goal scorer. They haven't lost any key players either, so the squad is quite similar to last season. This means that the important and versatile Liberian midfielder Oscar Dorley remains, along with talents Jurasek and Zafeiris. Slavia has a very competent team when you look at the entire squad and should not fear any team in the qualifiers. What worries me ahead of the match is their extensive injury list, including first-choice keeper Stanek, important central defender Vlcek, and left-back Zmrzly. Add to that the experienced Holes, who has been deputizing as a central defender, is suspended.
Many, myself included, thought that the team with Europe's most beautiful name, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, would finally lift the trophy after 90 years. The team breezed through the regular season with a 7-point lead, but then there's this strange playoff system that the Belgians have, which I don't understand, and there they were overtaken by Club Brugge by 1 point. Now the team is aiming for its first Champions League adventure instead and has started in style, first by winning the Belgian Supercup against the aforementioned Club Brugge, followed by a win and a draw in the league. Before the season, they lost their Swedish forward Gustaf Nilsson to Club Brugge, but apart from that, they have retained the squad. The replacement for Nilsson is Fuseini, who had a tough time at Sturm Graz but really took off at Danish Randers, scoring 8 goals in 10 matches. There are constant rumors about both Koki Machida and Cameron Puertas, but I don't think they will let either of them go until they know which European cup they will play in. Royale Union aims to be the latest team to join the Champions League royalty. The team comes into the match without major setbacks.
Right now, Slavia are the favorites with the bookmakers ahead of the match. Currently, the odds for a Slavia win are 1.95 and 3.45 for the Belgians, which in my opinion is too high given the injury situation for the Czechs. If I were a bit bolder, I would go for a straight win for the Belgians, but 1.75 on Royale Union either drawing or winning is too good to pass up.
It's not every year you see a league champion who has never lifted the finest domestic trophy, but last year it happened when Jagiellonia won the Polish league for the first time in the club's 100-year history. The club had a cup title and finished second a couple of times, but last season they entered the Polish elite. This will also be their debut season in the group stage of a European competition. The team breezed through the first qualifying round with a total of 7-1 against Lithuanian Panevezys. They have also started the league as they finished last season, winning all three of their first matches. There are no real concerns for the club where all players are available. They have also retained the majority of last season's squad, although they chose to release a few players and were forced to sell Bartlomiej Wdowik to Braga, but other than that, the team is the same. With that said, they have not significantly strengthened the squad either, mainly bringing in players for free from smaller clubs. So just like last season, it is Nene, Sacek, and Skrzypczak who form the defensive backbone, while Pululu and young Marczuk provide the creativity. This is a hard-working team that sacrifices for each other and rarely backs down.
The northern Norwegian team, which is geographically closer to Antarctica than Barcelona, has become a common name in Europe. In the past three years, the team has reached the group stage in one of the European tournaments, and in the 21/22 season, they reached the quarter-finals in the Conference League. Since 2018, the team has always been fighting at the top of the Tippeligaen and shipping talents to Europe at a rapid pace. This season has been no exception, and after just over half the season, they comfortably lead with 7 points ahead of the nearest competitor and are mid-season compared to their opponents who have just started to get going. In the previous qualifying round, they faced the Latvians, whom they pulverized with 7-1 in total. Part of the club's philosophy is to have a high turnover of players, and this season is no exception. They have sold Faris Moumbagna to Marseille, Hugo Vetlesen to Club Brugge, and Tobias Gulliksen to Djurgården. All were key players last season and this season. They have also brought in players, and it is mainly Jens Petter Hauge who has returned on loan after being at both Milan and Frankfurt. What has always characterized Bodø/Glimt is not the individual players but their tactical skill and technical play. The team averages 2.33 goals scored in the league and 2.01 goals scored away from home. So, hold on tight, as it can go fast.
I have a hard time picking a winner in this match, even though I consider Bodø/Glimt the better team, Jagiellonia is difficult to assess. Bodø/Glimt also prefers their surface at home in Norway, where almost all teams play on hybrid grass, while in Poland, they play on natural grass, which means their game will be slower than usual. With that said, both teams dare to move forward, so I think we will see goals. But I have found a combination bet with good odds that I like. Bodø/Glimt to draw or win and both teams to score at odds of 1.96 is our pick.
JAGIELLONIA VS. BODØ/GLIMT
1.96
BODØ/GLIMT WIN OR DRAW + BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
JAGIELLONIA VS. BODØ/GLIMT
1.96
BODØ/GLIMT WIN OR DRAW + BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
SLAVIA PRAGUE vs. ROYALE UNION
1.75
ROYALE UNION WIN OR DRAW
SLAVIA PRAGUE vs. ROYALE UNION
1.75
ROYALE UNION WIN OR DRAW
