It's Round 3 of the UEFA Champions League Qualifying so here at Football Park we’ve come up with a tasty ACCA that could win you lots of money with some of the games featured this Tuesday.
There might only have been three games played in the Superligaen but FC Midtjylland have found themselves sat third in the league unbeaten with one win and two draws. The Danish side made it into this round by seeing off Santa Coloma 4-0 on aggregate after 0-3 and 1-0 wins home and away.
Midtjylland are a team that usually make it into the elite European competitions as they have been involved in either the Champions League or the Europa League every season since for the last 10 years. I wouldn’t count them out again this year, but they would have to put in a good show in this first leg.
Based in Budapest, Ferencvaros defeated Welsh club TNS 7-2 over two legs to make it into Round 3 of qualifying. A first leg 5-0 thrashing all but confirming their progression to face Midtjylland, winger Traoré’s hattrick a deciding factor.
They have made it into the official Group Stages of the competition only once in the last 10 years and were unfortunate to be placed in a group with Barcelona, Juventus and Dynamo Kyiv. They will hope their fortune changes and they can get off to a good start in this first leg though.
Our prediction for this leg of the ACCA is for Both Teams To Score. With both sides unbeaten in five games, it is too hard to predict a winner but what is clear to see is that they can both find the back of the net.
Sparta Prague are currently top of the league with a two point gap after three games as they are the only team in the Chance Liga to have won all three matches. Winning both home and away, they knocked out Shamrock Rovers to see themselves into the next round of qualifying. 6-2 overall on aggregate will worry their opponents who were not as convincing in their progression efforts.
The Czech side have played 46 games in the Champions League, massively outweighing FC FCSB’s inexperience in the competition. They also featured in the Europa League last season, but were ultimately sent home in the Round of 16 by European competitions giants Liverpool through a 2-11 hammering aggregate score.
After a shaky two legs, FC FCSB were 2-1 aggregate victors over Maccabi Tel Aviv, getting it done in the second leg. Domestically and it is not going as well. They have played three games in Liga 1 and are positioned in 14th place out of 16 having drawn two games and losing the other.
Steaua București, as they are also known, have actually won this competition before way back in the 1985/86 season when it was called the European Cup but the reigning Romanian league champions have not seen nearly the same amount of success since.
Our prediction for this leg of the ACCA is for Slavia Prague to Win. They come into this game with the much greater form and with them not having lost in their last six games, it is hard not tot root against them when they face a team that struggled to make it to Round 3 in comparison.
This is the first time that Lille are getting involved in Champions League qualification this year's qualification as they finished last season’s Ligue 1 in a high enough position to be able to skip some rounds. The position they finished was 4th, missing out on automatic placement by three points due to conceded a added time equaliser seeing them lose out on the last day of the season. It won’t be all doom and gloom if they fail to go through after both legs are they are part of the League Path, meaning they will qualify for the Europa League depending on a loss.
Finishing in the top four in one of Europe’s top five leagues is no easy task so Lille are prepared for what is in store in what fans are naming the most entertaining match of the qualifiers. Last season, the French club did make it all the way to the Quarter-Finals of the Conference League but were second to Aston Villa, with the Birmingham based side won a dramatic penalty shootout as a result of both teams unable to be separated after two legs.
Victorious over Lugano in Round 2 of the qualifiers, Fenerbahçe come into this match 6-4 aggregate winners. Four goals from Bosnia-Herzegovina legend and club captain Edin Dzeko provided four goals across those two legs with a stellar performance in the first game, ending it with a hattrick. The Turkish Süper Lig is yet to start but when it nears the end of the season, Fenerbahçe are always near the top, finishing second for the last three years on the trot.
Fenerbahçe have not participated in the Champions League since the 09/10 season when they had the likes of Roberto Carlos, Colin Kazim-Richards and former Lille striker Burak Yilmaz but they have made six Europa League appearances in that time.
Our prediction for this leg of the ACCA is for Both Teams To Score. Lille are a side that have not lost their last four home games and Fenerbahçe are unbeaten in six away games. This match is too close to call result wise but their should be goals from both sides. The aforementioned Dzeko has been in good form in his qualifying campaign and Lille’s Johnathon David shared second place in the Ligue 1 Golden Boot race with Alexandre Lacazette with 19 league goals, so you know that Lille can rely on him.
RB Salzburg are in the qualifying stages after finishing runners-up in the Austrian Bundesliga last year, an anomaly for them as this is the first time they have not won the league since the 12/13 season. Known for their insane youth development, the young stars will come together again in this match against Dutch side FC Twente. Sturm Graz will be the other Austrian team in the Champions league provided that Salzburg qualify because their domestic league sits in 15th for the UEFA league coefficient, meaning only one team automatically qualifies.
Salzburg have been participants in a UEFA European competition every single year for the last 20 years, more specifically the Champions League for the last five. New manger Pep Lijinders, former disciple under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool will be hoping to take them into the Champions League once more.
FC Twente would be the third team from the Eredivisie to be in the UEFA Champions League if they were to beat Salzburg over these two legs after they earned their spot in the qualification process by finishing third. The horrific season that Netherlands icons Ajax have is no doubt a massive factor in Twente ending the league in that position but everyone at the club will not care about that.
It would be the first time in 14 years that they have participated in the UEFA Champions League so to make it through would be a great honour for them. However, because of that, they might find it difficult to face an opponent that has got regular Champions League experience. The Tukkers have nothing to lose in trying though.
Our prediction for this leg of the ACCA is for RB Salzburg to Win. Twente’s lack of matches against European opposition is what will cost them in my opinion. Although they haven’t lost in seven games, Red Bull Salzburg haven’t lost in nine. Talents like Karim Konate, Omar Solet and Nicolas Capaldo should be on top form in this one and boss in their areas of the pitch, not allowing FC Twente to get much of a look in.
Through our bookmakers, you can get odds as good as 8.36/1 on Coral. This would return a whopping £93.66 provided a £10 stake is placed.
These odds are subject to change so get on it quick.
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