Goal drought in Cyprus?

Champions League Qualification, the second! The upcoming qualifying round for Europe’s premier club competition now sees the qualifiers from leagues higher up in UEFA’s five-year rankings join the fray.

The Cypriot national colours will be represented by Aris Limassol, who await Belarusian representatives BATE Borisov for their first clash on the Mediterranean island.

For an Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov bet on the three-way market, the best bookmakers see the southern Europeans as relatively clear favourites. The advantage for Borisov, however, could lie in the fact that Kiryl Alsheuski’s side have already played in the previous qualifying round and are more in rhythm thanks to the two competitive matches they have already played. The Cypriot champions, on the other hand, are in for a cold start after not having had to prove themselves in the previous round. Last weekend’s national Super Cup final was Limassol’s first competitive match after a break of almost two months.

This fact should certainly not be ignored in Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov predictions. In addition, two teams are on an equal footing – so a closely contested first leg is also to be expected in all probability. Aleksey Shpilevski’s side have their own home strength in their favour, which his side will be looking to use to put their opponents under pressure ahead of next week’s second leg.

Aris Limassol – Statistics & current form

For years, the club from the south coast of Cyprus was the lift team par excellence within its own national borders. The club regularly oscillated between first and second division before the Shpilevski eleven took a sensational development in the last two seasons.

After finishing fourth in the previous season, this development culminated in the first championship in the club’s history in the season just ended. For the first ever Champions League qualifier, Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov odds show the team from the Mediterranean island as favourites in the first leg.

Does Limassol also shine in the top flight?

However, an Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov bet on the three-way market seems risky, as Aris lack international experience despite their strong last season. This is what their opponents, who have regularly failed to qualify for the European top flight in recent years, bring to the table. Shpilevski’s team will certainly have to push their limits in the qualifying first leg in order to travel to Belarus with a win in their luggage.

Most of all, ex-Aue coach Shpilevski would like to see the football of his team from the championship group of the Cypriot First Division, which brought Limassol the first title in the club’s history. Here, his eleven impressed with a brilliant run (6-3-1), especially the record in the home Limassol Arena.

The fact that, with the exception of the Super Cup final last weekend, the Green-Whites have not played a competitive match in months and are therefore not in a playing rhythm is likely to prove a disadvantage. The results in the training camp in Austria were also rather sobering for coach Shpilevski.

Certainly, results in preparation should never be overrated. But the fact that his team only scored one goal against Sturm Graz, Austria Wien and Dynamo Kiev is a sign that his team does not yet shine on the offensive. In the national Super Cup final, however, it was enough for an unchallenged 2:0 victory against Omonia Nicosia.

Predicted line-up of Aris Limassol:
Vaná – Urošević, Sané, Medioub, Brorsson – Brown, Špoljarić, Szöke, Montnor, Mayambela – Stępiński

BATE Borisov – Statistics & current form

The most successful club in Belarus only managed third place in the domestic league last season. As a result, Bate are still waiting for their first league title since 2018. This final ranking also meant that Borisov had to play in the first qualifying round for the group stage of the Champions League.

Here, however, Alsheuski’s side showed their class by eliminating Albanian representatives Partizani Tirana. For the first leg in Cyprus in the second qualifying round, however, betting providers such as the British bookmaker Bet365 see the Belarusians at a disadvantage. Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov odds therefore show the hosts as relatively clear favourites.

Will Bate remain unbeaten away from home?

The Yellow-Blue team should be encouraged before the difficult task in Limassol by the fact that they remained unbeaten in away matches for an entire season in the national league last season (8-7-0). And Tirana also failed to crack the Alsheuski eleven in the first qualifying round. Based on these statistics, one could certainly derive an Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov prediction on another unbeaten game by Bate.

However, in recent years Borisov have regularly failed to clear the qualification hurdles for European competitions, which naturally makes the bookmakers sceptical about the chances of success for the team from Belarus. Especially away from home, Bate has often been weak. Of course, it must be emphasised that Bate have also faced teams that are stronger than Limassol, at least on paper.

Since their last participation in the group stage of the European top flight in the 2015/16 season, Alsheuski’s team has lost three of its four away matches in Champions League qualifying. And in the last three seasons, too, there were only claps away from home in the qualifiers for the Conference and Europa League – sometimes quite clearly.

Predicted line-up of BATE Borisov:
Kudravets – Jimog, Bane, Khadarkevich, Nechaev – Grechikho, Bocherov, Gromyko – Kontsevoj, Antilevski, Lakevich

Aris Limassol – BATE Borisov Direct comparison / H2H-balance

Aris Limassol have never faced a team from Belarus before. In fact, the Cypriots’ European Cup experience tends towards zero – the club’s history at European level so far includes only two matches in Europa Conference League qualifying in pre-season. After Aris won the home match against Neftçi Baku 2-0, the Cypriots were still eliminated by a 3-0 defeat in the return match in Azerbaijan.

BATE, on the other hand, have much more international experience. However, the Belarusians have only played a team from Cyprus once in their European Cup history. In the Champions League qualifiers of the 2007/08 season, Alsheuski’s team won the second leg after extra time against APOEL Nicosia following a 2-0 defeat in the first leg in Cyprus.

Aris Limassol – BATE Borisov Tip

An Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov prediction in the three-way market seems difficult to make. While the Cypriots have had a long league break and also failed to convince in their preparation matches, their opponents from Belarus mastered the first qualifying round against Tirana with aplomb. However, Alsheuski’s team’s record in qualifying matches for European club competitions has been disastrous in recent years.

Therefore, we assume that Aris will not leave their home Limassol arena as losers either. That it still won’t be enough for a victory after the long break and the lack of match practice is not far-fetched, which is why a bet on the double chance for the home team should be chosen as a hedge.

In addition, we expect a low-scoring encounter next Wednesday. In the first leg of a knockout duel, neither team is known to take the ultimate risk. In this match, too, we can expect a slow start and a generally tough game.

The fact that Aris had big problems in the offensive area in the test matches also plays a role in this assessment. And the upcoming opponents only scored two goals in each of their two matches in the first qualifying round – similarly close and tough matches are to be expected against Limassol. The bookmakers also give the Aris Limassol vs Bate Borisov bet on sub-2.5 goals the greater chance of winning than the opposite event. We assume that the bookmakers are correct with this assessment.