Slovan want to lay the foundation for progression at home
The semi-finals of the Champions League qualifiers are on the agenda this week. Slovan Bratislava will host APOEL Nicosia in the first leg and the bookmakers’ predictions suggest that the hosts are the favorites. The team that prevails in this round is on the verge of advancing to the lucrative group stage. Reason enough to throw everything into the balance once again
The White Falcons go into this match with the advantage that the Light Blue & Whites have not only already survived two Champions League rounds, but also started their league campaign two weeks ago. The Sky Blues are therefore in competitive mode, which is rewarded by the bookmakers. Between Slovan Bratislava and APOEL Nicosia, odds of 2.20 are being paid for bets on the home side.
In Cyprus, the Cyta Championship is still in a deep sleep. The first whistle will not sound here for another three weeks. The yellow and blue team passed a tough test to reach this semi-final. In Slovakia, however, the visitors will initially be the underdogs. The bookmaker Bet365 is offering odds of 3.30.
for bets on the Cypriots in the match between Slovan Bratislava and APOEL Nicosia.
Slovan Bratislava – Statistics & current form
With 22 championship titles, Slovan Bratislava is the record title holder in its country. Last year, the White Falcons dominated the Nike League, finishing fifteen points ahead of Dunajska Streda to qualify for the Champions League. The start to the new season could not have been better.
After two match days, the Light Blue & Whites are already back at the top of the table. With the optimum points total of six points from two games, the capital team is the only team to have won both matches. The perfect start to the season has therefore been achieved
Slovan with the dream start
The first matchday saw a clear 4:1 win at newly promoted Komarno, which was followed a week later by a narrow 1:0 win over Podbrezova. The European Cup Winners’ Cup winners have also done extremely well on the international stage so far. In the first qualifying stage, the hosts beat FC Struga (4:2; 2:1). In round two, progress was secured with a 5-0 home win after a 1-1 draw at NK Celje in Slovenia.
Bratislava is hungry for goals
Twelve goals in four Champions League games show the attacking qualities of the Slovakians. Head coach Vladimir Weiss’ team also scored by far the most goals in the domestic league with five. This gives us hope for some goal celebrations on Wednesday. Between Slovan Bratislava and APOEL Nicosia, the odds for betting on the home side are at 2.20 at the top. While Armenian Barseghyan tops the national scoring charts, David Strelec is the White Falcons’ most dangerous international attacker.
The capital team have now gone seven competitive games unbeaten. Last season, the Light Blue & Whites reached the last 32 in the Conference League. Two defeats against Sturm Graz (1:4; 0:1) led to their elimination.
Predicted line-up of Slovan Bratislava:
Trnovsky – Blackman, Kashia, Wimmer, Vojtko – Tolic, Bajric, Mustafic – Weiss, Strelec, Barseghyan
APOEL Nicosia – Statistics & current form
APOEL Nicosia are the reigning Cypriot champions and are also the national record holders with 29 titles. They have also won the national cup 21 times. The yellow-blues have also made a number of appearances on the international stage. The greatest success here was certainly reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2011.
Last season, APOEL led the Cyta Championship after the regular double round. At that point, the visitors were three points ahead of their closest rivals Limassol. In the subsequent championship round, head coach David Gallego’s team almost missed out on the championship on the final matchday, but just managed to cross the finish line ahead of Larnaca
Nikosia battles its way to the semi-finals
Since the championship in Cyprus does not start until August 24, the yellow-blues have only played two competitive matches. In the quarter-finals of the qualifying round, the visitors faced FC Petrocub from Moldova. After a narrow 1:0 win in the first leg, a 1:1 draw in the second leg was enough to advance to the next round. The Brazilian Marquinhos scored both goals for the Cypriots.
We are not really convinced by these results. In the other four test matches, Nicosia only came out on top once. All in all, it seems that coach Gallego and his team still have a lot of work to do to live up to higher international standards
Lack of penetration at APOEL
The yellow-and-blues have only scored more than one goal twice in their six matches. Even as last season’s champions, Nicosia scored an average of 1.75 goals per match with just 63 goals in 36 games. The most dangerous marksman, Marquinhos, was retained and is expected to fire APOEL into the next round. New to the squad is former Schalke player Max Meyer.
Predicted line-up for APOEL Nicosia:
Belec – Susic, Petrovic, Cipriano, Quintilla – Marquinhos, Ndongala, Kostadinov, Tejera, Sarfo – Drazic
Slovan Bratislava – APOEL Nicosia head-to-head / H2H result
Thirteen years ago, the two teams faced each other once in Champions League qualifying. Back then, the visitors had the better of the game. After a 0-0 draw in Cyprus, APOEL won 2-0 in Slovakia. The yellow-and-blues benefited from a 30-minute overtime spell
Slovan Bratislava – APOEL Nicosia betting tip
The lucrative group stage is getting closer and closer. Only a few games separate the teams still in the competition from the big money. Two contenders are Slovan Bratislava and Nicosia, who meet in the “semi-finals” of the qualifying round. The visitors have to live with the deficit that the yellow-blues are still in the preparation phase, as the Cypriot league does not start for another three weeks.
The hosts, on the other hand, are already in competition mode and have made a dream start in the league. The White Eagles are also unbeaten internationally this season. The aim now is to get a good result in front of their own fans and then make the trip to Cyprus
Vladimir Weiss’ team could not have started the new season any better. The attack in particular is already doing really well, scoring seventeen goals in six competitive matches. Our recommendation for the match between Slovan Bratislava and APOEL Nicosia is therefore to back the home side at odds of 2.20 at the top.
So far, the light blue and whites have radiated a lot of goal threat, which gives us hope for some goals on Wednesday as well. That’s why betting on at least three goals between Slovan Bratislava and APOEL Nicosia at odds of 2.15 is a good alternative
