Slovan Bratislava (Svk) vs APOEL (Cyp) prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Qualification betting tips on match 2024-08-06 18:30.
[p]ŠK Slovan Bratislava have made light work of their opening two qualifying rounds in the Champions League so far this season, with a 6-3 aggregate win over Struga followed by a 6-1 success over Celje. They now face a much sterner test in the form of APOEL hoping to keep alive their hopes of reaching the competition’s group/league stage for the very first time.[/p]
[p]The Slovak side booked their place in the qualifiers by winning their domestic league for a sixth successive season, but it was at this stage last season that they fell short, suffering home and away defeats to Maccabi Haifa. VladimĂr Weiss’ side should certainly head into this home leg with confidence that they can do better this time around given that they’ve hit the ground running so far this term, not only in their European matches but also domestically, helping to form an overall run of no defeat in their opening six competitive matches (W5, D1).[/p]
[p]APOEL arrive more undercooked than their hosts, having played just two competitive games so far, both qualifiers in this competition against Moldovan side Petrocub. Their 2-1 aggregate win was far from impressive on the whole, yet they remain on course for an appearance in the group/league state of Europe’s premier competition for the first time since 2017/18.[/p]
[p]Inspiring hope that they can navigate this two-legged test might be their decent prior record against sides from Slovakia. They’ve faced such teams on four occasions, avoiding defeat each time (W3, D1), with two of those matches coming against Slovan Bratislava as part of their Champions League qualifying run back in 2011/12, when APOEL won the away leg 2-0.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Midfielder Tigran Barseghyan will be looking to score in a fourth successive Slovan contest here, while it’s Marquinhos who has been the difference maker from APOEL in their two qualification matches so far with a goal in each.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Slovan have scored inside 30 minutes in four of their past five home competitive matches. [/p]
[p][i]Written by David H[/i][/p]