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Standard Liege hosts Zenit Sankt Petersburg, Champions league playoffs first leg.
Standard defeated Panathinaikos last round after 0-0 at home and 2-1 away. Unfortunately for Standard the victory in Greece was the end of their good form in the start of the season and the Belgian vice-Champions played 2 horrible matches in a row … 0-1 vs Gent and 2-5 vs Mouscron. Ok, they had the Zenit game in mind when they played Mouscron, but when you lose 5-2 there is nothing you can say. I do not trust Standard to perform in Europe … last year they were a joke in the Europa League group stages … they are good in Belgium but even there they are inconsistent.
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Zenit struggled a bit vs AEL Limassol in the previous round … 0-1 away, 3-0 at home but with late goals. They dominated both games but had problems creating and finishing chances. Their stars like Hulk looked tired after the World Cup. But even so it`s hard to argue against Zenit: after the unlucky loss in Cyprus they got 5 consecutive wins with scores like 8-1, 4-0 or 3-0, even though such big differences were not always the correct score.
I don’t think either side is worth a lot of trust right now. Zenit is the favorite and their results have been very good lately but their level is not that impressive and in the UCL they struggled with AEL. They also showed inconsistency in Europe very often. Standard is in bad form but will surely focus more in such a big game and have their chances to get a draw. I think the draw is the best bet to try and at such big odds I am happy to tip this result. Correct score prediction: Standard Liege – Zenit Sankt Petersburg 1-1.
Pick: Draw
Odds: 3.53 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 4
Possible profit: 10.12
Event date: 20 August
