Betdistrict.com
Valletta FC hosts Azeri champions Karabakh Agdam in Malta. First leg of the 2nd qualifying round in Champions League, first leg. It will be the first match for both teams this year in the competition.
Valletta is the winner of a poor Maltese league, but this team proved they can play respectable football in European qualifiers over the last years. Valletta can not be compared with teams from San Marino or Andorra for example, which they beat consistently every year, but at the next level of football they don’t have the strength. Every time in the last years when Valletta met decent opponents (Minsk, Artmedia, Ekranas, Partizan) they lost qualification clearly. Last year Valletta beat Andorran side Lusitanos with 9-0 aggregate, but lost 8-2 aggregate with an out of form Partizan in the next round. In the domestic league, Valletta won the championship after a dramatic finish, edging Birkirkara by 1 point in the playoff round, but many believe Birkirkara were the better team over the whole year.
 |
Wide markets and in-play betting coverage. Get 100% first deposit bonus (25£) by registering at Winner.com now! |
Karabakh Agdam (or Qarabag) is hands down the number 1 team in Azeri football and they won the league comfortably last year. They have some amazing players, most notably Reynaldo (signed from Anderlecht) who is scoring at will for this team, also made some excellent transfers this year like Danilo Dias from Maritimo. Owners are pumping big money into the Qarabag team and the objective is good performance in Europe, maybe even champions League group stages. Last year Qarabag played very good football in Europe, passing Metalurg Skopje, Piast Gliwice and Gefle before losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the playoffs of the Europa League.
Both teams are in the pre-season break so no fitness advantage for anyone. I don’t see Valletta resisting a good team like Karabakh from an emerging football nation like Azerbaidjan. I don’t think Valletta will roll over and lost big, but they are still miles away from the quality of Qarabag and have proved over and over in the last year that they can not resists teams of similar or even lower quality as the Azeri club. Karabakh is hungry for European wins so I think with their roster and last years’ form they will be able to get a good advantage back to Azerbaidjan. My tip will be Karabakh to win. The odds have dropped from about 2.10 to about 1.70 on this bet, so some opportunity has been lost, but there is still good value on a Karabakh win; and I am sure the odds will drop even more. Correct score prediction: Valletta FC – Karabakh Agdam 0-2.
Pick: Karabakh
Odds: 1.70 @ William Hill
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 6.3
Event date: 15 July
