Zilina though rested many of their regulars in their weekend 0-0 draw vs Senica. They may not need a win but they still are being careful not to be caught off guard. They have no major worries (suspensions or injuries) and are well poised to produce another win over their ‘former compatriots’.

Zilina are not only after a Slovak victory over the Czech. In fact they are after the glory of their 1st appearance in the CL groups stage, which is why the game is so important for them with all the glory and the money involved.

We find the odds to be deceiving at best. The home side has inflated odds on their win and this maybe due to the bookie counting only on the 1st leg results, thinking Zilina may settle for a draw, which is certainly not the case.

Probably a good chance to make big money here considering the circumstances. Zilina home win should be priced at 1.80 at best.

Of course Copenhagen have the home advantage, as they are 3-1-0 at home since the end of July (3-0-0 in their last 3 home games) and can score goals (8-2 on aggregate in their last 3 home games), but let’s not forget Rosenborg are also 5-1-0 on the road since the beginning of July and have won their last 3 away games netting 6 and conceding 2 in them.

Gronkjaer’s late goal may have changed the fortunes of the Danish side after they looked like they were going to concede a 3rd goal to finish them off in the last 10 minutes. Now they do stand a chance, and they have another attacking asset available tonight in the shape of Brazilian striker Santin.

Rosenborg rested a few of their regulars in the weekend (a 3-1 home win over Molde) and they will all be ready for this decider. Certainly a strong squad available for coach Eggen. Ghana’s Annan is suspended though.

We probably prefer Rosenborg on the A.H. although we admit the Danes are a strong home outfit.

Zenit certainly had their moments of horror in the 1st leg with the woodwork denying Auxerre from finding their net, but still they won and have been doing VERY well of late (8-2-0 in their last 10 since July), so it follows we are not prepared to bet against them either.

The visitors will most probably come to France in search of a draw that will ensure they stay in the CL while their hosts get diverted to play in the Europa league instead. the game hence is likely to go under 2.5 goals and could very well end goalless. Why we won’t be betting on the 0-0 is obvious though. In all 3 domestic draws, Auxerre have both been able to score and have conceded too. In other words, they may have drawn 3 out of 3 in Ligue 1, but still no game of theirs ended in the dreadful 0-0 scoreline.

Lead by the former AS Roma manger Luciano Spalleti; Zenit will probably play an ‘Italian style’ defensive game. Spalletti has a strong squad available to him, and a well rested one too (they have not played since the1st leg), which certainly gives them the advantage here.

A draw is the most likely outcome in our view.

They had a 1-1 draw at Kiev so they look likely to qualify here, but they draw too much this season (2-4-1 in all competitions). However, they are 2-1-0 at home in all competitions and have found the net on 7 occasions in their last 2 home games.

The visitors were ‘ambushed’ at home in the 1st leg, falling 0-1 behind and playing with 10 men for the last 34 minutes. However, they managed to draw 10 minutes after Garmash had been sent off, and Gusev was their goal scorer. Garmash of course will be suspended for tonight’s game, and Kiev -albeit being good enough in general- appear to have lost it somewhere along the way of late, and are winless in 3 (including the 1st leg vs Ajax).

Ajax welcomed Alderweireld back in the weekend, and have officially signed Mido by now, so they appear to be at full strength with no ‘major’ absentees, suspensions or otherwise worries. Mido may not be fit enough still though, but Suarez and El Hamdaoui can really be a pain for the opposition defenders.

We would rather back the Dutch on the A.H. market, and expect both sides to score so it must be a game for overs.

This is no longer the case and we now accept that it is very likely that Spurs will advance to the groups stage, due to them being a level above their opponents.

The two appeared to be on the same level a week ago in Bern. Young Boys even looked like they’ve sealed their qualification going 3-0 up, but having giving away 2 goals they come to London in a desperate situation needing a draw to advance. That or they need to score 3 (lose by 3-4) which is too much to ask from a side that has scored a total of 12 goals in 9 games (in all competitions) although -admittedly- they have improved vastly of late, winning 4 of their last 5 games in all competitions.

Now Spurs appear a better side now than that of last season. They’ve grown some confidence along with their skill and it’s hard to see them lose at home. Even Man City appeared to be overrun by Spurs at the Lane, and Stoke (who had last season won over Spurs) have lost to the Lilywhites convincingly.

Redknapp will have to watch out for Degen’s pace though. The Tottenham back line still appears to be off shape, but their midfield is awesome and should be able to take the game to Young Boys the way they did vs Man City. Bale in particular deserves a special mention, as he finished last season on a high and here he is again at it, netting a brace vs Stoke. He might be up for another tonight.

Jermaine Defoe decided to delay a surgery he was supposed to go through until he had made sure Spurs are in the groups stage. He is expected to start alongside Crouch, with Keane and Pavlyuchenko (both carrying minor knocks) starting at the bench. Also Dos Santos is available, but still no Modric. All 4 (Defoe, Dos Santos, Pavlyu & Keane) were spared vs Stoke so should be fresh for the ‘fight’, while Young Boys had to use their entire starting line-up in their 1-0 home win over Zurich in the weekend. They only have defenders Emiliano Dudar and Hassan Lingani on their injury list, but neither had played in the 1st leg anyway.

Tottenham to win and qualify for group stages

Sevilla at home beat Barca 3-1 less than 2 weeks ago, but in the weekend they threw it all away losing by 0-4 at the Nou Camp. Our point is they did really well in the 1st leg at home, and are very well capable of scoring 6 past Braga if they needed to.

The Portuguese outfit played well so far this season, but let’s face it: they are lousy travelers. They had won 3-0 at home over Celtic but lost by 1-2 at Glasgow. In the Portuguese league they have won 3-1 over newly promoted Portimonense, but have drawn goalless to Vituria Setubal on the road. Finally their home tie vs Sevilla ended 1-0 in their favour, and now they need to avoid a heavy defeat in order to reach the groups stage.

New loan signings Elton (from Vasco de Gama) and Felipe (from Corinthians) may get the chance to play for the visitors today, but if Kanoute and company can keep Messi at bay (in the 1st leg that is) and win by 3-1, then they certainly can keep the whole of the Braga squad confined and place their strikers under house arrest.

The Andalusians’ coach Antonio Alvarez says they will be playing ‘for their lives’, and while there are minor doubts over the fitness of both keeper Palop and striker Luis Fabiano (both with thigh problems) they are both expected to be fit for tonight’s decider. Also Abdoulay Konko returns to the squad and -of course- Kanoute is ready, leaving only Tiberio Guarente (calf) and Ivica Dragutinovic (achilles tendon) in the treatment room.

Bet on Sevilla to win big and get to the groups stage.

Tottenham unlike Young Boys Berne find themselves at the elite table for the first time since the Champions League took over from the old European Cup and will not want to go the same way as Everton did a few years back and fall before they even reached the group stages and while Young Berne are one of the easiest teams Spurs could have been drawn against, they are no walk overs.

Young Boys did beat Fenerbahce in the previous round and while some will point out that domestically Young Boys are in poor form that cannot be said about their Champions League form.

Young Boys have won just once from five domestic games this season and find themselves seventh in a ten team league, hardly outstanding, but what was outstanding was traveling to Turkey and drawing 2-2 with Fenerbahce, that is no easy task and if Spurs ever needed a warning to the dangers Young Boys present, that was result was it.

Now Spurs played very well against the Billionaires boy club of Man City at the weekend and if it was not for bad luck and the heroics of Man City goalkeeper Joe Hart Spurs would have won in a canter, however one should not read too much in to a first game of the season, especially when you are the home team.

Now, you can see I have basically urged caution if you are inclined to dismiss Young Boys Berne, but that does not mean that I do not think that the North London outfit will win tonight because I do expect Spurs to win.

But I am of the opinion that this game will be far from easy and the idea that Spurs will win by a handful I feel is wishful thinking, the Swiss side are at home, they are experienced in European football, something Spurs are not at this level, they may not be doing great domestically but their European form has shown they are more than capable.

For me Spurs will have too much for Young Boys to handle, they will come at Young Boys in the same way they did against Man City, with pace and full on attack, the Swiss will realise this and will try to combat it, whether they will be good enough to hold back Redknapps men for the entire 90 minutes though is doubtful.

Overall I expect a close game and for Spurs to win by the single goal.

In reality; Rosenborg proved themselves superior to their opponents in the 1st leg, and they should not be in trouble if they play the same way tonight. They dominate the pitch and keep pressing forward forcing the other team to retreat, and their home turf adds more to their strength as they are undefeated in their domestic league on this pitch (the Nye Lerkendal Stadion at Trondheim).

AIK are going through a really bad season. In their own domestic league they stand 2nd from bottom, so anything but a hu,iliating defeat could be considered a surprise all in itself. They are 1-2-6 on the road in Allsvenskan, and only scored 4 goals in 9 games on the road, while having conceded 14. They have not scored a single goal in their last 4 games in all comeptitions, and this tells you just how bad their form is at this time.

AIK will be able to field Walid Atta, Admir Catovic, and Antonio Flavio who have all missed the 1st leg, but that will probably not be enough for them to turn back the tide and reverse their fate.

Rosenborg to win by at least 2 clear goals here.

Recommended Bet:

Rosenborg -1.5 A.H. @ 2.05 w/ Bet365

The Swiss side played 4 games in July so far, including the 1st leg. They drew all 1st 3 and lost the last one at Bellizona in the weekend. In all 4 games Young Boys have both scored and conceded at least once, so this looks like a guaranteed overish game and the bookies are probably correct in making it so obvious a bet.

Fenerbahce to win is also an obvious bet, but the odds are even poorer than the over 2.5 goals option.

Fenerbahce are by far the better of the two, and will be backed by a huge crowd pushing them to do a proper job to reach the CL groups stage, so it looks like the road is paved for them to produce a convincing win and we should see lots of goals on both ends, but the home side should easily score 3 or 4, so either cover over 3.5 goals or go for the Asian Handicap market.

Yet again, they have 5 more players available who were not in the 1st leg. These were all WC finals participants and this will bring them back into game despite the fact Luis Suarez is amiss due to conceding -yet another- red card in the 1st leg.

It has been 4 seasons without a CL berth for Ajax, and that is a long time for them not be in Europe’s most prestigious competition. Jol’s men will fight tooth and nail to survive this one and advance to the groups stage, but it won’t be easy in Saloniki, and especially with new signing Mounir El Hamdaoui also missing the trip along with Suarez. They also failed to come to terms with Middlesbrough regarding Mido, and this leaves Jol without a proper striker, but at least he can still count on a relatively good defense line backed by Dutch #1 international keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

History tells us Ajax have been in this very situation before. They had been to Greece (precisely vs Panathinaikos) twice after having failed to get a result in the 1st leg in Holland, and on both occasions (mid 70′s and mid 90′s) the Dutch side managed to win away from home and advance.

Backing Ajax to win by the odd goal.

The problem of course will be exposing their defense line for an away goal that will make matters even worse for The Bhoys, and at the end of the 90 minutes one can only imagine Celtic to have scored 2 or 3 goals, but have conceded one.

In the Emirates Cup Celtic have obviously been doing well upfront, having scored twice in each of their games vs Lyon and Tottenham. Conceding 5 in total though is disastrous and speaks volumes of their defense.

Another problem is that McGeady isn’t playing. That limits coach Lennon’s options in the front line, but -hopefully- he can find a suitable combination for The Hoops to still be efficient on the opponents target. Samaras and Forrest, maybe?

Suffice it to say the odds on the over 2.5 option are good enough, and so are the odds on Celtic to win. To qualify though is another matter and we would rather not go there.

Picks:

Under 2.5 goals
Draw