Wolves have a strong squad following their relegation from the Premier League, but Cesar Peixoto’s men may not be at full strength for their EFL Cup tie with Port Vale. The Valiants could spring a surprise.

Drogheda United have found some form and head to Galway unbeaten in four games. This includes away games against Sligo Rovers and Dundalk, while Galway United have only won one of their last five Irish Premier Division games.

Middlesbrough were clearly a stronger team than Wrexham last season and Boro have improved their squad this summer. Kim Hellberg’s men are heading for an EFL Cup success on Teesside.

Shamrock Rovers are flying at the moment and find themselves seven points clear at the top of the table. They have won four of their last five competitive home games, although they have conceded in each of these fixtures and face a Dundalk side that have seen goals at both ends in each of their last four.

Ibrahima Ba and Gustavo Sa rate as big losses for Famalicao and Vila Nova may not be able to repeat last season’s excellent effort. Estoril look good value to open the season with three points.

Champions Club Brugge take on newly-promoted Kortrijk and it’s likely to be one-way traffic for the Blue and Blacks. Ivan Leko has lost some big performers in the summer, but there have been more shrewd additions and it’s likely to be business as usual for Club Brugge.

A five-game winning streak has left Always Ready two points clear at the top of the Bolivian Liga Profesional and they face a Blooming side with just one win in their last four. Always Ready have won their last two meetings with Blooming and have scored 17 goals across their last five matches.

Cambuur have had a difficult end to their pre-season with four successive defeats, but they have scored in the last three of these and should be able to find the net in their first game back in the Eredivisie. Excelsior achieved a mid-table finish last season and took 11 points from their final five matches. However, they conceded in four of these, with over 2.5 goals landing in four of them and in four of their five pre-season games.

Drogheda United have found some form and head to Galway unbeaten in four games. This includes away games against Sligo Rovers and Dundalk, while Galway United have only won one of their last five Irish Premier Division games.

Middlesbrough were clearly a stronger team than Wrexham last season and Boro have improved their squad this summer. Kim Hellberg’s men are heading for an EFL Cup success on Teesside.

Shamrock Rovers are flying at the moment and find themselves seven points clear at the top of the table. They have won four of their last five competitive home games, although they have conceded in each of these fixtures and face a Dundalk side that have seen goals at both ends in each of their last four.

Cambuur have had a difficult end to their pre-season with four successive defeats, but they have scored in the last three of these and should be able to find the net in their first game back in the Eredivisie. Excelsior achieved a mid-table finish last season and took 11 points from their final five matches. However, they conceded in four of these, with over 2.5 goals landing in four of them and in four of their five pre-season games.

Shamrock Rovers are flying at the moment and find themselves seven points clear at the top of the table. They have won four of their last five competitive home games, although they have conceded in each of these fixtures and face a Dundalk side that have seen goals at both ends in each of their last four.

Cambuur have had a difficult end to their pre-season with four successive defeats, but they have scored in the last three of these and should be able to find the net in their first game back in the Eredivisie. Excelsior achieved a mid-table finish last season and took 11 points from their final five matches. However, they conceded in four of these, with over 2.5 goals landing in four of them and in four of their five pre-season games.

Shamrock Rovers are flying at the moment and find themselves seven points clear at the top of the table. They have won four of their last five competitive home games, although they have conceded in each of these fixtures and face a Dundalk side that have seen goals at both ends in each of their last four.

Cambuur have had a difficult end to their pre-season with four successive defeats, but they have scored in the last three of these and should be able to find the net in their first game back in the Eredivisie. Excelsior achieved a mid-table finish last season and took 11 points from their final five matches. However, they conceded in four of these, with over 2.5 goals landing in four of them and in four of their five pre-season games.

Ibrahima Ba and Gustavo Sa rate as big losses for Famalicao and Vila Nova may not be able to repeat last season’s excellent effort. Estoril look good value to open the season with three points.

Cambuur have had a difficult end to their pre-season with four successive defeats, but they have scored in the last three of these and should be able to find the net in their first game back in the Eredivisie. Excelsior achieved a mid-table finish last season and took 11 points from their final five matches. However, they conceded in four of these, with over 2.5 goals landing in four of them and in four of their five pre-season games.

Wolves have a strong squad following their relegation from the Premier League, but Cesar Peixoto’s men may not be at full strength for their EFL Cup tie with Port Vale. The Valiants could spring a surprise.

Drogheda United have found some form and head to Galway unbeaten in four games. This includes away games against Sligo Rovers and Dundalk, while Galway United have only won one of their last five Irish Premier Division games.

Kortrijk couldn’t have been set a more difficult task on their return to the Belgium top flight and it’s likely to be hard work for the promoted side. Club Brugge scored 91 league goals last season and they are heading for another impressive success.

Sligo Rovers remain bottom of the Irish Premier Division and have conceded 43 times in 26 games. They have shipped two or more goals in three of their last four league away games and Derry City have scored at least twice in each of their last three at home in the league.

Graham Burke has scored eight Irish Premier Division goals this season and scored the opener in their Europa League qualifier in midweek. He has scored in three of his last six competitive appearances and could boost his tally on Friday.

There were six goals in their two matches between Middlesbrough and Wrexham last term and the entertainment looks set to continue with a 2-1 victory for Boro in the EFL Cup first-round tie.

Famalicao hit only 15 goals in 17 away league matches last season, and while it was a positive campaign, they could struggle at Estoril. The 54 goals scored by the Canaries last term was bettered only by Porto, Sporting, Benfica and Braga and the home side have the firepower to win 2-0.

Portsmouth spent last season battling the drop and seem set for another season of struggle. They have made some bold transfer moves but they have signed players unproven in this league, and don’t necessarily seem any stronger than they were last season so they are among the contenders to drop down to League One.

Cambridge won promotion last term and are yet to really strengthen their team. The U’s spend four years in League One before a campaign in League Two last term, and they only finished higher than 18th in one of those seasons. Of all the promoted teams, Cambridge are perhaps the most likely to drop straight back down.

Tranmere lost 20 of their final 26 games last season and only avoided the drop by two points. The two teams that came up from the National League should be competitive and that should result in an intense relegation fight, and Rovers look likely to be involved.

Both teams have scored in each of Rangers’ last nine competitive games and Jagiellonia are on a nine-game scoring streak. That suggests we should see goals at both ends in this first leg.

Both teams have been in good goalscoring form, with HJK scoring eleven in their last five and Motherwell scoring ten. With both teams closely matched, both teams can find themselves at least a goal here

Ajax should be too much for Shelbourne here. They’re arguably too good to be playing in this competition, but due to last season’s struggles they find themselves in the Conference League. They scored eight over two legs in the previous round and expect them to win in fine fashion once again, keeping a clean sheet in the process.

Hibs were unlucky not to qualify for the league phase last season having lost in the final round, and will be hoping to go one better this season. They had no problem beating sides better than Skendija last season and should be able to claim a first leg win. Hibs have gone nine games without a clean sheet stretching back into last season and the visitors have scored in all five of their games this term, so back Hibs to win and concede.

Bohemians are in for a tough night here, facing a strong Midtjylland who have scored at least three in four of their last seven. Bohs are in fine form and rarely draw a blank so they should be able to contribute to the goals total and these sides can combine for at least four goals.

Bristol City have an opportunity to impress new boss Michael Skubala on Thursday and they can see off League Two side Walsall with room to spare. The Saddlers struggled in the second half of last season and have been poor in pre-season, Championship outfit Bristol City should be too strong and they can cover a -2 handicap.

There is an obvious gulf in class here as Benfica reached the Champions League knockout stages last season and are facing a Hearts side who shipped six across two games with Sturm Graz in their last qualifier. Benfica are capable of scoring heavily and they can reach at least three goals against the Edinburgh outfit.

Bohemians are in for a tough night here, facing a strong Midtjylland who have scored at least three in four of their last seven. Expect Midtjylland to score at least two here.

There is an obvious gulf in class here as Benfica reached the Champions League knockout stages last season and are facing a Hearts side who shipped six across two games with Sturm Graz in their last qualifier. Benfica are capable of scoring heavily and they can reach at least three goals against the Edinburgh outfit.

Tobol have a reasonable defensive record in their domestic league but Partizan represent a big step up in class. The Belgrade outfit have scored at least three goals in two of their last four games, including a 4-0 demolition of UNA Strassen in their last European home fixture, so they can reach at least three against their Kazakh opponents.

Hearts may see this game as an exercise in damage limitation as they will be keen to ensure the tie remains alive ahead of a second leg in Edinburgh, but Benfica have enough quality to win convincingly regardless. Benfica scored five in victory over St Gallen and have also hit five in one of their pre-season games, a 5-0 home win has a chance.

There have been a couple of pre-season games where Bristol City have scored heavily and a 3-0 home win seems a reasonable correct score prediction. Walsall shipped three in their final game of the League Two campaign and their attacking struggles over the summer suggest they won’t be able to get on the scoresheet at Ashton Gate.

Hibs were unlucky not to qualify for the league phase last season having lost in the final round, and will be hoping to go one better this season. They had no problem beating sides better than Skendija last season and should be able to claim a first leg win. Hibs have gone nine games without a clean sheet stretching back into last season and the visitors have scored in all five of their games this term, so back Hibs to win and concede.

Bohemians are in for a tough night here, facing a strong Midtjylland side who impressed in the Europa League last season. The visitors should be able to win in Ireland but Bohs have scored in 20 of their last 21 games across all comps and can strike in defeat.

Bristol City have an opportunity to impress new boss Michael Skubala on Thursday and they can see off League Two side Walsall with room to spare. The Saddlers struggled in the second half of last season and have been poor in pre-season, Championship outfit Bristol City should be too strong and they can cover a -1 handicap.

Hearts have lost all three of their games so far this season and have scored just one goal. Benfica beat both Real Madrid and Napoli at home in the Champions League last season and they crushed St Gallen 5-0 in their last home qualifying game. The Portuguese big guns should be far too strong for Hearts, they look capable of winning without conceding.

Hibs were unlucky not to qualify for the league phase last season having lost in the final round, and will be hoping to go one better this season. They had no problem beating sides better than Skendija last season and they can make their home advantage count in the first leg.

Partizan thrashed UNA Strassen 4-0 in their home game in the last round of qualifiers and should be able to beat their Kazakh visitors with some room to spare on Thursday. Tobol are out of form with just one win in their last five games and they needed extra time to come through against Lithuanian opponents in the previous round, Partizan should be able to win convincingly.

Bristol City have an opportunity to impress new boss Michael Skubala on Thursday and they can see off League Two side Walsall with room to spare. The Saddlers struggled in the second half of last season and have been poor in pre-season, Championship outfit Bristol City should be too strong and they can cover a -1 handicap.