APOEL vs Astana Betting Tips

Astana were somewhat dominated by APOEL in the first leg of this Champions League playoff tie. They had the lion’s share of possession along with more attempts at goal when they played in Kazakhstan.

But they were unable to make their opportunities count and in the end an early goal from Astana attacker Dzholchiev was enough for them to take a lead to Cyprus with them.

However, considering the domination of APOEL away from home, the leaders might find it difficult to keep them out once they’re on home turf.

APOEL are coming into this game during a period of patchy form though. They have only won 2 of their last 5 matches in all competitions, but did manage to kick off their domestic campaign with an emphatic 5-1 victory at Ermis on Saturday.

Astana have already played the majority of their domestic football this season. They are 23 games into the Kazakhstan Premier League and they sit atop the table with a 2 point advantage over their nearest rivals in the Championship Round of the season.

It is likely that Astana will park the bus and simply try to keep them out of their 18 yard box.

But to do this for 90 minutes is a tough ask and APOEL will almost certainly break through their defences sooner or later and probably manage to end the tie in normal time. This will end Astana’s most successful Champions League campaign to date, although they can still be optimistic about their progress in the competition.

bet365 are offering some incredibly good value odds for this match. 19/20 for a home win looks almost too good to be true considering how in control they were in Kazakhstan. APOEL to win is our bet, whilst we will also be taking a punt on a 2-0 victory for them at odds of 13/2.