Dundalk vs Legia Warsaw Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Nobody was expecting Dundalk to get this far. They were drawn against Icelandic champions FH in their Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round tie, beating them on away goals. Next up were Champions League regulars BATE, whom they managed to limit to a 1-0 win in Belarus before shockingly beating them 3-0 in Ireland to continue their Champions League run.

That win guaranteed them a position in the group stages of a major European competition this season, but with the Champions League group stages just two matches away they will be desperate to put in a good performance in the home leg against Legia Warsaw.

This European involvement has taken it’s toll on their domestic form, and their 3-0 win over BATE is their only victory in their last six games in all competitions. I doubt that will bother them too much though, as they remain at the top of the Irish Premier Division and have games in hand on the 2nd placed Derry City. All of their focus will be on Wednesday game.

Legia Warsaw appear much more regularly in the latter stages of European qualification than Dundalk, but they haven’t made the Champions League group stages since the 1995/96 season either, so this is a huge opportunity for them as well.

The visitors do regularly end up in the Europa League group stages though, and in the 2014/15 season they made it through to the knockout rounds of that competition,only to be eliminated by Ajax.

Legia Warsaw’s season hasn’t started off particularly well though. They have only managed six points from their opening five Poland Ekstraklasa matches and have already been knocked out of the Polish Cup. Their 1-0 aggregate win over Trencin in the last qualifying round of the Champions League wasn’t overly convincing either.

Dundalk looked really impressive at home against BATE, and I’m expecting them to do well at home again on Wednesday. They haven’t lost in normal time at home in any of their last 11 matches, whilst Legia Warsaw have only won three of their last ten trips away in all competitions.

This makes odds of 5/6 for a Dundalk Win or Draw Double Chance look a good value bet, and I think they can get the win as well so I’m going for a 1-0 correct score prediction at 17/2.