FC Copenhagen vs KuPS Kuopio Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

This is the 2nd Leg of the all-Scandinavian affair between Danish and Finnish sides. The 1st Leg produced just a single goal so there is still plenty to play for, although Copenhagen are now the strong favourites to progress. The winners of this tie will also fancy they can see off what will most likely be Icelandic side Stjarnan in the next round, so the door is opening up towards a potential group stage appearance for the Danes.

Copenhagen are experienced European campaigners, mostly in the Champions League, given they’ve won the Danish top flight in 2 of the previous 3 years. They would have been satisfied with a 1-0 win in last week’s 1st Leg in Finland. Robert Skov’s 75th minute goal sealed the victory but they do still have work to do here so they can’t afford to take their foot off the gas.

Right now, you’d have to say they appear to be a team in decline and not quite operating at the level they managed a couple of years ago. They finished a huge 27 points behind the champions in the Danish Superliga last term and their competitive outings so far this term suggest little has improved over the summer. They failed to really stamp their authority on the 1st Leg and then were surprisingly beaten at home by Horsens in their first league outing of the season on Monday.

They’ve had precious little time to pick themselves up following that and this could well be a great deal closer than the bookies are predicting. KuPS are no European powerhouses but they will be hugely motivated here in what is their first European away game in 6 years. Although they are in the middle of their league season, they’ve had the week off to prepare for this game and even though they lost, their 1st Leg display will give them some confidence.

Defensively they are a pretty solid outfit with clean sheets in 3 of their last 5 competitive away games. They will most likely still sit deep here and try to nick a goal at some stage and they look capable of at least being competitive against an unconvincing Copenhagen side.

Backing KuPS +2.0 Asian Handicap could therefore be worth a punt, although it’s still the Danes who should reach the next round.

Read our Asian Handicap Betting Guide for more on this market.