APOEL Nicosia vs Suduva Marijampole Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

All eyes may have been on the World Cup during the past few weeks, but Lithuania’s FK Suduva Marijampole did not allow that to stop them putting themselves in place for one of the shocks of the first round of Champions League qualifying, when they recorded a 3-1 victory over Cypriot champions APOEL Nicosia. Now they have to finish the job as they make the trip for the return leg, however, we cannot see them winning a spot in the second round and are backing a home victory.

Unfortunately for us, the odds of a home win are pretty small which leaves very little value in backing APOEL on the won-draw-win market. This means that we are going to have to find either an alternative bet, or find a way of adding value to this bet. We are going with the latter and, as we can only see it being a pretty comfortable evening for the hosts, we think that backing them on the half time/full time option is the way to go. For those of you who don’t know, this simply means APOEL have to be winning at the point the half time whistle goes and at the point the full time whistle goes in order for our bet to be a successful one.

The first leg result perhaps should not be seen as too much of a shock as Suduva are around half way through their domestic campaign and are already match sharp. This is in stark contrast to APOEL, who finished their league season a few months ago and are still preparing for the new season. However, they are now further along in their preparations and with 90 competitive minutes under their belts, they should be better suited for the second leg.

Then, there is the home advantage. APOEL proved to be a difficult team to beat when they romped home to the title in Cyprus last season and their home form was key to this. Although Suduva have been in excellent shape on the road in Lithuania, it remains to be seen how well they will cope with the near 2,500 mile trip.