19:15 Thursday

NK Maribor vs HJK Helsinki – Over 2.5 Goals

This will be the first ever meeting between NK Maribor and HJK Helsinki; both teams have started their domestic seasons so neither will be going in cold for this one.  

HJK Helsinki have seen over 2.5 goals in four of their last five games with Toni Koskela’s side struggling to keep a clean sheet, but their main striker Roope Riski is out with a knee injury for this game.

NK Maribor have played three domestic games so far and in all three they have seen over 2.5 goals, while their European campaign has been fairly uneventful with none of them exceeding the 2.5 goals mark. With both teams looking to make a statement in the first leg we can see goals in this one.

18:00 Thursday

Fenerbahce Win vs Slovacko

Fenerbahce will be looking to claim an advantage when they welcome FC Slovacko to Istanbul for the first leg of their third qualifying round Europa League contest on Thursday night.

The Turkish giants lost to Dynamo Kiev in the second qualifying round for the Champions League, which has seen them drop into the Europa League, while Slovacko secured their spot at this stage of the competition by finishing fourth in the Czech First League in 2021/22.

Despite the disappointment of not taking part in the Champions League this year, we are finding it hard to not back the Yellow Canaries.

20:00 Thursday

Shamrock Rovers Win vs KF Shkupi Skopje

Shamrock Rovers will be disappointed at not reaching the latter stages of the Champions League stages for the second year in the row, but they can take some confidence from a 2-1 win against Ludogorets at home. The Hoops haven’t seen a home defeat since the 17th of June and currently sit top of the Irish Premier League Division.

They face KF Shkupi Skopje who play in 1.MFL in North Macedonia. Their domestic season hasn’t begun yet and they were knocked out by Dinamo Zagreb despite securing a 2-2 draw away from home but lost 1-0 in the reverse leg.

We think due to Shamrock being into the middle of their season and taking some confidence from their 2-1 win against Ludogorets we fancy them to take the win in this one.