It’s been just 24 days since Real Madrid defeated Liverpool to become European champions for a 14th time but we’re ready to do it all again as the 2022-23 Champions League tournament kicks-off this afternoon in Reykjavik.
Four teams are in action in what is effectively a mini-tournament of two one-off semi-finals and a final, which will be held on Friday evening. The winners of which will enter the First Qualifying Round alongside the likes of Cluj, Ludogorets, Ferencvaros, Bodo/Glimt and conquerors of Real Madrid in last season’s competition, Sheriff Tiraspol.
Both of today’s Preliminary Round matches (and Friday’s finale) will be held at Víkingur’s ground in Iceland, so depsite them officially being the away team against Levadia Tallinn (Estonia) they’ll gain home advantage. La Fiorita from San Marino will also meet Andorran champions, Inter Club d’Escaldes, at Víkingsvöllur in Reykjavik.
La Fiorita are regulars at this stage of the competition but they’ve never won a game in European competition. The best they’ve managed are a 0-0 draw with Linfield in 2017 and a 1-1 draw with Maltese champions Birkirkara in the Europa Conference League.
That would explain why the Andorrans are 3/5 favourites to win. This will be their third season in Europe and they’ve notched a couple of wins already, against opposition from the Faroe Islands and Albania.
A win to nil could be on the cards for Inter considering La Fiorita have scored just three goals in 20 European matches to date. That can be backed at 6/5 with Bet365.
Estonian teams don’t normally feature this early in the competition, usually joining in the next round. Last year’s representatives Flora made it to the second qualifying round thanks to a win over Hibernians of Malta before exiting at the hands of Legia Warsaw 3-1 on aggregate so champions Levadia Tallinn should have some quality about them.
But the game being a single knock-out tie in Iceland could be a leveller and from the outside this one looks like it could be a toss of a coin. It’s 9/5 for Levadia to win inside the 90.
Super Single
- Inter Club d’Escaldes to win to nil 6/5 Bet365
Racing Tips
Rizzel has three selections for Tuesday with the NAP coming in the second race at Newbury.
US Open Fantasy Golf Competition Winner
The Caddy delivered us a brilliant 30/1 winner at the US Open but for one member it there was a fantastic 1-2-3 in our Fantasy Golf Competition. Congratulations to @ianhopkinswbk who selected the top three players on the final leaderboard in his team at the weekend.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler and Will Zlatoris meant he finished on an uncatchable -16 for the weekend, a full 10 strokes better off than 2nd place Duncanpoundcake who scored -6. DC1903 finished in third, whilst fourth placed was shared by Tinyboy11 and mjedl.
@ianhopkinswbk‘s first place finish sees him win a £50 free bet as well as a fantastic £200 travel voucher from our friends at Golf Travel Centre.
- 1st @ianhopkinswbk – £50 free bet & £200 in travel vouchers
- 2nd @Duncanpoundcake – £25 free bet
- 3rd @DC1903 – £15 free bet
- T4th @Tinyboy11 and @mjedl – £5 free bet each
Well done all the winners, we’ll be in touch on Tuesday by email with details of your prize.
As always, let us know your tips and predictions for today in the comments section below and good luck with all your bets!
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