The New Saints V FC Copenhagen Betting Tips: Copenhagen & Over 2.5 Goals – 23 July 2019

Class of Danes to show in Wales

Champions League Tips

The New Saints V FC Copenhagen

Tuesday, 23rd July 2019 – 19:00 Kick-Off
UEFA Champions League Second Round
Pick: FC Copenhagen & Over 2.5 Match Goals
Odds: 21/20
Bookmaker: Betway

1 X 2
13/2 4/1 2/5

* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 20th July 2019 at 17:10)

Preview: The reward for The New Saints for negotiating the Champions League first round is a daunting match-up against a club that has frequently appeared in the group stages in Europe. Danish champions FC Copenhagen are that opponent, and are strong favourites to assert their superiority right from the initial kick-off in Wales. Can the Welsh champions provide any resistance at their Park Hall stadium?

Champions League Betting at Betway

 

The New Saints Preview – Home advantage critical to qualification hopes?

Welsh champions The New Saints certainly made hard work of reaching this stage. Facing a club from Kosovo who were making their continental debuts, TNS surprisingly drew the first leg at home 2-2 but made amends out in Kosovo by earning a nervy 1-0 win courtesy of Dean Ebbe’s late strike. It was anything but convincing, though, with big improvements needed ahead of facing more illustrious opponents in the next round.

The champions of Denmark await them in this next phase of the tournament and while this will be their first competitive meeting, TNS do have recent experience when it comes to facing similar opposition. FC Midtjylland, a team that finished behind FC Copenhagen in last season’s Danish Superliga, have faced the Welsh outfit on two separate occasions – in 2011 (winning 8-3 on aggregate) and 2018 (winning 5-1 on aggregate) – and won comfortably each time. Both were in Europa League qualification.

So the omens aren’t exactly positive for Scott Ruscoe’s men, who are attempting to reach the third round of this competition for the first time since 2010 having not managed to achieve such a feat on their eight previous efforts. Their record at home in that time provides for very mixed reading: W3 D3 L5.

It should be stressed that none of those victories were achieved against anything like the caliber of opponents that await them in this contest, coming against B36 Torshavn of Faroe Islands (4-1), Tre Penne of San Marino (2-1), and Shkendija from Macedonia (4-0).

FC Copenhagen WIN & BTTS?
21/10

Betway

 

FC Copenhagen Preview – Vast European experience to shine through?

The UEFA coefficient for the Danish Superliga is such that their clubs don’t need to compete in the first round of qualifying for this competition, and a significant reason for that is FC Copenhagen. The past two seasons has seen them feature in the group stage of the Europa League, even reaching the Round of 32 in 2017-18 where they were eliminated by the eventual champions, Spanish side Atletico Madrid.

Playing in the Champions League group stage is what they crave more than anything, though, with their most recent appearance being three seasons ago. That will feel an awfully long time for a club that has featured on three occasions in Europe’s elite competition. An unsuccessful attempt to qualify back in 2017, when losing a play-off to Azerbaijan’s Qarabag on away goals, will no doubt be in the back of some of these players minds.

A positive start, therefore, is the minimum requirement, although their recent away record in the earlier rounds of the Champions League is somewhat mixed. Manager Stäle Solbakken has overseen two wins from his team’s last six matches in such fixtures (W2 D2 L2). In last season’s Europa League qualifiers, however, the Danes did post wins in Bulgaria, Finland and Iceland against CSKA Sofia (1-2), KuPS (0-1) and Stjarnan (0-5), respectively.

The atmosphere within camp should be reasonably harmonious as well, after beginning the defence of a third league title in four years with a 100% record courtesy of wins against Odense (2-3) and AGF Aarhus (2-1). The champions also posted some strong numbers in away games last season, winning 11 out of 18 (W11 D3 L4, GF36 GA20).

 

The New Saints V Copenhagen Key Facts:

  • Thew New Saints have won 3 of their last 11 Champions League Qualifiers at home (W3 D3 L5)
  • Copenhagen won three times away from home en route to successfully qualifying for the 2018-19 Europa League group stage (W3 D1).
  • TNS were thrashed 5-1 on aggregate in last season’s Europa League by Danish side Midtjylland, a team that finished behind Copenhagen in the 2018-19 SuperLiga.

 

Betting Summary

One club have made regular group stage appearances whereas the other have been regularly dumped out long before that stage of the tournament had even commenced. Therefore, Copenhagen being installed as overwhelming favourites to both progress and triumph in this opening leg is hardly a surprise.

The Danes negotiated last season’s Europa League qualifiers with minimal fuss, winning away from home in each round before a credible draw in Italy versus Atalanta. That form alone should be too strong for The New Saints, who reached this stage by the skin of their teeth after edging out minnows from Kosovo.

Copenhagen feel too short to be backing outright, though. The new Danish Superliga has already seen them record a pair of high-scoring victories. If The New Saints do approach this first leg in a proactive manner, knowing a positive outcome in Wales is more realistic than over in Denmark, then this could be a more open contest than expected. Copenhagen & Both Teams to Score is the riskier punt, albeit at more attractive odds (21/10 Betway). However, I much prefer Copenhagen & Over 2.5 Goals.