APOEL Nicosia vs Slovan Bratislava Prediction and Betting Tips | August 13th 2024
APOEL Nicosia play host to Slovan Bratislava at the GSP Stadium in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League third qualifying clash on Tuesday. The Slovakian outfit picked up a 2-0 victory in the first leg and are in the driver’s seat heading into the midweek tie.
APOEL Nicosia’s dreams of securing a Champions League spot suffered a huge blow as they were beaten 2-0 by Slovan Bratislava in the first leg of their third qualifying round clash last Wednesday.
In a one-sided affair at Tehelné Pole, an own goal from Radosav Petrovic and Robert Mak’s 93rd-minute strike fired the home side to a crucial victory.
Before that, APOEL Nicosia scraped through the second qualifying round courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate win over Moldovan side Petrocub Hîncesti.
With last week’s first-leg result, Bratislava have now won four consecutive games, including two victories in their first two matches of the new Nike Liga campaign.
This fine run of results has been due to the solid job done at both ends of the pitch as they have scored 12 goals and kept three clean sheets since a 1-1 draw with NK Celje on July 24.
Bratislava now return to action in the Champions League qualifiers, where they cruised through the first two qualifying rounds, seeing off Struga 6-3 over two legs before claiming a 6-1 aggregate win over Celje.
APOEL Nicosia vs Slovan Bratislava Head-To-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the second meeting between the two teams, with Slovan Bratislava claiming a 2-0 win when they first squared off in last week’s reverse leg.
- Bratislava are unbeaten in their last eight matches across all competitions, claiming seven wins and one draw since the start of June.
- APOEL Nicosia have won just one of their last five competitive games while losing twice and claiming three draws since late April.
- Bratislava are unbeaten in seven of their last nine competitive away games, picking up six wins and one draw since mid-February.
APOEL Nicosia vs Slovan Bratislava Prediction
Still reeling from their first-leg defeat, APOEL Nicosia will need at least three goals to turn the tie on its head and book their spot in the next round.
However, given the gulf in class and quality between the two teams, we are backing the visitors to come away with another victory.
Prediction: APOEL Nicosia 0-1 Slovan Bratislava
APOEL Nicosia vs Slovan Bratislava Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Slovan Bratislava to win
Tip 2: Over 2.5 goals - No (There have been fewer than three goals scored in the hosts' last five matches)
Tip 3: Both sides to score - No (Bratislava have kept three clean sheets in their last three games)