Champions League tips: Celtic, Ajax and Benfica in third round match-ups
Published:
The third round of Champions League qualifying gets underway tonight, and it features some reputable sides.
Benfica, Fenerbahce, Celtic, AEK Athens, Ajax and Dynamo Kiev are just some of the sides in action.
And ahead of the matches, we’ve provided a one-stop guide to the big games and the all-important odds…
Slavia Prague v Dynamo Kiev – Tuesday, 6.30
Semi-finalists in 1999 with the famous Sergei Rebrov/Andriy Shevchenko combination, Dynamo Kiev are no strangers to a long Champions League run.
The Ukraine kingpins head to the Czech Republic to take on Slavia Prague in a first-leg clash our traders can see going either way. Kiev are 12/5, with the hosts 5/4.
Standard Liege v Ajax – Tuesday, 7.45
Ajax reached the 2017 Europa League Final, but the Dutch’s weak Champions League coefficient means they still have a myriad of qualifiers to get through.
The 1995 champions have a short hop over to Belgium to face Standard Liege. The Amsterdam side are Evens favourites to land the first leg, and should feature Daley Blind following his return from Manchester United.
Fenerbahce v Benfica – Tuesday, 8.00
This is a quite sensational tie for this stage of the competition. Both Fenerbahce and Benfica are regulars in European tournament group stages and beyond.
Benfica are 1/2 to win the first leg on home soil on Tuesday night. Roberto Soldado, Mathieu Valbuena, Martin Skrtel and Andre Ayew might feature for the Turkish side, but they’re 6/1 outsiders to win in Portugal.
Celtic v AEK Athens – Wednesday, 7.45
After seeing off Rosenborg in the previous round, Celtic swap Norwegian opposition for Greek in the form of AEK Athens.
Brendan Rodgers’ men are 3/4 favourites to win Wednesday night’s first leg at Celtic Park. We’ll have a full preview of the game ahead of kick-off.
AEK, who won their first league title in 24 years last season, are 21/5 to claim the first leg.
Click here for all our Champions League odds.
All Odds and Markets correct as of date of publication
