Wednesday 16/07/2014, 21:00, Champions League Qualifiers, Legia Warsaw vs St Patrick's
Legia Warsaw vs St Patrick's Preview
St Patrick's used to be one of the most successful teams in Irish football, but over the last couple of years they failed to meet the high expectations. 2013 was different and now the reigning champions are trying to build on that performance, by making a deep run in the Champions League Qualifiers. Their adventure appears to be short-lived as they will take on Legia Warsaw, a team with immense experience in European competitions.
Legia Warsaw vs St Patrick's Odds
At Bet365
Legia Warsaw 1.15, Draw 6.00, St Patrick's 13.00
Legia Warsaw vs St Patrick's Tips
Legia Warsaw know that in order to make a deep run in the qualifiers and hopefully reach the Champions League groups, they need to make the most of home pitch advantage. Pepsi Arena will be full of enthusiastic fans, who expect their favorites to win by a comfortable margin over St. Patrick's.
The domestic championship ended more than a month ago and since then, Legia played several friendly games, winning twice and drawing the other. Unfortunately for the Polish champions, they lost the Super Cup after their opponents scored in the last minute of overtime.
That should serve as a cautionary tale for coach Berg who took too many chances upfront and will probably return to his 4-4-2 starting formation. This means that youngsters Bereszynski and Ryczkowski will play upfront but even so the hosts will pack quite a punch offensively. The midfielders frequently join the strikers and create dangerous scoring opportunities, which should keep St. Patrick's in the ropes.
The visitors have a simple strategy for the first leg, as they plan on defending with all lines and hope that their backline will contain Legia Warsaw. They have a hard time winning games recently, prevailing a single time in the last five matches, a narrow margin victory over Bray Wanderers.
Key Facts
- Legia Warsaw kept a clean sheet in four of the last five games and it is unlikely for St. Patrick's to penetrate their defenses tonight.
- This is the first time the two teams meet in the Champions League qualifiers, but the Polish side has made the group stage on several occasions.
Legia Warsaw vs St Patrick's Prediction
Legia Warsaw will probably steamroll past the opponents and create more scoring opportunities, while having crushing ball possession. Even so, the Irish defenses are not to be trifled with, as St. Patrick's has the players capable of stopping the young Polish strikers in their tracks. Odds of 2.20 for fewer than 2.5 goals to be scored are good enough to warrant a bet on this outcome with Bet365.
Bet: Under 2.5 goals @ 2.20 with Bet365
