As the football season starts to take shape, we find a lot of games to play on Thursday, with the Europa League qualifiers coming into full action. Let’s start with that.
AEK Larnaca vs KAA Gent
We head off to Cyprus for a game between AEK Larnaca and KAA Gent. The Belgian side has just scored six goals against AS Eupen, and will look to keep their form rolling when they visit AEK on Thursday. The home side have yet to start their league action, but have been on stunning form in the Europa League qualifiers and have yet to surrender a goal against in four matches.
Gent have scored at least once in every one of their matches since their 0-1 defeat on May 5th. That makes it 15 matches in a row with at least one goal scored for the Belgian side.
Pick: KAA Gent to score against AEK Larnaca (AEK Larnaca NO clean sheet) @ 1.22
Pyunik vs Wolverhampton
Then we take a look at an Armenia match with Wolverhampton Wanderers involved. Wolverhampton have been on fantastic form, and so has Raúl Jiménez. They won by an aggregate of 6-1 against a Crusaders team that didn’t seem to know what was going on.
Look for the Wolves to be on form again, and take this match in a heartbeat.
Pick: Wolverhampton Wanderers -1 @ 1.25
Sparta Prague vs Trabzonspor
The last time Trabzonspor did not score an away goal, was November 9th 2018. In three months, that will be a year.
On the other hand, Sparta Prague have played 26 games at home since the start of last season, including friendlies, and they have scored in 23 of those games.
History is never a guarantee that something will happen, but I am taking this pick with confidence.
Pick: Both teams to score @ 1.90
Universitatea Craiova vs AEK Athens
In Romania, the Greeks will stand. Having not lost a single friendly this offseason, AEK Athens starts their European journey against the Craiova lads. Universitatea Craiova have gotten through a penalty shootout against Honvéd, but they will definitely have a much difficult task against the Greek side.
I am looking for AEK to make their presence felt early, and lead the game on to the final whistle.
Pick: AEK Athens to win (Draw No Bet) @ 1.61
Ventspils vs Victoria Guimaraes
Victoria Guimaraes have been playing good football away from home, and now they face a Latvia side that have shown a good start to the season but have struggled in 3 out of 5 recent games. I expect the Portuguese side to score at least once in this match and take a good result onto the second leg.
Pick: Victoria Guimaraes to score (Ventspils NO clean sheet) @ 1.16
Pick 2: Victoria Guimaraes over 1.5 goals @ 1.72
Sheriff vs AIK
In Moldova, Swedish pride AIK will face Sheriff. After being eliminated in an extra time clash against Maribor from the UEFA Champions League, the Swedish will seek revenge against Sheriff in an away matchup.
AIK lost their last away match in an international competition, and that eventually cost them the qualification to the biggest UEFA club tournament available. I expect them to have learned from their mistake and continue their scoring form. They have scored at least once in their last seven away matches.
Pick: AIK over 0.5 goals @ 1.50
New York Yankees vs Toronto Blue Jays
And last, but not least, we’ll head over to the MLB, where the Yankees take on the Blue Jays in Toronto.
Domingo Germán is one of the best pitchers on the Yankees’ roster, and has posted some serious numbers. Unfortunately, he has had a higher ERA during his away games, but that doesn’t mean he can’t win games. He has an outstanding 7-1 record in away games, and a 7-2 record in night games.
His counterpart, Thomas Pannota, has not been fairing well as a starter, and has given up a lot of runs when starting.
Pick: Yankees to win @ 1.45
