The first qualifying rounds of the Europa and Europa Conference Leagues begin on Thursday, with a host of fixtures taking place across Europe.
It is the start of a long road towards the league phase of the new-look Europa League, where clubs such as Manchester United, Tottenham, Real Sociedad, Roma and Lazio lie in wait for the successful qualifiers.
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Bet of the Day
Paphos or draw double chance v Elfsborg @ 1/1
Elfsborg are experienced European campaigners, but they look worth opposing in the home leg of their Europa League first qualifying round clash with Paphos on Thursday.
The Swedish hosts should be battle-hardened, having played 14 matches of the Allsvenskan season, and they have a solid home record, winning five of their seven matches on their own patch.
However, only one of those fixtures was against a top-six side and they have lost six of their seven away games, scoring only twice in their last four trips.
Paphos have made steady progress in Cyprus since the 2017 takeover of the club. They narrowly missed out on a European spot in 2022-23 and finished fourth in the regular season in 2023-24.
Only Cypriot champions Apoel conceded fewer regular-season goals than Paphos’ 20 in 26 games and they crowned an impressive campaign by winning the Cypriot Cup for the first time.
There was no fluke about that success as they thumped Omonia Nicosia 3-0 in the final and they should be backed to avoid defeat in their first foray into European competition.
Special of the day
Ask Bravo Publikum -2 on handicap v Connah’s Quay @ 13/10
The Slovenia national team had an impressive Euro 2024 campaign, drawing with Denmark, Serbia and England before losing on penalties to Portugal in the last 16.
The feelgood factor should continue when Ask Bravo Publikum, one of Slovenia’s representatives in the European club competitions, face Welsh side Connah’s Quay in their Conference League first leg.
Backing Bravo to cover a two-goal handicap could prove profitable. They have lost only one of their last 13 competitive and friendly fixtures at home and Connah’s Quay may struggle to land a blow on their defence.
The Welsh raiders, who haven’t played a competitive game since the end of April, failed to score in four of their last seven league matches in 2023-24 and were hammered 5-1 by The New Saints during that run.
Longshot of the day
Over 4.5 goals in Wisla Krakow v KF Llapi @ 6/1
Wisla Krakow are strong favourites to establish a first-leg lead against visitors KF Llapi in their opening Europa League qualifying tie.
However, the Poles lost their last three league matches of last season by 4-3, 5-2 and 3-0 scorelines so it could be worth having a small bet on over 4.5 goals in Thursday’s first leg.
Both teams have scored in 15 of Wisla’s last 17 competitive fixtures and Llapi are capable of contributing to the goal tally.
Their last five results in Kosovo’s Superliga in May included a 3-2 win over Feronikeli and a 5-1 final-day rout of Liria Prizren, although they warmed up for their trip to Poland with a couple of disappointing friendly defeats.
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News Summary:
- talkSPORT betting tips – Best football bets and expert advice for Thursday 11 July
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