Champions League qualifying match predictions & free betting tips

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Tuesday's Champions League matches.

Where to watch

Celtic v Midtjylland Premier Sports 1, 7.45pm, Tuesday

Best bet

Midtjylland draw no bet
1pt 8-5 Betfair, Paddy Power

FC Sheriff
1pt 23-20 Hills

Preview

It wasn't so long ago that the idea of going to Celtic and avoiding defeat seemed pretty fanciful, yet Midtjylland should have no inferiority issues heading for Glasgow for their Champions League second qualifying round tie.

This Celtic team, the one bequeathed to new boss Ange Postecoglou, look a pale imitation of recent sides and the Danes can take a positive result back across the North Sea for next week's second leg. There's plenty of incentive to back them to win the first leg, but they are also a decent price with the draw no bet as a fallback to be safe.

Postecoglou has a reputation for sending out teams with an attacking edge but tools at his disposal look limited. And they barely struck a blow in Saturday's hopeless 1-0 home loss to Preston, a scoreline that flattered them rather than the victors.

They weren't at full strength but looked unbelievably lethargic, and pre-season concerns over the new manager and absence of much transfer movement are making diehards edgy.

Wantaway frontman Odsonne Edouard is the Aussie's go-to frontman while Postecoglou is pining for good performances from Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie. Defensively they look a mess.

Midtjylland, shored up by one-time Hoops' stopper Erik Sviatchenko and ex-Huddersfield keeper Jonas Lossl, lost their Superliga opener last Friday – beaten 2-1 at home by Odense – but are probably a game or two ahead of Celtic.

They are missing one or two players but Bo Fredriksen's men are a progressive bunch and are definitely playing Celtic at an ideal time.

There are a couple of other decent betting heats on the Tuesday Champions League card – Rapid Vienna against Sparta Prague, almost a derby match in this competition, is one.

But there's also a sense that FC Sheriff will have too much for Armenians Alashkert in Yerevan.

Both sides have had a Champions League run-out already, with Alashkert making desperately hard work of seeing off an under-strength Connah's Quay over two legs. Sheriff, on the other hand, effortlessly took care of Albanian champs Teuta Durres with a pair of wins to nil, winning the away leg 4-0.

Moldovan football is struggling to do anything internationally but there is money sloshing around in Tiraspol, where head coach Yuriy Vernydub has invested big sums in a sizeable rebuild of the squad.

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