Rakow Czestochowa v Qarabagh

Rakow Czestochowa vs Qarabag Preview

Polish hosts, Rakow Czestochowa, will play host to Azerbaijan visitors, Qarabag, when the two teams meet at the Miejski Stadion Pilkarski Raków on Wednesday night with both teams looking to progress through to the next qualifying round of this season's Champions League.

Rakow Czestochowa will be eager to build upon the promising start they've made to their season after recording a 4-0 win on aggregate against Estonian club, Flora Tallinn, in the 1st Qualifying Round of this competition and the hosts were further boosted by their comprehensive 3-0 victory at home over Jagiellonia Bialystok in the opening game of the new Polish Ekstraklasa campaign as well.

Rakow have lost just twice in their last nine matches overall and having picked up six wins in the process, the Polish side will consider themselves to have a decent chance of recording a positive result in this 1st leg tie.

However, Rakow are making their first appearance on the Champions League stage and they're expected to face stiff competition from Qarabag in this two-legged tie.

Onto Qarabag and by contrast, the Azerbaijan visitors possess an extensive pedigree at Champions League level and it didn't take much for them to breeze past Gibraltan outfit, Lincoln Red Imps, in the previous 1st Qualifying Round as Qarabag secured a convincing 6-1 win on aggregate.

Qarabag have lost just twice in their last 11 matches overall in all competitions which also gives the visitors more than just a fighting chance of attaining a result here in this 1st leg tie, especially as they have also collected seven wins in the process as well.

The visitors also possess a lot of experience at Champions League level and Qarabag have suffered just the one defeat in their last nine ties at this elite club level whilst also collecting five wins along the way as well, and they will be a tough unit to break down over these upcoming two legs.

Qarabag have also lost just two out of their last 11 away ties in this competition but having picked up just four wins during this period, it may be best to look at the goals market especially as six of these last 11 away ties have resulted in Under 2.5 goals being scored.

Rakow Czestochowa v Qarabag Verdict

Rakow Czestochowa and Qarabag have never played each other before in a competitive match but they did come up against each other in a club friendly in mid-January this year which resulted in a 3-0 home win for the Polish club but we can expect a much tighter game this time around on Wednesday night.

Therefore, our main bet will be Under 2.5 goals @ 1.60

Other side bets worth considering:

Rakow win @ 2.05

Correct score: Rakow 1-0 @ 6.00