After making a dreadful start to the season, Cork could move within four points of Derry with a home win this weekend. The hosts have had a poor campaign to date, while Derry are contenders for a European place after moving into the top four. However, the middle of the Irish Premier Division is packed quite tight, so there’s some way to go before the Candystripes can feel secure in the race for the Europa League. Can they boost their chances with three points in this weekend’s trip?

Cork are slowly making their way back from their poor start, but they are still winless in four matches. They head into this clash with an eye on Europe, as they are starting their Europa League campaign in July. That’s a chance for them to rescue what has been a dismal campaign to date, as they’ve won just six of their 21 league games. That hardly marks them out as a side to back this weekend, especially given that they’ve won only two of their nine matches at their own ground in the league.

Tunisia are among the pre-tournament favourites and expected to get their Africa Cup of Nations campaign off with a win against Angola, who are back at the championship after missing the last two editions.
Tunisia and Angola have played each other six times with the Carthage Eagles winning three matches comfortably and three ending in draws.

Góias put in a dominant performance over Chapecoense last time out, showing how difficult it is to beat them at home, where they've won the last three matches.
Despite losing to Palmeiras, Athletico put in a good performance and last weekend's result should not affect them heading into Friday.
Both teams will be confident here, but Athletico will be fresher given that they had an extra two days rest. An away win would not be a surprise.

FC Nizhny Novgorod have scored seven goals in their last three home matches and put in some solid performances in front of their supporters over the last month. Dmitry Cheryshev’s men are slight favourites to win here.

Portsmouth have never won a play-off match in five attempts (W0 D2 L3), with both of their home games ending 2-2 – against Leicester in 1992-93 and Plymouth Argyle in 2015-16.

While Chelsea have created considerably more than their opponents at home, Frankfurt boast an average expected goal difference of just +0.12. Such a number doesn’t bode well, especially after they struggled in the first leg.

At the end of the day, Frankfurt have impressed in the Europa League this season, but the final looks as though it will be a step too far for the German outfit. They struggled to compete on their own patch last week, so it would be no surprise ***oever if they came up short on Thursday.

In the betting, ‘Chelsea to Win to Nil’ catches the eye. Not only have the hosts given very few goals away on their own patch, but they did an excellent job of preventing Frankfurt from creating last week. Consider this alongside the fact that the Blues have surrendered an average of just 0.38 expected goals at home in the Europa League this season and backing the home win to come complete with a clean sheet stands out as a solid option.

Tottenham’s European hopes this season have likely taken a hit from their game at the weekend. Defending for almost a full half with just nine men is bound to take it’s toll, especially as they head to one of Europe’s most demanding sides. Ajax move the ball so well and they’re capable of running rings around a sluggish side. If they show any kind of weakness here, the Dutch side are likely to take advantage. Among the 2018/19 Champions League semi-finalists, Ajax are the only club to have scored in every game in the competition this season. That’s likely to make it a tough night for the Spurs defence.

The visitors come here with five defeats in their last six games. Their away league record is mixed, having lost at all of the top five on the road in the league. Also, since the start of 2018, Spurs have won only one of their six Champions League away games, a 1-0 victory at Dortmund in this season’s round of 16 (D3 L2). Given that Ajax come here with a five game winning run behind them, we’re backing the Dutch side to win this clash. Given that all of Spurs’ last five games have seen just a single goal scored – including four 1-0 defeats – we’re backing a 1-0 win for the hosts.