Europa League

It’s time for the Europa League to start once again! This week we are about to witness the first games from the first qualifying round of the competition. The teams who eliminate their opponents will qualify for the second qualifying round and will continue with their quest towards the group stages.Here we are about to examine some of the most interesting matches from the first qualifying round of the Europa League.Shirak from Armenia is hosting the Slovenian Gorica. Although this game may seem pretty even for most of the bettors, you should not forget that Slovenian football is much better than Armenian.Kazakhstan’s Irtysh welcomes Dunav 2010 from Bulgaria. Now, this is a very difficult to predict the game, as there’s a very good balance between football in Kazakhstan and Bulgaria. But have in mind that in recent years the football in Kazakhstan is improving and there is much more money being invested in it.Partizani Tirana from Albania hosts another club from Bulgaria – Botev Plovdiv. Botev won the Bulgarian Cup after beating the champion Ludogorets – a common participant in the Champions League group stages. But it’s always difficult to play in Albania, so it won’t be an easy job for Botev go get a good result.Pyunik from Armenia welcomes Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia. This is another game with a clear favorite in it – Slovan. Slovakian football is better than Armenian and we expect to see a proof for that.Beitar Jerusalem from Israel hosts the Hungarian Vasas. Once again we have a clash between two teams who look very equal in terms of class and potential. This is another game difficult to predict, so be careful with it.Levski Sofia from Bulgaria welcomes Montenegro’s Sutjeska in Sofia. Although Montenegro’s national team have good potential and solid players, the domestic league is still not on the desired levels. Levski, on the other hand, is a team with a solid experience in Europe. They have problems in their performance in the last few years, but maybe now it’s time to improve and get back on track.Meanwhile Norway’s Haugesund hosts Coleraine from Northern Ireland. There’s some huge progress for football in Northern Ireland, but it’s mostly valid for the country’s national team. As for Norway, the Scandinavian country still sees it very difficult to make its clubs perform well in the European competitions.Midtjylland from Denmark hosts Derry City from Northern Ireland in another match of the first qualifying round of Europa League. The Danish team is the clear favourite in this clash, having some really classy players in its squad. With Rafael van der Vaart to mention. Midtjylland are one of the teams who will be among the favourites for a qualification for the group stage.