ALEX CROOK PREVIEW: Midweek Football

Star Sports ambassador ALEX CROOK previews a bumper mid-week of action in the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League and Conference League…

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🇦🇿 QARABAG v NEWCASTLE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Champions League, Wednesday, 5.45pm

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Considering their travel sickness issues over the course of the season, a 5,000-mile round trip top far away Baku is probably the last thing Eddie Howe was hoping for from the draw for the Champions League play-offs.

Having narrowly missed out on a place in the top eight in the league phase, the Magpies must overcome Azerbaijan champs Qarabag to secure their spot in the last 16.

The second leg being at home makes Howe’s men clear favourites to do just that and set up a mouth-watering clash with either Chelsea or Barcelona and they are odds-on to claim a first leg advantage.

But, before beating Tottenham in the Premier League and Aston Villa in the FA Cup last week Newcastle had emerged victorious in just three of their 17 games outside of St James Park.

It is also questionable whether the Magpies would have won at Villa Park but for goalkeeper Marco Bizot’s brainless red card with the hosts leading 1-0.

And it was Qarabag’s home form that saw them become the first Azerbaijan team to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The minnows held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw on the own patch and beat Frankfurt. They have also had no issue scoring goals so I am going to double up a Newcastle victory with both teams to find the net at 17/10 with starsports.bet.

We are also relying on the away win to bring home the 15/2 ‘Alex acca’ after Dortmund, Cardiff and Stevenage all won on Tuesday night.

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🐺 WOLVES v ARSENAL 🔴
Premier League, Wednesday, 8pm

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Arsenal have a golden chance to re-establish their seven-point lead at the Premier League summit when they travel to bottom club Wolves.

The Gunners were far from impressive in last week’s 1-1 draw at Brentford, but Wolves are clearly not on the same level as Keith Andrews’s impressive Bees side.

Rob Edwards’ men are a whopping 18 points adrift of safety and even struggled to put away lowly Grimsby in the FA Cup on Sunday, leaving wind-swept Blundell Park with only a 1-0 victory.

They did give Arsenal a fright before going down to a late 2-1 defeat when the pair met in north London in December, but I just don’t see where the hosts’ goals are coming from.

Giving their excellent defensive record, Arsenal to win to nil at 10/11 with starsports.bet looks like the bet of the mid-week.

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🇹🇷 FENERBAHCE v NOTTINGHAM FOREST 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Europa League, Thursday, 5.45pm

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Forest will have their fourth manager of the season in the dugout when they travel to Istanbul for the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday.

Vitor Pereira is the man tasked with keeping Forest in the Premier League while also trying to navigate their way into the round of 16 and keep hard-to-please owner Evangelos Marinakis happy.

As a former Fener boss, Pereira knows how difficult an away trip this could be, even though the Turkish team have won just one of their last nine games against English opponents.

Their most recent game against a Premier League outfit was Aston Villa’s 1-0 league phase win last month, but Forest are not on the same level as Unai Emery’s side, especially if Pereira opts to rotate.

It is just one win in their last five European games for the hosts, but with Forest likely to have one eye on Sunday’s league clash at home to Liverpool, I think Fenerbahce to win at 5/4 with starsports.bet looks decent value.

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🇧🇦 ZRINJSKI MOSTAR v CRYSTAL PALACE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Conference League, Thursday, 5.45pm

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Palace’s punishment for missing out on a place in the top eight of the Conference League is a long hike to Bosnian to take on the little-known Zrinjski Mostar.

The Eagles will have to turn the form book on its head to claim a first leg lead having won only one of their last seven away games against a team with only two defeats in their past 14 at home.

Oliver Glasner rotated his squad in the league phase, which was the main reason they made hard work of qualifying directly for the last 16.

Even after suffering a shock 3-2 defeat at home to Burnley last mid-week, the south Londoners are a healthy eight points clear of the relegation zone so surely Glasner will name a strong team.

Record £48m January signing Jorgen Strand-Larsen scored twice on his Selhurst Park debut against the Clarets and looked a totally different player to the one that laboured for Wolves in the first half of the season.

My build-a-bet is Palace to be winning at half-time and full-time, over 2.5 goals and Strand-Larsen to score first which returns 6.5/1 with starsports.bet.

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RECOMMENDED SELECTIONS
1️⃣ BEST BET: Arsenal to win to nil 2pts at 10/11 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
2️⃣ NEXT BEST: Newcastle to win and both teams to score 1pt at 17/10 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
🤔 OTHER: Fenerbahce to win 1pt at 5/4 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
📊 BUILD-A-BET: Crystal Palace to be winning at half-time and full-time, over 2.5 goals and Jorgen Strand-Larsen to score first 1pt at 6.5/1 with starsports.bet
🚀 ALEX ACCA: Cardiff, Stevenage, Dortmund, Newcastle 1pt at 6/1 [was 5/2] with starsports.bet

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