Legia Warsaw will welcome Bodo/Glimt at their home stadium, Stadion Wojska Polskiego on Wednesday, July 14, in the second leg of 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League qualifiers. The hosts enter the match with a 3-2 aggregate lead, which should leave them confident in their chances to seal the deal tonight.
Legia Warsaw vs Bodo/Glimt
When: Wednesday, July 14 – 20:00 CEST
Where: Stadion Wojska Polskiego in Warsaw, Poland
Weather: Cloudy, 28°C
Referee: Aristotelis Diamantopoulos (GRE)
Legia Warsaw claimed a marginal 3-2 lead from the first outing in Norway and are now only one step away from securing a spot in the quarter-finals. For the visitors, anything less than a victory isn’t an option.
The reigning Eliteserien champions will take a 2.685km trip to Poland, hoping for a win that would help them advance into the second round of the qualifiers and take them one step closer to their first UEFA Champions League appearance.
Bodo/Glimt’s Poor Form
Bodo/Glimt are the reigning Eliteserien champions, but you should feel sceptical about their chances to make much noise on the international stage.
Bodo/Glimt currently occupy the second spot in their domestic competition with a 7-3-3 record, and while that is a reasonably promising position to be in as they look towards lifting their second league title, Bodo/Glimt’s showings on the season were mediocre at most.
Bodo/Glimt have shown immense progress since securing their spot in the Norwegian top flight for the 2018 season. After finishing 11th in their debut year, Bodo/Glimt managed a runner-up finish in 2019 and claimed the top honour last term.
An impressive growth, to say the least; however, it seems like Bodo/Glimt have stagnated since. That isn’t too shocking, considering their exceptional performance in 2020 invited clubs to snatch their key players, including Kasper Junker and Jens Petter, who left for Urawa Red Diamonds and AC Milan, respectively.
As a result, Bodo/Glimt are no longer the same powerhouse that won the league with 19 points to spare and instead play a catch-up game with Molde. The latter are five points in the clear on the season to Bodo/Glimt.
Additionally, you can’t be too excited about Bodo/Glimt’s form. They’re 1-1-3 in their last five across all competitions, with a 4-1 victory against Eliteserien’s bottom feeders Stabaek, a draw with Viking (2-2), and three losses against Molde (0-2), Sandefjord (0-1), and Legia (2-3).
Legia Expected to Win
Legia Warsaw are like Bodo/Glimt, the reigning champions of their domestic competition. However, unlike their Norwegian counterpart, Legia won the Ekstraklasa five times across the last six seasons (except for 2018/19).
Legia won their most recent league title in May when they finished with a 19-7-4 record and 64 points, five clear of Rakow in second. An impressive feat, but it’s worth noting that that Legia’s sole competitive match since then happened in the first leg of UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
Since winning the league on May 15, Legia played five friendlies. They faced Bischofshofen (5-0), Ferencvaros (0-2), Krasnodar (1-1), Lechia Gdansk (3-2), and Jagiellonia (2-0).
However, their lack of competitive games hasn’t stopped Legia Warsaw from putting on a show in Norway. The Poles won the match 3-2 with goals coming in at 2’, 41’, and 61’ via Luquinhas and Mahir Emreli (twice).
The score could have been much higher on the day, which holds true for both sides. Although Legia Warsaw were the better team, goalkeeper Artur Boruc hasn’t had the best showing on the day.
Legia Warsaw vs Bodo/Glimt Betting Picks
The first meeting between Legia Warsaw and Bodo/Glimt proved to be an open affair, and we expect to repeat tonight. Although both teams proved to be very efficient in scoring goals, their defences seem leaky, which should lead to plenty of goals.
Prediction: Over 3.0 goals
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