Litex and Hajduk and MIKA, oh my! … A preview of today’s matches

By: Ian Rose | August 16th, 2007

Unlike that other European tournament, the UEFA Cup doesn’t split its match rounds over two days. All 33 first legs of the Cup’s second qualifying round will be played tonight. That’s a lotta football, so let’s get to the predictions and probable highlights.

Britain vs. Scandinavia … two regions enter, one region leaves
Okay, that might be a bit dramatic, but there are three matches between British Isles and Scandinavian sides tonight. MyPa (Finland) hosts Blackburn (England), Helsingborg (Sweden) goes to Drogheda United (Ireland), and Häcken (Sweden) travels to Dunfermline (Scotland). This might be yet another good night for the Swedes, since both Drogheda and Dunfermline are vulnerable. I’ll take Blackburn for the away win, Helsingborg to win away in Ireland, and Dunfermline to pull off a home draw with Häcken.

Big Intertoto clubs start their run
Isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron? Big Intertoto clubs? However, you can’t deny that, for this round of the tournament, Lens, Hamburg, Blackburn, Atletico Madrid and Sampdoria are some pretty big fish. All but Madrid have the advantage of opening their ties away and then returning home, and I expect all five to advance.

Upsets?
Upsets are always hard to predict … that’s why they’re upsets. But, I’d keep an eye on the two teams from Cyprus, Anorthosis and Nicosia. Both won without conceding a goal in their first-round qualifiers, and though their Romanian and Bulgarian opponents in this round will put up a much heartier fight, I wouldn’t be shocked to see one of them go through. The Cypriot League’s UEFA coefficient dropped last season, and they’ll be playing for a bit of honor as well as advancement.

The Swiss and the Austrians mix it up!
There are two matches tonight facing a Swiss side against an Austrian one, with Basel hosting Mattersburg and Sion traveling to face Ried. With Vienna also playing a Czech side, border disputes are sure to follow … you know how those Swiss love a good fight!

Well, that’s about it. There’s way too much going on today to go into any details, but I’ll be back on later to give some updates and post some videos.