talkSPORT betting tips – Best football bets and expert advice for Wednesday 24 July
Not only does Champions League and Conference League qualification continue on Wednesday, but it is also the beginning of the men’s Olympic competition with all 16 nations getting their gold medal bid up-and-running.
There are some uncompetitive fixtures in the Olympic Games in Paris but there are still some standout bets, which includes a strong start for Guinea and Paraguay.
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Bet of the Day
Guinea to beat New Zealand 7/10
Guinea are appearing in the men’s Olympic football competition for the first time since 1968 but they can celebrate their return to the event with an opening victory over New Zealand.
While their lack of experience would suggest that they are a minnow nation, Guinea are a progressive outfit and they may have struck the right balance with their squad selection.
The rules of the competition state that each nation can have three over-age players and Guinea have opted for former Liverpool star Naby Kieta plus fellow midfielders Abdoulaye Toure and Amadou Diawara.
That gives them an experienced platform to work with and then they have a number of highly-touted youngsters stemming from some elite European clubs that will be keen to show their worth.
Kaba Diawara’s side finished their preparations with a 1-0 victory over Argentina - one of the tournament favourites - whereas opponents New Zealand ended theirs with a 3-1 loss to Uzbekistan.
The Kiwis, who have selected Plymouth’s Ben Waine as one of their three over-age players, look pretty limited and they may find this opening test in Group A particularly tough.
Longshot of the day
Paraguay to beat Japan 27/10
South American teams have an excellent record at the Olympic Games - four of the last five winners have hailed from that continent - and it would be dangerous to underestimate Paraguay, who were silver medalists in Athens in 2004.
Paraguay have since reinstalled coach Carlos Jara Saguier, who led them to that final in Greece 20 years ago, and they look a big price to topple Japan.
Japan showed that they were a rising force at the World Cup two years ago but they have opted against selecting an over-age player for this competition, which could go one or two ways.
Even so, in Brighton hotshot Julio Enciso, Inter Miami’s Diego Gomez and Enso Gonzalez of Wolves, Paraguay have some serious attacking talent at their disposal and are not a nation to be underestimated.
Special of the day
PAOK to score over 3.5 goals v Borac Banja Luka 29/20
There are three more Champions League qualifiers taking place on Wednesday and it could be worth backing PAOK to run riot in their opening leg with Bosnian side Borac Banja Luka.
This looks a mismatch and Greek side PAOK, having won 10 of their 16 games in the Europa Conference League last term before losing out in the quarter-finals to Club Brugge, should put their experience to good use.
The visitors Borac Banja Luka have lost seven of their last eight European away matches and have never progressed beyond this stage of qualifying.
Six of PAOK’s last 11 European assignments have featured four or more goals and they may be able to rack up that tally on their own, something they have done in six of their last 15 competitive home games.
Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change*
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