Persepolis vs Al Jazira
AFC Champions League
Date: Monday, 14 May 2018
Kick-Off at 16:00 UK / 17:00 CET
Venue: Azadi Stadium, Teheran.
Al Jazira managed to snatch a last-gasp 3-2 win seen days ago at their Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium to stun last term’s semi-finalists Persepolis in the first leg of their R16 tie. The Iranian team remain favourites to advance with the quality being on their side, but the first match result suggest we could be in for another thriller on Tuesday afternoon in Teheran.
The team led by the Croatian manager Branko Ivankovic had an advantage when Godwin Mensah converted the penalty to make it 2-2 six minutes from time, but they conceded in the sixth minute of the added time to lose 3-2 at the end. Nevertheless, it’s really hard to believe that Al Jazira will be able to hold on to this slim advantage ij the reverse fixture given they have never kept a clean sheet away from home in the AFC Champions League (a thread dating back to 2009 and consisting of 29 consecutive matches).
Persepolis vs Al Jazira: Head-to-head
This will only be the second head to head encounter between the two sides.
As mentioned above, the first game offered a spectacular five-goal thriller with Khalifa Alhammadi making the difference with the 96-th minute winner.
Ali Ahmed Mabkhout was the standout performer for the United Arab Emirates squad bagging a goal and providing an assist for another.
Persepolis vs Al Jazira: Prediction
Just as described above, Persepolis remain heavy favourites to progress through into the quarterfinal of the competition, following their impressive performances in front of the home crowd in the group phase. Ivankovic’s side won each of three group phase games at home conceding no goals in the process. Furthermore, Persepolis are undefeated in last 13 home ties in the competition and we have to see them as heavy favourites against an outfit which has won just one of last 11 away ties in the AFC Champions League.
The hosts will go strong from the very first minute, looking to annul the first leg deficit and we’ll take the HT/FT win for Persepolis at the 1.66 odds as the main betting option. Also, since Al Jazira generally tend to ship loads on travels, we would not be surprised to see the hosts snatching a win by three or more goals here. You can back this bet at the odds of 2.40.
Persepolis vs Al Jazira: Bet Tips
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HT/FT Persepolis/Persepolis @ 1.66
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Persepolis -2.5 handicap @ 2.40.
