After a 0-0 draw in Osnabrück, Alemannia Aachen will play their first home game of the season against Hoffenheim’s U23 team on Saturday. Champions League predictions, first goal scorer at special odds of 8.50
Salzburg lost seven of their eight group stage matches in last season’s Champions League and face a tough play-off against Club Brugge in the third qualifying round tonight. Both Salzburg and Brugge finished second in their respective leagues last season and lost some key players during the summer.
Ajax has signed Salzburg’s talented attacking midfielder Oscar Gloukh, while Club Brugge’s Ardon Jashari is close to a move to Milan following the departures of Maxime De Cuyper to Brighton, Chemsdine Talbi to Sunderland and Ferran Jutglà to Celta Vigo.
A balanced first encounter is expected in Austria, where Brugge winger Christos Tzolis deserves consideration as the first goalscorer. The Greek international has scored in two of his first three appearances this season, in the Super Cup victory against Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise and in last week’s 2-1 league defeat against Mechelen.
Tzolis has scored ten goals in his last thirteen games for club and country in 2024-25, including a stunning winner away to Austrian side Sturm Graz in last season’s Champions League. Bet365 is offering special odds of 8.50 instead of 7.50 on Tzolis to be the first goalscorer.
The odds for Tzolis to score are 3.50 on Goldbet and 2.80 for the top scorer on Sisal. In this special type of bet, the prediction is still a winner even if Tzolis is substituted or if one of the two hits the post or crossbar during the match.
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enheim an. The personnel situation remains tense.
Alemannia Aachen welcomes TSG Hoffenheim’s second team on Saturday (August 9, 2 p.m.) in their first home game of the third division season. 21,000 spectators are expected at the Tivoli.
Compared to last week’s opening game at VfL Osnabrück, when the Kaiserstädter fought to a 0-0 draw, not much has changed in terms of personnel, as head coach Benedetto Muzzicato reported at the matchday press conference. This means that the German-Italian coach will once again have only 14 fit field players at his disposal.
Muzzicato is cautiously optimistic about Bentley Baxter Bahn and Kevin Goden, who may be able to complete “perhaps a little more than partial training” in the next few days. Despite the few alternatives in his skeleton squad, the Alemannia coach announced changes to the starting eleven. For example, youngster Faton Ademi looks “very lively,” and Lukas Scepanik is also making “rapid progress.”
The goalless draw in Osnabrück had an effect on the team, according to Muzzicato: “We still have a lot of room for improvement, but we are on the right track.” At the moment, there is a lack of competition. “The higher the quality of training and the more guys are involved, the more progress you make. That’s why patience is required. The guys are doing really well, even though we’re in small groups.”
Despite the difficult circumstances with many injuries and no transfers, the 46-year-old sees a positive development: “If you compare that with where we were six weeks ago, we’ve already made a big leap forward. It’s not yet what we had in mind, but that’s not possible after such a preparation.”
Like Alemannia, TSG Hoffenheim’s U23 team started the season with a 0-0 draw. Muzzicato expects “a team with a lot of pace and clear processes. They didn’t get promoted in a very strong Regionalliga Südwest for nothing.”
The Aachen coach did not want to repeat platitudes about how to take the joy out of playing for a U23 team. “It’s important to put the principles into practice on the pitch in order to put pressure on the opponent in every phase. That’s how you take the wind out of many teams right from the start. And that must always be our goal, to keep the pressure high not only with the ball but also against it,” demands Muzzicato.