SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Hertha Berlin 1.51 v Brondby 8.40 ; The Draw 4.50 Thursday, 19:15 Live on Betfair Live Video Germany's premier capital club went from looking almost certain to claim a Champions League spot in late March, sitting third, six points clear of Borussia Monchengladbach in fifth with seven Bundesliga fixtures to play, to being grateful to cling on for a Europa League berth in seventh after earning only two points from a possible 21. Whether they are over that isn't yet apparent, though Brondby's five past failures to reach the Europa League group stage coupled with near-elimination at home to Hibernian last week, getting by on penalties, will leave Hertha confident of progress. They are a short price for victory, so consider selecting under 2.5 goals at 1.83 . It paid out in six of their past eight continental contests, as well as both legs of Brondby's tie with Hibs, which delivered a mere two in total. Recommended Bet: Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.83 Away in...

FC Astana 2.46 v Celtic 3.50 ; The Draw 3.20 Wednesday, 15:00 Live on Premier Sports Brendan Rodgers did a good job of summing up the challenge confronting Celtic in Kazakhstan, quipping that: "It's a six-hour flight, five-hour time difference, 35C+, a plastic pitch with no water, but apart from that..." FC Astana are unbeaten in 15 home games, winning 12 of their latest 13 , and it isn't just in domestic competition that they dominate. Their six Champions League fixtures in front of their fans last term delivered victories over Maribor, HJK, APOEL and draws with Galatasaray, Benfica and finalists Atletico Madrid and not a single defeat. Celtic have lost seven of their last 11 Champions League road trips, with the first reverse in that sequence occurring 2-0 against inferior Kazakhstani opposition in Shakhter Karagandy and the most recent being inflicted by Gibraltarian adversaries in Lincoln Red Imps. Recommended Bet: Back FC Astana to win @ 2.46 A...

3 : Olympiakos v Hapoel Beer Sheva (Over 2.5 goals) @ 1.70 (7/10) To Europe's elite club competition now for our final two selections and I think we could be in for a few goals when Olympiakos take on Hapoel Beer Sheva. The Greeks are an experienced side at this level and they should cruise through this tie. I expect them to put the Israelites to the sword and rack up a few goals in the process. Olympiakos are typically big scorers in front of their own fans and they have played a number of recent friendlies to get back into the groove ahead of the new campaign. I wouldn't rule out Hapoel Beer Sheva from netting themselves though as they are used to winning and therefore have that winning mentality. Obviously nearly all of those matches were played at a lower level than this, but their first leg in the last round saw the ball in the net five times as they won 3-2, so it's not like they adopt a defensive strategy early on. Bet 4 : Fenerbahce v Monaco (...

Lincoln Red Imps 21.00 v Celtic 1.18 ; The Draw 9.20 Tuesday, 19:00 Live on BT Sport 2 Brendan Rodgers might be new to Parkhead and to the Champions League qualifying process, but the squad that he has inherited are absolute veterans , with this their fifth straight exploration of the preliminaries and the fourth year in a row that they have kicked off their campaign in the second round. Their three previous entries at this stage all saw them get underway with a win to nil regardless of the opponents or the venue, prevailing 3-0 at Cliftonville in 2013/14, 1-0 at KR Reykjavik in 2014/15 and 2-0 at home to Stjarnan last term. Gibraltarian hosts Lincoln Red Imps have scored three times in four prior Champions League outings in front of their fans, with two of those goals coming from the penalty spot. They have fired two blanks in three , while three of the aforementioned four contests featured two strikes exactly. Recommended Bets:  Back under 2.5 goals @  2.30...

Cruzeiro v Atletico PR Cruzeiro have conceded at least once in each of their first six home games of the Campeonato season. Tuesday 00:00 HJK Helsinki 2 PS Kemi 0 in yesterday. Not quite the big Finnish Kev was looking for, but he remains in black for the year.  Our quest to get back in the black begins in Brazil. Cruzeiro have conceded at least once in each of their first six home games of the  Campeonato  season. The  Mineirao  faithful have at least seen the  Black Beast  score twice themselves on each of their most recent two appearances there. Visiting tonight,  Atletico PR  have struck twice in 2/3 away games just recently, while failing to keep a single clean sheet themselves in any of the campaign's first six road assignments. With attacks looking  potent  and defences  unstable , we like the odds-against price on both teams to hit the back of the net at least once this evening. Recommended Bet Back Both Teams to Scor...

Nobody understands the pressure that France are under in the Euro 2016 final better than two of their opponents on Sunday, Ricardo Carvalho and Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair started for Portugal at Euro 2004 when they were the last host nation to participate in the final of a World Cup or European Championship . They would also become the first side to lose the final of one of those tournaments on home soil since Sweden at World Cup 1958, being beaten 1-0 by Greece. Twelve years might not seem like that long to wait for a second chance, especially for a country who had never ventured that far in a competition before that summer, but there have been several near misses since, most notably runs to the semi-finals of World Cup 2006 and Euro 2012. So now that they are back in the position that they assumed in 2004, one match away from glory, are they going to be able to atone for their error? A 13-match undefeated streak in competitive games since hiring expert international ...

Germany v France Thursday 7th Jul, 20:00 Live on BBC1 Introduction France have a full squad to pick from. Coach Didier Deschamps has two major selection decisions to make: whether to recall Adil Rami in place of Samuel Umtiti after the Sevilla centre-back missed France's 5-2 quarter-final win over Iceland through suspension, and whether to recall N'Golo Kante (also suspended against Iceland) in midfield. A linked and even more important question is how will France set-up:  in a 4-3-3 formation that would give their unconvincing defence greater protection, or in the 4-2-3-1 formation that has seen them score seven times in their last 135 minutes , and brought out the best in four-goal tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann? Germany have problems in defence, midfield and attack as Mats Hummels (suspended), Sami Khedira (injured) and Mario Gomez (injured) are all ruled out. Bastian Schweinsteiger is an injury doubt. The spine of the side is clearly weaker without those three an...

Portugal almost always fall short Portugal's sole semi-final success in six prior attempts came on the one occasion that they were able to lean on home support at Euro 2004, which was maximised to the tune of a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands. Whenever they have been abroad though, the route to the final has been expertly blocked. On three of the five instances that they were denied, France assumed responsibility - at Euro 1984, Euro 2000 and World Cup 2006. England eliminated them at World Cup 1966 and Spain oversaw their downfall at Euro 2012. Four of their five conquerors went on to lift the trophy so, if you trust history to repeat itself, you have to be seduced by the 9.40  available on this being Wales' summer. One other thing to be aware of is that in three of their most recent four semi-finals which ended badly, it took more than 90 minutes to confirm their exit, with extra-time goals sending them home twice and a shootout seeing them off on the other. They specialis...

France v Iceland Sun Jul 3rd, 20:00 BST Live on ITV Introduction France are below-strength in two positions as Adil Rami and N'Golo Kante are suspended. Lyon's  Samuel Umtiti  - reportedly on the brink of a move to Barcelona - is the favourite to get picked ahead of Eliaquim Mangala as the replacement for Rami at centre-back. Yohan Cabaye  and Morgan Schneiderlin are the contenders to replace Kante in midfield, although France may use a 4-2-3-1 - as they did in the second-half of their last-16 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland - rather than a 4-3-3, which would mean  Kingsley Coman  keeping his place on the right wing and no direct replacement for Kante being called into midfield. Iceland have had a trouble-free week of training are expected to stick with the Starting XI that beat England 2-1 last Monday. Match Odds France  1.45 , Iceland  9.80 , The Draw  4.70 France have blown hot and cold at this tournament but are overwhelming favourites...