Slovan Bratislava vs Dinamo Zagreb Prediction: Big night for Barseghyan

Currently sat bottom of the 36-team Uefa Champions League league phase heading into round four, Slovan Bratislava know they need to start picking up points soon if they are to have any chance of finishing in the top 24, which would see the Slovakians compete in a two-legged knock-out phase play-off.

Meanwhile, their opponents on Tuesday (17:45, TNT Sports 4), Dinamo Zagreb, are unbeaten in their last two European outings and reside on four points. Read below for my Slovan Bratislava vs Dinamo Zagreb prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this clash at Tehelne pole.

Team News

Manchester City Academy graduate Robert Mak and former Watford midfielder Juraj Kucka are both missing for Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday due to injury. The experienced Slovakian duo are joined in the treatment room by ex-Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur defender Kevin Wimmer, who scored his side's only league phase goal so far in the 5-1 defeat to Celtic in Glasgow.

Sharani Zuberu, Julius Szoke and Adler are also expected to miss out in midweek.

Football Odds

Dinamo Zagreb and Croatia striker Bruno Petkovic, who has scored twice in the league phase so far, missed Friday's 4-0 win over Sibenik and will have to watch from the sideline in Bratislava.

The same can be said for goalkeeper Ivan Nevistic so Danijel Zagorac will deputise between the sticks again.

There are also doubts over the availability of Arijan Ademi, who was withdrawn at half-time last Friday.

Slovan Bratislava vs Dinamo Zagreb Odds

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Slovan Bratislava are 11/4 to take all three points on Tuesday, giving the Slovakian side an implied win probability of 26.7%, while Dinamo Zagreb are 19/20, or a 51.3% chance, to win back-to-back away Champions League games after beating Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 in Austria last time out.

The draw is priced at 13/5, both teams to score at 4/7, and over 2.5 total goals at 4/6.

Double Chance & Both Teams to Score - Draw or Dinamo Zagreb & Yes @ 21/20

Firstly, I'm expecting both teams to score on Tuesday. Slovan and Dinamo have each conceded 11 goals in three league phase games; the former are yet to keep a clean sheet in the competition while the latter's only one came last time out in Salzburg when the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute.

Both teams have scored in seven of Dinamo's last 10 matches in all competitions and eight of Slovan's last 12.

Before a ball was kicked in the league phase, this is a game that both sides will have targeted as one they could, and should, be getting all three points, and without a win or draw to their name yet, Tuesday takes on even more importance for the hosts.

Slovan's final four fixtures are against AC Milan (H), Atletico Madrid (A), Stuttgart (H) and Bayern Munich (A), and you'd be hard-pressed to back them for three points, let alone one, in any of those matches.

Therefore, they simply have to go for it this week, conditions that should lend themselves to an entertaining encounter in Bratislava.

On the other side, Zagreb would be more content with a stalemate having recovered from their round one routing by Bayern, who annihilated them 9-2 in Munich.

The Croatians have more winnable matches remaining, notably home games against Borussia Dortmund and Celtic next before taking a trip to Arsenal and ending in Zagreb v AC Milan.

However, they will want to maintain momentum in the competition and ensure qualification as quickly as possible so as not to have to rely on achieving positive results against the likes of Arsenal.

Dinamo have scored in their last 10 matches, including all three league phase fixtures so far in the Champions League, so they will be confident of finding the net at least once on Tuesday against the joint-leakiest defence in the competition.

Both teams to score looks likely for me, and I'm adding in the double chance result on the visitors as well.

After their humiliation in Bavaria, Dinamo have shown tremendous powers of recovery, holding AS Monaco to a 2-2 draw in Zagreb before beating Salzburg 2-0 in Austria last time out.

Slovan, meanwhile, have been easily beaten in all three league phase games so far, although their only home match has been against reigning English Premier League champions Manchester City, so that's probably not a great indication of what they are really like at home.

As such, I'm hedging my bets by opting for a draw or Dinamo victory, alongside BTTS - Yes.

Anytime Goalscorer - Tigran Barseghyan (SLB) @ 13/5

Armenian attacker Tigran Barseghyan is Slovan's top goalscorer this season with 12 strikes in all competitions - 10 in the Slovak First Football League, and two in Champions League qualifying.

The 31-year-old is yet to get off the mark in the league phase but was responsible for one of just three shots attempted by Slovan against Man City and saw an effort saved by Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga last time out in Europe.

With Mak and Kucka out, there is even more responsibility on his and striker David Strelec's shoulders, particularly in the final third of the pitch.

Barseghyan has scored in his two most recent matches and has three in his last four, so he comes into Tuesday's contest in good form.

I'm already backing Slovan to score so as their biggest goal threat, and at 13/5, I think Barseghyan is well worth considering in the anytime goalscorer market here.

Offers

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