Football Bet of the Day: Dynamo can charge to victory

Dynamo Kiev v Astana
Thursday 20 September, 17:55
Live on BT Sport Extra

After a serene start to the week, we hit the iceberg last night. Stjarnan’s 1-1 draw with KA left us a couple of goals short, so we’ll leave the Nordic region and head east. Dynamo Kiev are up against Astana in the Europa League group stage.

Dynamo fell short in the Champions League qualifiers, as they were outplayed by Ajax over two legs, and they are winless in five games in all competitions. You would think therefore that I’d be running a mile from backing them, but they’re still a very good side with lots of European experience.

Dynamo beat their old foes Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 last month in the league, and overall they have won four of their six home matches since the start of the season. They have kept clean sheets in five of those matches in the Ukrainian capital.

Kazakh side Astana reached the knockout phase of this competition last season, but they are much stronger at home than they are on their travels. They have won just one of their last six road matches in all competitions, and have failed to score in four of those games. In European competition, Astana have found the net in just one of four away matches this season.

Dynamo are trading at [1.75] in the Match Odds market, which is about as short as we usually go in this column, but I think it’s still a bet worth recommending.