The second leg of the playoff round between Newcastle and Qarabag takes place on Tuesday in England. The Magpies dominated the first leg 6-1 and have all but secured their spot in the next round. This game should be merely a formality for the Premier League side.
Newcastle are -750 favorites on the moneyline, while a draw is available at +850. Fancy a Qarabag upset? They are +1500 on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Newcastle vs. Qarabag Prediction, Pick
This game is a tough one to predict. On one hand, Newcastle are by far the better team and this time they will be on their home turf. On the other hand, they have almost no motivation to win this game with a five-goal cushion from the first leg.
I am going to go with the over in this scenario, because I feel like Newcastle are more than capable of putting Qarabag to the sword even with a heavily rotated side.
The team from Azerbaijan had competed fairly well for most of the League Phase of the competition, highlighted by a draw against Chelsea, a win over Benfica and another win over Frankfurt. Those are some incredible achievements by a club like Qarabag, but in their last two Champions League matches, their lack of quality has been evident. First, it was a 6-0 loss to Liverpool on the final matchday of the League Phase. Then, it was a 6-1 loss to Newcastle in the first leg of this playoff round. The Magpies also took their foot off the gas in the second half after a 5-0 lead at halftime.
Qarabag have lost their last two games by a combined score of 12-1, and I don’t think it will get much better for them on Tuesday at St. James’ Park. Even though Newcastle have basically already advanced, they will want to keep their home fans happy and put a couple of goals away in another comfortable victory.
