South Melbourne have a major advantage heading into this Australia Cup semi-final, especially with home advantage at Lakeside Stadium. Their cup performances at home have been extremely convincing, including a dominant 2:1 victory over Preston Lions in the quarter-final, where South Melbourne recorded 28 shots and an xG of 2.18.
The situation is even more interesting because Lions played the Queensland NPL final on Saturday and now have to travel to Victoria just three days later. The visitors have also lost key players during the season, including top scorer Alex Fichtner and defender Cher Deng. South Melbourne should therefore have the fresher squad and the stronger overall conditions for this important semi-final.
With a place in the Australia Cup final against Melbourne Victory at stake, motivation will be extremely high. South Melbourne have already eliminated A-League opposition in this competition and should be capable of finishing the job in front of their home crowd.

Bayer Leverkusen come into their Europa League opener with strong attacking numbers. They have scored nine goals across their last three matches, including a 4-0 home victory over Union Berlin, while they also created a huge number of chances in their latest 2-2 draw against Augsburg.Celje arrive in Germany in much worse form. They have lost four of their last five competitive matches and recently changed their head coach, with Zoran Zeljkovic taking charge just before this European clash. That makes the situation even more difficult against a Leverkusen side playing at home and looking to make a strong start to their European campaign.Leverkusen should dominate possession, territory and chances from the opening minutes. If they maintain the intensity they have shown recently, there is a strong possibility of seeing two Bayer goals before half-time.

Real Betis have made a very strong start to the new La Liga campaign, winning four of their opening five league matches and currently sitting near the top of the table. They also come into this game with three consecutive victories in all competitions, including impressive wins over Real Madrid, Lille and Villarreal.
Getafe, meanwhile, have struggled to produce results away from home. They have lost both of their La Liga away matches this season and have scored only three goals across their opening five league games. Their attacking options are also affected by several absences, which could make it difficult to create enough danger against Betis.They should control the game through possession and territorial pressure, while their attacking quality gives them several ways to break down a Getafe side that is likely to defend deep. Playing in Seville, Betis have the opportunity to maintain their excellent momentum and turn their superiority into a multi-goal victory.
With the -1.0 Asian Handicap, a one-goal Betis victory results in a refund, while a win by two or more goals produces a full winning result. The 2:0 scenario looks particularly interesting here.

Besiktas come into their Europa League opener in strong domestic form, having won four of their opening five Turkish Super Lig matches. They have also strengthened their squad significantly, with players such as Orkun Kökçü and Dušan Vlahović adding quality to an already dangerous attacking unit.
Marseille, on the other hand, have had a difficult start to the new Ligue 1 campaign. They have lost three of their first four league matches, including defeats against Monaco, Paris FC and Rennes. The French side have also been dealing with absences in midfield, while they arrive in Istanbul after a run of inconsistent performances.
The home advantage could be a major factor. Besiktas are expected to receive a very strong atmosphere at Tüpraş Stadium, and their current form gives them confidence heading into this European opener. If they can reproduce the intensity and attacking quality shown in their recent domestic victories, Marseille could find it very difficult to control the game.Besiktas have the momentum, home advantage and current form on their side, while Marseille are still searching for consistency under Bruno Génésio.