Thursday's Europa Conference League predictions: Anderlecht headline trio of selections
Recommended bets:
- Back Anderlecht to beat Ludogorets and over 1.5 goals
- Back Lech Poznan to beat Bodo Glimt
- Back Qarabag draw no bet at Gent
It is the second leg of the Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs, and with seven of the eight ties still in the balance there is plenty to play for.
We take a look at three of the best value options from Thursday's matches.
Anderlecht vs Ludogorets (Thursday, 5.45pm)
The stats
Ludogorets won the first leg 1-0 in Bulgaria, taking a ninth-minute lead and clinging on despite strong Anderlecht pressure.
The Belgian visitors had 69% possession and took 13 shots to their hosts' six but failed to take their chances, hitting the post and failing to score a straightforward one-on-one chance late in the game.
The Bulgarians were strong at home in the group stage of the Europa League, beating Roma and HJK, but dropped down into the Europa Conference League due to a poor away record of two defeats and a draw.
Prediction
This tie is finely balanced but Anderlecht will be disappointed to have come away from Bulgaria with a 1-0 deficit to make up after bossing possession and after Benito Raman and Anders Dreyer both passed up excellent opportunities to equalise.
They should make no mistake in the second leg, however, and there could be plenty of goals.
Anderlecht were able to break through the Ludogorets defence with relative ease in the first leg and cannot be expected to be as wasteful again, while the Bulgarians scored in defeat at Roma and Real Betis during their failed Europa League group stage campaign.
Lech Poznan vs Bodo/Glimt (Thursday, 8pm)
The stats
Bodo/Glimt were the better side last Thursday but were unable to make home advantage count and now take a 0-0 draw into the second leg.
They could live to regret it against a Lech Poznan side who were unbeaten on home soil in the Europa Conference League group stage, beating Villarreal 3-0 and Austria Vienna 4-1 in Poland.
Bodo/Glimt nicked a 1-1 draw at PSV Eindhoven in the group stage of the Europa League but were thrashed 3-0 at Arsenal and lost away at a Zurich side who lost all five of their other Group A matches.
Prediction
Lech Poznan finished as runners-up to LaLiga giants Villarreal in their Europa Conference League group but an excellent home record in Group C suggests they could turn the tide of this tie.
Norwegians Bodo/Glimt had a tough Europa League group featuring Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven but their results against whipping boys Zurich were telling – they beat the Swiss side 2-1 on home soil but lost the away leg by the same scoreline.
Gent vs Qarabag (Thursday, 8pm)
The stats
Qarabag won the first leg 1-0 in Baku and also missed a penalty and hit the woodwork in a dominant performance.
Gent failed to register a single shot on target and are in poor form overall, losing three of their last five games in all competitions.
The Belgian hosts make unconvincing favourites given they have lost all five domestic league meetings with the top five in Belgium this season and finished second in their Europa Conference League group after losing home and away to group winners Djurgarden.
Prediction
Azerbaijani side Qarabag are relatively big hitters at this level – contesting the group stage of either the Champions League or Europa League in eight of the last nine seasons – and demonstrated their superiority over Gent in the first leg despite failing to make the scoreline reflect that.
While they will be frustrated at failing to kill the tie off last week, Qarabag can be trusted to finish the job in Belgium.
