Athletic Bilbao and Hertha Berlin were the obvious favourites to top Group J when the draw was made, and after securing a point in Berlin, Thursday evenings hosts will be confident of taking all three points against their Ukrainian guests, especially after Zorya were beaten at home by Swedish side Östersunds FK.
Athletic Bilbao and Zorya have never met before, not even for a friendly, so each team carries that threat of the unknown about them. However, with the Spaniard’s playing at home they are the big favourites to take all three points, and we fully expect Zorya to sit back and attempt to frustrate their hosts, perhaps pinching a goal from a set piece, but in reality being happy with a draw.
The start of the new La Liga campaign has witnessed Bilbao struggle with the balance of domestic and European football, as they currently sit in eleventh place on eight points from their first six matches. Visitors Zorya haven’t performed much better themselves, averaging a point per game with ten games played, they occupy seventh spot in the Ukrainian Premier League.
The hosts main goal threats are going to come from veteran striker Aduriz who has netted three times in the league this season at the age of 36, and the pacey Iñaki Williams, who has two La Liga goals and can cause havoc when running at an apposing defence. The visitors don’t boast one out and out goalscorer in their squad, instead they share the load between Brazilian Iury, penalty taker Grechyshkin, midfielder Gromov, and defender Opanasenko, each of whom lead the way with two league goals so far.
The form guide is slightly in favour of the hosts, though Bilbao haven’t won in their last four games, but with three defeats and two draws from their last six, the visitors look set to struggle in Spain. Bilbao certainly have goals in them but have only scored seven in their last six matches while Zorya have really struggled in that department of late, netting just twice in their last four matches.
We are predicting a narrow but fairly comfortable win for the home side in this game, with our first betting tip going on under 2.5 goals being scored. The current odds on that outcome are 6/5, which means there is money to be made with our tip. In terms of a final score, we’re predicting a 2-0 win for the home side as their clash should shine through in the end, despite the moral at the club being a little low following a tough start to the season.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário