Osijek v CSKA Sofia
Thursday 1st July 1945hrs
Football – Europe – Europa League
Pick Osijek
Bookmaker Bet Victor
Odds: 5/6 (odds taken 21.00 GMT, Tuesday 30 July)
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/4 | 27/10 | 13/4 |
* (Betting Odds were taken from 22Bet on July 30, 2019 at 21.00)
Many of these Europa League second legs are rather meaningless with such one-sided first leg results. That’s not the case here as CSKA Sofia take a 1-0 lead to Croatia with them to face Osijek.
Europa League Qualification Betting at Bet365
Osijek Preview – Can Croatians use home advantage to overturn first leg defeat?
This is the third year in a row that Osijek have qualified for the Europa League having not played in the competition since 2012 before then. In the previous two years they have not been able to make it into the group stage and that has to be the aim this time around. Last year’s participation was ended at this stage by Rangers and they have work to do in order to better that this season. It’s not been a great start to the season all in, though, with two defeats from their three competitive games so far. What will give the Croats hope is their home form which has bee very strong in 2019. Hadjuk Split at the only visiting team to have won on their own ground. The other nine games have seen Osijek win six of them.
Mirko Maric was the club’s top scorer last season with 18 goals in the league. He has already got two goals this season and he will be crucial to Osijek’s hopes of making it through to the next stage.
CSKA Sofia Preview – Will visitors have enough to get the result they need and move into third round?
It may only be halfway in the tie but it’s been a very positive first half for the Bulgarians. It’s not a club who are steeped in great European pedigree but they are attempting to make up for that this season. 2018/19 was CSKA’s first time competing in the Europa league in four years and they were narrowly knocked out by Kobenhavn. This season’s qualifying started with a comfortable 4-0 aggregate win over OKF Titograd before being drawn against Osijek. The home leg was negotiated as well as it could have been considering. CSKA Sofia will not only take a lead with them to Croatia on Thursday but also having kept a clean sheet.
One of the club’s most notable signings in the summer was Tony Watt from Scottish club St Johnstone. Watt’s career has taken him to a number of countries but he’s most famous for scoring the winning goal for Celtic in a 2-1 win against Barcelona in the group stages of the Champions League.
Key-Facts – Osijek v CSKA Sofia
- CSKA Sofia won the first leg between the sides courtesy of a solitary goal from Brazilian Evandro
- Osijek were eliminated at this same stage 12 months ago but will be hoping to take advantage of being strong at home to overturn the first leg deficit
- CSKA Sofia do not possess a huge amount of recent European experience but they did make it to the third round of qualification last season
Osijek v CSKA Sofia Betting Advice
This is one of the more finely balanced ties and both teams will feel they have a good chance of progressing. As alluded to above, Osijek are strong at home. They will be confident of getting a win. For the visitors, that first leg result is obviously to their advantage. They also know that if they can find that important away goal then their opponents will need to score at least three in order to qualify.
Home advantage is so often crucial in these sort of games and that sways me to siding with the Croatians. It may or may not be enough to see them qualify but they are capable of winning the game. Six wins and one defeat in their last 10 home games is strong form. Back them to continue that here.
