Ferencvaros vs Valletta
Champions League Qualification
Date: Wednesday, 24 July 2019
Kick-off at 19:00 UK/ 20:00 CET
Venue: Groupama Arena (Budapest).
Actually, Ferencvaros did far better than what I expected against Ludogorets. They won both matches, even the second leg in Bulgaria last week, scoring a total of five Goals. They traveled to Razgrad who had a narrow one-goal advantage from the first leg (2-1), but they turned the game into a leisurely way in the park, winning 0-2 in just 20 minutes. Tokmac Chol Nguen's goal in the 48th minute (1-3) put the last nail in Ludogorets coffin (Bulgarians shortened the distance before halftime). "It's a good night in my career", Serhii Rebrov told reporters after his team won in Bulgaria. They eliminated rivals by doubling their budgets, so he had many reasons to feel proud. There was no game for Ferencvaros last weekend.
"Malta", "soccer" and "success" are three words that are usually not found in the same sentence, but ... look (!). Gzira United eliminated Hajduk Split (!!) in the first qualifying round of the European League, and Valletta did their part too, "promoting" Malta's name, eliminating Dudelange in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. Of course, Dudelange might come from the others ... "simple", soccer-wise, country, Luxembourg, but we all remember how impressive they were seen last season, eliminating three teams to reach the European League group stage. Valletta did not really beat Dudelange, they drew them twice, 2-2 outside home, 1-1 last week, and those away goals pushed them through to the second round. Darren Abdilla, their coach, has told reporters that Valletta will play to win, not just sit and protect their profits from the first match, and that is what they do, it doesn't matter if they "just" play at the end of the match. There was no match for them last weekend.
Ferencvaros vs Valletta Head-to-head (h2h)
This is the first competitive match between clubs.
Prediction of Ferencvaros vs Valletta
The hosts are currently on a six-game winning streak and have scored two or more goals in 14 of their last 17. They have also won nine of their last ten matches and are unbeaten in 25 of their last 30 matches. At home, they are running five successive wins and repeating the same results in 11 of their last 12 attempts. They also found the back of the net twice or more in 12 of their last 14 appearances.
Conversely, the numbers of their opponents are from the league which is lower in quality, and above all it is a bad stretch. They have not won their last four ties and so in the last five of them on the road. They also conceded two or more goals in three of their last four matches overall, and a total of seven of their last two away from home.
By all means, expect a comfortable day for the home team.
