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Soccer Betting Previews
UEFA Europa Conference League Betting Preview: FC Nordsjaelland vs Ludogorets Razgrad
October 5, 2023
FC Nordsjaelland take on Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad at The Right to Dream Park in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Ludogorets Razgrad are still winless in five previous matches against Danish sides (three draws and two defeats against both FC Copenhagen and FC Midtjylland).
All in all, no Bulgarian team has even won a game in Denmark from nine previous attempts (six draws and three defeats).
Ludogorets Razgrad kicked-off their group stage campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win over Spartak Trnava of Slovakia, while FC Nordsjaelland suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Turkish giants Fenerbahce two weeks ago.
FC Nordsjaelland Betting Preview (-136 at MyBookie)
FC Nordsjaelland were held to a goalless draw at Vejle BK on Sunday and Johannes Thorup's side are bidding to end their poor form in all competitions. They are yet to win a game in regular time since the 1-0 win at Partizan Belgrade in late-August.
The Tigers finished second in the Danish Superliga last season and are now competing in the UEFA Europa Conference League as a result. They started from the third qualifying round - their first European appearance since 2018-19 - and were perfect against the likes of FCSB of Romania and Serbian powerhouse Partizan Belgrade - keeping a clean sheet in all four matches against them.
Domestically, they sit in third place in the Danish Superliga, three points off leaders FC Copenhagen. In fact, Johannes Thorup's men have won their four opening top-flight games this season, but now have four consecutive draws.
Ernest Nuamah became FC Nordsjaelland's top goalscorer last season with 12 goals in 30 top-flight appearances. The Ghanaian winger started the new season on a high, scoring four goals in four league appearances, but he left the club to join Ligue 1 side Lyon.
Andreas Schjelderup also bagged 10 goals in just 17 league appearances for FC Nordsjaelland last year until he made a move to Portuguese champions Benfica in January. However, the Norwegian teenager failed to establish himself as a first-team player and returned to Denmark on a season-long loan deal.
He is yet to score for FC Nordsjaelland this season and would love to open his scoring account against Ludogorets Razgrad on Thursday night.
With 8 goals in 12 matches across all competitions (four of them in the UEFA Europa Conference League), Marcus Ingvartsen represents the biggest threat to the Bulgarian side. The 27-year-old Danish forward returned to FC Nordsjaelland after a few years in Belgium and in the Bundesliga, having scored 10 goals in 28 Bundesliga games for Mainz 05 last season.
Elsewhere, Sweden U21 international Daniel Svensson could once again start in the middle along with Mohamed Diomande and Jeppe Tverskov.
Meanwhile, Oliver Antman picked up a muscle injury last month and the Finland winger is sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Ludogorets Razgrad Betting Preview (+340 at MyBookie)
After winning their 12
th
consecutive Bulgarian title, Ludogorets Razgrad suffered yet another Champions League setback over the summer. Ivaylo Petev's side lost to NK Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia in the second qualifying round.
They continued their continental campaign in the Europa League, where Ludogorets claimed a 6-3 aggregate win over Kazakh champions FC Astana in the third qualifying round, but ultimately lost to Ajax Amsterdam in the play-offs.
In the meantime, The Eagles made a slow start to their domestic league campaign - winning only six of their opening 10 games so far (their worst start so far). Imagine if that's your "worst start" actually.
Thus, Ludogorets Razgrad sit sixth in the Bulgarian First League table, nine points behind leaders Lokomotiv Plovdiv but with two games in hand.
Ivaylo Petev's side claimed a 1-0 win at Levski Sofia on Sunday night but it was a very controversial game that saw the referee making numerous awful decisions in Ludogorets' favor.
Poland midfielder Jakub Piotrowski has arguably been one of Ludogorets Razgrad's standout performers this season. He already boasts six goals in 16 appearances in all competitions, including a brace in the 4-0 home win over Spartak Trnava last month.
Rwan Cruz scored the winner against Levski Sofia and the Brazilian forward should lead the line in Denmark. He was only introduced as a second-half substitute against Spartak Trnava, with Matías Tissera starting up front, but Rwan Seco scored the fourth goal.
Ivaylo Petev has no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to Denmark. Captain Anton Nedyalkov, Portuguese defender Dinis Almeida and Swiss striker Kwadwo Duah are all long-term absentees for Ludogorets Razgrad.
Possible Starting Lineups of FC Nordsjaelland and Ludogorets Razgrad
FC Nordsjaelland: Andreas Hansen - Oliver Villadsen, Adamo Nagalo, Kian Hansen, Martin Frese - Mohamed Diomande, Jeppe Tverskov, Daniel Svensson - Ibrahim Osman, Marcus Ingvartsen, Andreas Schjelderup. (4-3-3)
Ludogorets Razgrad: Sergio Padt - Aslak Fonn Witry, Franco Russo, Noah Sonko Sundberg, Son - Claude Gonçalves, Jakub Piotrowski - Bernard Tekpetey, Dominik Yankov, Spas Delev - Rwan Cruz. (4-2-3-1)
Spooky Express Betting Prediction
FC Nordsjaelland have already beat the likes of FCSB and Partizan Belgrade earlier in their European campaign on the artificial grass at The Right to Dream Park.
Ludogorets Razgrad, on the other hand, have lost to FC Astana of Kazakhstan on the artificial pitch at the Astana Arena and we expect a similar outcome here.
Moreover, we have already highlighted that Ludogorets struggle against Danish opponents and Bulgarian teams are yet to win in Denmark.
Ludogorets have a fairly decent record on home soil but they have been very poor on the road. They were winless in 10 European away games until the 1-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam at the Johan Cruyff Arena in the Europa League play-offs. However, that victory came after a 4-1 first leg defeat, so it's safe to assume that the Dutch giants probably underestimated the reverse game.
Spooky Express Free Play: FC Nordsjaelland -136 at MyBookie for 7/10 Units
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