This Europa League tie sees Russian hipster club Krasnodar host Lyngby, who have been on a real upward curve in the last season or so. Bookmaker Ratings have had winning tips on both of these teams recently.
This is Krasnodar’s first European match of the season and there can be no doubt that they will be looking to make the group stage of the Europa League as a bare minimum. The Bulls are looking to become a big force in Russia and Europe over the next few years, however, they have struggled for results in European football in recent times with just one win in their last eight outings. Having said that, the fact they have won their first two league matches of the campaign will be a confidence booster going into Thursday’s game against Lyngby.
Despite the fact that Krasnodar are without talisman striker Fedor Smolov due to injury, they are not struggling to score goals having found the back of the net four times so far this campaign. They have also been very impressive in defence and have conceded just one goal this season. In fact, my recent winning tip of a Krasnodar Win to Nil in their match against Tosno was excellent value given the circumstances. Unfortunately though, that usually reliable backline has been weak in Europe with no clean sheets in their last three.
Home form was one of Igor Shalimov’s side’s strong points last season, losing just one league match on home soil in the entire domestic campaign. Furthermore, when it comes to European football, the Green-Blacks have lost just once in their last three whilst they also had a three-match winning streak from August to September last year. Finally, it is certainly worth mentioning that Krasnodar have won every single Europa League home qualifier in their history.
Danish side Lyngby have been the subject of a fairytale that Hans Christian Andersen would be proud of. Having won promotion from the second tier in 2016, they then took the Danish Superliga by storm, eventually finishing third in the table. Furthermore, they have done well in their two qualifying rounds so far this campaign, firstly knocking out Welsh side Bangor City before disposing of Slovan Bratislava – as we predicted on Bookmaker Ratings.
The Vikings’ strength last season was their solid backline which conceded just 35 goals in 36 league outings – the second best record in the Danish Superliga. However, having seen a number of their squad depart in this transfer window, they have lost that steely core and have already conceded five goals in their opening two league games. Although they may have kept kept three clean sheets in their four European outings so far this term, Krasnodar will be a completely different test.
Despite the fact they had a couple of blips on their travels last season, David Nielsen’s men had a good away record towards the end of the campaign, winning three of their final four matches.
Unsurprisingly, Krasnodar come into this match as overwhelming favourites with 1/4 being the best price on a simple home win. The Bulls are one of the more high-scoring sides in Russian football and I expect them to put a few past Lyngby here, despite the Danish team’s decent defensive record last season. Krasnodar managed to score five goals past Nice last season, who were flying in French Ligue 1 at the time, and I expect them to do something similar here. Krasnodar to Score in Both Halves is priced well at Evens.