Krasnodar v Fenerbahçe Betting Tips: Both teams can profit going forward in Russia

These two sides are well equipped to go far in the Europa League and both will be disappointed that they have drawn a difficult opponent in this first knockout round.

Krasnodar are coming into this match off the back of a long winter break and so match fitness will be an issue there. They did lose a couple of players in the January transfer window but thankfully they have managed to keep their best players as they look to push on this season.

In a generally low-scoring league, Igor Shalimov’s men are one of the more attacking sides in the division and have the third-best goal-scoring record in the league with 24 goals in 17 games. Only title hopefuls Spartak Moscow and Zenit have a better ‘Goals For’ statistic.

The Bulls have only conceded 14 goals in 17 league matches so far this campaign which is obviously impressive. However, given the fact the Russian Premier League is so low-scoring, this record is only the eighth best in the league.

Krasnodar pride themselves on their excellent home form and 23 of their 28 league points this season have been accumulated on home soil. Furthermore, they have only lost once in their five Europa League home matches this season.

Fenerbahçe currently sit 4th in the Turkish Superlig following an inconsistent run in recent weeks which has seen them win just once in their last four league matches.

Dick Advocaat’s side are frightening going forward, particularly with Dutchman Robin Van Persie and it is no surprise that they are one of the top scoring teams in the Turkish league with an average of almost two goals per game. Like Krasnodar, Fener’s defence is also quite impressive (19 conceded in 20) but is similarly down in the ‘Goals Against’ table thanks to the even better defensive displays of other teams.

The Istanbul club have arguably been better on their travels than they have at home this season having taken 17 points from 10 matches on their travels – compared to a rather poor 19 from 10 at the Ulker Stadium. Having said that, a trip to Russia is hardly what they need right now if Fener are looking to concentrate on a domestic title challenge so we may even see Advocaat field a weakened team on Thursday evening.

With two good strike forces on show here, I think we could see a few goals and, 8/5 in the betting, ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ looks good.

See more Europa League tips here.