Royal Antwerp vs Omonia Nicosia prediction for Thursday’s Europa League second leg of the qualification round clash at Bosuilstadion in Antwerp. Antwerp have a two-goal deficit from the first leg as they host Omonia in the second leg for a place in the UEL group stage. You can follow our preview free prediction and betting tips on this page.
Royal Antwerp have a lot of work to do in the second leg
Four-time Belgian champions finished third last season in the Jupiler Pro League. Thus they are playing in the final qualification round of the Europa League. However, they came back from the first leg in Cyprus with a 2-4 defeat. Moreover, Antwerp won just one of their five competitive matches in the new season and lost three. They are currently in 14th place in the standings.
Going back to their match in Nicosia, The Great Old took the lead in the first half. But coach Brian Priske’s team couldn’t hold on and Omonia equalized before halftime. Moving on, the visitors were under great pressure early in the second half which led to the hosts scoring two quick goals. Finally, after the break, the Belgians were outplayed and paid the price of decreasing their tempo.
Antwerp Key Points
Omonia Nicosia still need to defend their lead
Omonia is the most popular and successful team in Cyprus. They won the Cypriot championship 21 times and the cup 14. Despite being so successful domestically, Omonia appeared in a European competition group stage just once. That was last season when they played in group E with PSV, Paok, and Grenada. The Cypriots registered just one win against Paok and finished fourth.
In the first leg match, Omonia had a great match. Despite going down in the first half, coach Henning Berg’s team responded in a spectacular fashion and scored four goals. In effect, Omonia now stand with a great chance to reach the group stages of the Europa League for the second time. Therefore, coach Berg needs to adopt an aggressive defensive approach to minimize Antwerp’s chances of scoring.
Omonia Key Points
Royal Antwerp vs Omonia Nicosia Prediction
Antwerp will be looking to make up for their loss in the first leg. Needless to mention the Belgians need to win by three goals to advance to the group stage. Coincidentally their only win this season was against Standard Liege 5-2. Can they repeat that in this match?
Omonia have improved immensely in recent years. Moreover, their ambition isn’t just advancing to the group stages, but rather reach the knockout stages after the Round Robin phase.
Vbet have odds of 1.32 for Omonia to qualify. We think Antwerp will do their best offensively to score. That will open the game up and Omonia will use their counters and create many chances. Thus we think we will see goals on both ends in this one.
Royal Antwerp vs Omonia Nicosia Betting Tips
1 or x and BTTS Yes 2.08 at Vbet
1 or x and Under 3.5 Goals 1.63 at Vbet