FC Astana vs FC Ballkani prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-11-08 15:30.
UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) Group C was blown wide open in the last round, with Kazakhstanās Astana upsetting the odds by leaving Ballkaniās Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri as 2-1 victors. That left the pair of them on three points along with Dinamo Zagreb, with all three in pursuit of early runaway leaders Viktoria PlzeÅ. Astana will be aiming to stake their claim for that coveted second place with a strong performance at home here, seeing as theyāre entering the reverse fixture as favourites this time around.
Another victory would set the Yellow and Blues on course to match their second place finish in their 2017/18 Europa League group, which remains their best European campaign to date. The Astana Arena hasnāt exactly been a fortress on the continental circuit though, with the home side losing five of their last nine such European matches (W3, D1).
Ballkani will have the exact same aspirations as their hosts, although their bar for improvement is as low as can be with their only prior UEFA group stage appearance being last season's UECL campaign in which they finished bottom of their group. The Kosovans have proven theyāre more of a threat this season, having run group leaders PlzeÅ extremely close by only losing 1-0, before claiming an impressive 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
The Gabriels have form on their side in pursuit of an upset here, with the loss to Astana being their only defeat in their last nine matches (W7, D1). Manager Ilir Daja will look to leverage that as his side tend to go for broke, with only one of their previous nine UECL group stage matches ever ending in a draw (W2, L6).
Players to watch: Astana will be hoping Maks Ebong can open his continental account, since seven of his eight goals for the club have come at home. As for Ballkani, Nazmi Gripshi might be the man to get them going early, seeing as heās scored four of his five European goals before half-time.
Hot streak: None of Ballkaniās last nine matches have featured a scoreless first half.