SK Rapid vs FC Copenhagen prediction: EUROPE: Conference League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-12-18 20:00.
[p]Rapid Vienna are pushing to finish in the top-eight of the UEFA Conference League, and their ninth placed standing suggests they’re close to making it a reality. The Austrian club are at the very least assured of a spot in the knockout play-off round, but they’ll be looking for a win here against Copenhagen which would likely book them a spot in the last 16. [/p]
[p]It’s actually over a month though since Rapid last won a game (D3, L2), so they’ll have to flip the form book on its head to have a realistic chance of a top-eight finish here. Starting slowly has largely been their undoing in that fruitless run, as in only one of those five games did they open the scoring, although they have struck first in four of their five Conference League games in the league phase. [/p]
[p]Like their hosts, Copenhagen also harbour a desire to finish in the top-eight, although their hopes are incredibly slim. Coming into this clash 16th and in the eighth and final seeded knockout round play-off spot, securing a win which would rubber stamp their place in the last 32 as a seeded side seems to be a more realistic aim for the Danish club, who haven’t tasted defeat since early October (W8, D6). [/p]
[p]The last six games in that run all ended in victory for Copenhagen, while they’ve only lost once in the Conference League this term (W2, D2, L1). One huge concern for the Danes is that their sole defeat came against Jagiellonia Białystok, who are the only team they’ve faced so far who currently sit above them in the Conference League table, with the four games where they have avoided defeat coming against sides beneath them. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Rapid’s Dion Beljo has scored either the first or second goal of the game in his last 13 club goalscoring appearances. Eighteen-year-old Copenhagen academy graduate Amin Chiakha has set the competition alight, scoring three goals in just 101 minutes of Conference League football, giving him the best minutes per goal ratio of any player to have scored at least twice in the competition’s league phase this term. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Copenhagen have conceded before half-time in their last four Conference League away games. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Chris Wilson[/i][/p]