Basel vs Trabzonspor prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-02-22 20:00.
Interim Basel manager Heiko Vogel admits his team are desperate to “make up” for being “punished” by Trabzonspor in the first leg of last week’s UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) knockout round play-off. Jens Stryger Larsen’s goal consigned the Swiss side to a 1-0 defeat on an emotional night at the Şenol Güneş Stadium, just days after the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria.
Basel followed that result up by conceding a 90th minute equaliser in a 2-2 league draw with Servette at the weekend, meaning they are yet to keep a clean sheet in seven games since the World Cup (W2, D2, L3). In the midst of that form, then-manager Alexander Frei was sacked by Vogel, who only a month earlier had been installed as Sporting Director and now finds himself in the hot seat.
The Swiss side might be confident of overturning the deficit, though, as Trabzonspor are on a run of five successive away defeats in European football, conceding at least two goals on each occasion. Indeed, Abdullah Avcı’s side have an extensive problem on the road both domestically and abroad, winning just one of their nine away trips in all competitions (D2, L6).
That has led Trabzonspor defender Stefano Denswil to warn his teammates that “the game is still open” as the Turkish outfit look to win a UEFA post-group stage knockout tie for the first time in their history! They are also looking to avenge a defeat to Roma at the same stage of the UECL last season and should be reasonably high on confidence thanks to a run of five wins from their last seven outings in all competitions (L2).
Key battle: Basel’s on-loan star Andi Zeriqi has lost just one of his nine goalscoring appearances for any club this season (W5, D3), including two wins and two draws in the UECL. He will be trying to out score Trabzonspor’s Trezeguet, who is unbeaten in 12 goalscoring appearances (W8, D4) but has netted only twice from a dozen games in European football.
Hot stat: Trabzonspor have scored the first goal in 12 of their last 15 competitive matches (W9, D2, L4).