Fenerbahce vs Ludogorets prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-10-25 16:45.
It was more of the same for Fenerbahçe at the weekend when they extended their 100% winning record to 17 competitive games in 2023/24, including a club record nine straight domestic league victories! Attention must now swiftly turn back to the matter of this UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) group, where the hosts could take another huge step towards the knockout phase with a third straight win.
This is the Yellow Canaries’ first clash against Bulgarian opponents since knocking Botev Plovdiv out of the old UEFA Cup 5-3 on aggregate back in 1992/93, and a strong return of nine straight unanswered home goals suggests this should be another formality for the hosts. In fact, Fenerbahçe have scored either three or five goals in each of their four European home games this season, though just one clean sheet means they haven’t found perfection.
Things haven’t gone quite as swimmingly for Bulgarian champions Ludogorets, who were on the receiving end of the heaviest defeat in UECL history last round when they were humbled 7-1 by Nordsjælland. They responded in fine fashion to that thrashing with a pair of clean sheets in domestic action, keeping them amongst the upper echelons of the Bulgaria Parva Liga.
Ludogorets’ damaging defeat in Denmark during the previous round was an anomaly only in terms of the scoreline, as their travelling European form across their last 12 trips has been anything but inspiring (W1, D2, L9). Each of the nine defeats during that run saw them concede at least twice, although they at least managed to get on the scoresheet 11 times during that drab sequence.
Players to watch: Edin Džeko picked up where he left off after the international break, netting in a third consecutive appearance in what is now his strongest streak since joining Fenerbahçe. Similarly hot for Ludogorets is Jakub Piotrowski, who has made seven goal contributions across his last eight competitive appearances (G4, A3). That includes a phenomenal 9.6 Flashscore rating in their UECL group stage opener.
Hot stat: Fenerbahçe were leading at both half-time and full-time in all but one of their last seven matches.