Pafos vs Djurgarden prediction: EUROPE: Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2025-03-05 20:00.
[p]Pafos is more famed for its nightlife than football, but supporters of the city’s team may be hitting the clubs if their heroes can take a step towards a first-ever European quarter-final. Reaching the last eight would be a remarkable achievement for a side who are making their continental debut this season, but have eased into the UEFA Conference League Round of 16 after a four-match unbeaten run in this competition (W2, D2).[/p]
[p]Both of their victories during that period came on home soil, including a 2-1 success against fellow Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory in the knockout play-offs. Juan Carlos Carcedo’s men lost away to the same opposition in the league on Saturday, a result that ended a sequence of ten games without defeat (W9, D1) across all competitions, netting exactly twice in six of those victories.[/p]
[p]That is an ominous statistic for DjurgĂĄrden, who had direct entry to this stage after finishing fifth in the league phase (W4, D1, L1). That affords them the chance to become the first Swedish club since 1994/95 to reach a European quarter-final, as does the fact the Iron Stoves have not lost the opening leg of their three Conference League knockout ties this season (W2, D1).[/p]
[p]Jani Honkavaara’s side also have a remarkable away record in this competition, being beaten in just three of their 14 fixtures (W7, D4). They may be able to continue that impressive run here, as although their Allsvenskan campaign does not get underway until the end of the month, DjurgĂĄrden have had three Svenska Cupen ties in recent weeks (W1, D1, L1) so shouldn’t be rusty – they scored at least twice in each one, most recently a 4-3 defeat to IFK Göteborg on Sunday. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Since the league phase began, Pafos forward Muamer Tankovic has had more shots than any other player in the Conference League, although just ten of his 29 efforts have been on target and none went in! The same cannot be said for Deniz Hümmet of ​​Djurgården, who netted twice in the league phase and has won 13 of the last 15 matches in which he has scored (D2).[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only eight of the 26 goals scored by Pafos in the Conference League have come in the first half.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Matt Jones[/i][/p]