Slovan Bratislava vs Klaksvik prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-09-20 19:00.
While Slovan Bratislavaâs European journey began in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) qualifiers, a failure to bypass Maccabi Haifa and then Aris saw them drop down into the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) group stage for the third consecutive season. The Slovakian outfit made it to the round of 16 in last yearâs edition with just one group stage defeat (W3, D2), so they may be quietly confident of a strong start here.
Playing at home is often a blessing for Slovan, who have lost just three times across their last 20 competitive games here (W11, D6) and even one of those defeats was level after 90 minutes. Despite that, their UECL fortunes on home turf have typically been rather uninspiring, if still relatively solid (W3, D3, L2) whilst interestingly, the first side to score has ultimately failed to win each of the last three games in that sequence.
From the hardworking Faroe Islands fishing town of KlaksvĂk, KlaksvĂkar ĂtrĂłttarfelag have become the first Faroese club side to reach a major European group stage after eliminating the Hungarian and Swedish champions (FerencvĂĄros and HĂ€cken) in UCL qualifying. Whilst they ultimately failed to make the step to a higher tier of competition, this remains a huge achievement for the islanders.
Whilst KlaksvĂk enjoy a handsome lead at the peak of the Faroe Islands Premier League table, the minute size of the town cannot be understated. In fact, you could fit the entire 5,000 population of KlaksvĂk into this venue four times over and have around a couple of thousand seats to spare! Given their tiny size, it is little surprise that many of the team work âregularâ jobs outside of their footballing duties.
Players to watch: Slovanâs Slovakian international forward David Strelec will hope to build on his two goals scored across his last two European appearances, especially seeing as four of his last six scoring club games saw him net the winner. Manager of a food import company outside of his attacking role with KlaksvĂk, Ărni Frederiksberg put dinner on the table with his six goals and one assist in eight qualifiers contributing to their historic achievement.
Hot stat: Only two of Slovan Bratislavaâs eight UEFA games last season were won by the pre-match favourite (D3, L3).