The second qualifying round of the Conference League is usually the most crowded. Spread over 72 hours, on Thursday there are 43 matches scheduled, scattered across the continent. We have chosen three possible winners to include in a betting system. The first is Sparta Prague, who will make their debut in a distant—and logistically challenging—away match in Kazakhstan against Aktobe, who were relegated from the Europa League a week ago.
The team that finished third in the 2024 Kazakhstani championship behind Kairat and Astana failed to upset the odds in their doubleheader against Legia Warsaw, who won 1-0 in both the first and second legs. It is unlikely that Aktobe will pull off a feat against the Czech club, which is more or less on the same level as the Poles. Sparta Prague, meanwhile, has just made its league debut, which began last weekend, drawing 1-1 with Jablonec: it will not be caught unprepared. AEK Athens, coached by Serbian Marko Nikolic since this year, should also make a successful debut: the Greek capital club has made a great impression in friendlies—three wins in a row—and thanks to the experience of players such as Vida, Gacinovic, and especially former Manchester United player Martial, they should not slip up against Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva, who are still reeling from their Europa League elimination by Levski Sofia on penalties. Maccabi Haifa, on the other hand, is looking forward to a big win in Belarus against Torpedo BelAZ, who scored four goals in total against Rabotnicki (3-0 and 0-1) in the first round, keeping a clean sheet on both occasions. Maccabi’s greater experience at this level will certainly make the difference in what promises to be an eventful match.
Predictions for the other matches
AZ Alkmaar are aiming to go far in the competition: the Dutch side, semi-finalists in the 2022-23 edition, will face Finnish side Ilves, who were thrashed in the first qualifying round of the Europa League by Shakhtar Donetsk (6-0 in the first leg and 0-0 in the second).. We don’t expect anything different against another clearly superior team.
On the other hand, there could be goals in the match between Lithuanian side Kauno Zalgiris and Icelandic side Valur. Both teams made it through the first round without any major problems: Kauno beat Penybont 3-0 in the first leg and 1-1 in the second, while Valur thrashed Estonian side Flora 5-1 on aggregate.
Finally, Ararat Armenia-Universitatea Cluj and Zalgiris-Linfield could be two potentially tight and unspectacular matches.
Sparta Prague (in Aktobe-Sparta Prague)
AEK Athens (in AEK Athens-Hapoel Be’er Sheva)
Maccabi Haifa (in Torpedo BelAZ-Maccabi Haifa)
The match with at least three goals in total
Ilves-AZ Alkmaar
Conference League: the match with at least one goal per team
Kauno Zalgiris-Valur
Matches with less than three goals in total
Ararat Armenia-Universitatea Cluj
Zalgiris-Linfield
Odds comparison
Maccabi Haifa’s victory is priced at 1.80 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and at 1.75 on Snai. The “Over 2.5” bet in Ilves-AZ Alkmaar is priced at 1.52 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and at 1.50 on Snai.
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