Slovan Bratislava VS Ferencvaros

Slovan Bratislava host Ferenvaros for this UEFA Champions League qualification round 2 second leg at Tehelné pole in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The visitors are from Hungary. Stakes are high here as qualifying for the Champions League group phase would be a dream for both teams and money-wise it would mean a lot for both clubs and the players (performance bonuses). This is not probable though and Europa League is a more realistic goal.. Ferencvaros are definitely the bigger team by financial resources and have had more success at international level in the past. I do rate them as the stronger team on the pitch as well. However, the margin in pure class is definitely smaller than the betting market and many football analysts seem to believe! Home advantage is massive in most of UEFA’s club competition matches and this definitely the case here too. Slovan Bratislava have very loud fans. We already bet on Slovan Bratislava on the 13th of this month and won the bet with a +0.5 goals handicap option. According to a well-known and respected German website, Transfermarkt.com the hosts’ players’ total market value is about 20 million euros, but this is definitely too low, and 31-32 million euros would be a more realistic number! I would like to mention especially the Armenian left winger Tigran Barseghyan who is undoubtedly worth more than the listed 2.20 million! He is a man to watch today as well. The players’ total market value is a surprisingly good indicator of a team’s level on the pitch. However, if two players are equally good - and one of them is 22 years old and the other one is 32 - the younger player is, of course, much more valuable.. Indeed, a team’s total market value can also be misleading. Even so, bettors as well as bookies pay more and more attention to this number.. Ferencvaros’s squad is valued at some 42 million which is also a bit too low.

The teams already locked horns at Budapest last week in front of over 20 000 enthusiastic fans and the Slovakians managed to grab a surprising 2-1 win. The betting market rated Ferencvaros as very clear favorites in this match and priced them at around 1.45 to win. I also of course saw the as solid favorites but betting-wise I was leaning towards Slovan Bratislava already in this match but the odds very just slightly too low to post a pick. Ferencvaros were the better team in this match but no by a wide margin. They were, in my opinion, actually quite disappointing and oddly vulnerable defensively.. They also lacked pace and structure in offense. They did have 62% ball possession and more scoring attempts, attacks and dangerous but the Slovaks still recorded more shots and target. They defended with great attitude and had a fine defensive structure too. A draw would be enough for them to qualify and for my fans and me to win the bet with the +0.5 goals handicap option. I rate the visitors only as slim favorites and the chance of them winning is 36%. They need to take some risks here, but I still expect a cautious first half to the match.. However, at the later stages of the game - if Ferenvaros are not in the lead - they will have to increase the risk-level offering the hosts chances for counterattacks – something that they are very good at! The domestic league in Slovakia has already started which is a small plus for Slovan Bratislava as they have more competitive matches in the pocket In Hungary the league is still and a summer break. The hosts’ coach Vladimir Weiss rotated his squad quite a lot on Saturday but his men still crushed Trencin 4-0 at home. In terms of injuries/missing players both have a quite good situation.