Midtjylland vs Ludogorets: An away goal won’t save the Bulgarians

Midtjylland knocked Ludogorets out of the Champions League a year ago, although the match took place in Bulgaria. Now the club from the city of Razgrad have a chance to take revenge away. Can they take points from Denmark’s vice-champion?

Midtjylland missed out on winning the Danish league title last season, but they made it to the Champions League anyway. In the decisive round of qualification, the club from Herning lost to PSV and made it only to the Europa League group. However, even although the club made a massive sale in the summer transfer window and replaced key players with young players, the Wolves are second in the domestic championship. In their previous four games, the team scored three wins while striking out three times. As for the squad for the match against Ludogorets, the goalkeeper Jonas Lossl is out, while Marrony’s participation is still questionable.

Last week, Midtjylland thrashed Norsjælland 2-0 at home. The opponents had every chance to take the lead before the break. In one of the episodes, the Wolves got lucky when Norsjælland’s forward missed out on a one-on-one chance. However, the Herning-based club had plenty of opportunities to score, and they kept it up. Isaksen and Linde scored a 2nd half goal each to lift Midtjylland to victory.

Ludogorets also reached the group stage of the Europa League the champion way. In the decisive round of qualification, they lost to Sweden’s Malmo. One of the club’s key players is Elvis Manu, who made his name at Feyenoord and was featured in the English Championship, the Turkish Super League, and even the Chinese league. Manu’s injury probably kept Ludogorets out of the Champions League group, missing the encounter with Malmo but scoring in four straight games. Mavis Tchibota and Kiril Despodov also play an essential role, and it was they, in the absence of Manu, who pulled Ludogorets in the attack. The good thing is that now the club from Razgrad are without major losses, and all the strongest should play in the 1st round of the Europa League.

Valdas Dambrauskas’s charges have won their last 4 matches in all competitions, and the day before, they beat Cherno More 2-0 at home. The game was uneventful, with Ludogorets kicking only 9 times, but that was enough. As early as the 16th minute, Manu put the team ahead while Despodov converted a penalty and doubled the Razgrad side’s lead in the 2nd half.

The only head-to-head encounter between the teams took place in the last UEFA Champions League qualifying round. Back then, Midtjylland were 1-0 stronger away, with the Danes looking better than Ludogorets.

• Midtjylland have 6 home victories in regular time in 10 games;
• Ludogorets won 5 of their last 10 away matches, suffering 2 defeats;
• Midtjylland have not conceded 5 times in their previous 10 games.

Midtjylland, in the last match, showed far from a perfect game in defense and could very well concede. Midtjylland’s record in the international arena is high, and it costs a lot to get past Olympiacos in the Champions League. In the last round of the Bulgarian championship, the club from Razgrad were saving their strength. Now the guests are in great form, all the strongest attacking players are in place, and Manu has already scored his 1st goal after injury. Last week’s head-to-head encounter could have been more productive, and now we can fix that. I suggest betting on the following outcomes:

• Both Teams To Score for 1.92;
• Total Over 2.5 goals for 2.00;
• W1 for 1.84.