Astana vs BATE Borisov
Europa League Qualification
Date: Thursday, 22 August 2019
Kick-off at 15:00 UK / 16:00 CET
Venue: Astana Arena (Nur-Sultan).
FC Astana Form & Team News
Astana were rampant in the third round as they claimed a 9-1 aggregate victory over Maltese club Valletta. Having run out 5-1 winners in the first leg at home, they traveled to Malta for a 4-0 triumph in the return fixture.
The Kazakhstanis have been in good form lately as they remain unbeaten in the Europa League after four matches. Roman Grigorchuk's men are valued at odds of 1.85 to win on Thursday but having conceded five goals in their last five matches, I am tipping BTTS here.
Marin Tomasov and Roman Murtazayev were excellent in the previous round as they combined for five goals over two legs against Valletta. Both men should retain their place in the team while Evgeny Postnikov and Luka Simunovic should continue in central defence despite looking slightly shaky in recent matches.
BATE Borisov Form & Team News
BATE joined the Europa League in the third round and claimed a 2-1 aggregate victory over Sarajevo to secure a place in the playoffs. They earned a 2-1 victory in Bosnia before being held to a 0-0 draw in the second leg at home.
The Belarusians have also looked solid lately as they travel to Kazakhstan unbeaten in four of their last five matches across all competitions. They are priced at 4.33 to secure the victory but have kept just three clean sheets in their last nine Europa League matches.
Stanislav Dragun is the top scorer for BATE this season with eight goals across all competitions. He is set to retain his place in midfield with Igor Stasevich expected to continue in attack having
found the net seven times this season.
Match Preview and Betting Tips.
A very interesting match – up of Europa League playoffs is taking us to Kazakhstan. We are about to see two teams which have made it to UEFA Champions League group stages last year, but were unable to repeat such success this time. Astana will host BATE Borisov and we should have a very interesting duel between two similar squads. Both are currently owned by rich businessmen, who invested a lot of money to bring some quality players.
Astana were stopped by Celtic two weeks ago, but they were so close to silence the Scottish fans in the second leg. The final score on aggregate was 2 – 3. The champions of Kazakhstan have opened the new season in their domestic championship in a victorious manner. Astana have easily defeated Irtysh thanks to thegoalsof Despotovic, Kabananga and Logvinenko.
BATE Borisov were huge favorites against Dundalk, the champions of Ireland. Their elimination from UEFA Champions League is regarded as one of the biggest surprises this year. 3 – 0 loss suffered in Ireland couldn’t be explained by anyone. The champions of Belarus will try to mend their wounds by reaching Europa League group stages.
No one was surprised to see Astana marked as slight favorites to win this duel. Not many teams can say that they have returned from Kazakhstan in a victorious manner. Home victory is currently offered at 13/10 rate, while BATE Borisov to win is backed up with slightly higher 12/5 odds.
Despite their decent results in UEFA Champions League, BATE Borisovwere unable to claim at least one victory in their last 6 Europa Leaguegames. The biggest threat for Astana’s goal will be V.Rodionov, 32 – year old veteran who netted 9 goals last season.
Astana vs BATE Borisov Head to head (h2h)
The teams have previously met each other over two legs in this very same tournament.
BATE Borisov are yet to register a win against this opponent.
Their last encounter saw both teams share the spoils with a 2-2 scorecard.
Borisov have never kept a clean against this side.
