Away Goals Put Copenhagen in Control

Europa League | Preview

16/08/18

The second legs of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League third round qualifying take place on Thursday night. The teams are aiming to reach the playoffs and earn a place in the group stages of this seasons tournament.

FC Copenhagen of Denmark meet CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria at Telia Parken in Copenhagen and the Danish club are in the driving seat following the first leg. FC Copenhagen have not had things all their own domestically recently but will be hoping to play in the group stages of the Europa League .

CSKA Sofia face an uphill task to qualify from this tie and have plenty of work to do if they are to succeed.

FC Copenhagen have been in great form this season and trends show they have won each of their last seven games in all competitions. They were given a wake-up call on the opening day of the Danish SuperLiga when they lost 2-1 at home to Horsens but have remained undefeated in their eight games following that loss.

Stale Solbakken’s team currently sit top of the Danish SuperLiga after five games and are undefeated in the Europa League this season. FC Copenhagen entered the tournament at the first qualifying stage and defeated KuPS of Finland 2-1 on aggregate. They had little trouble overcoming Stjarnan of Iceland in the second qualifying round, winning the away leg 2-0 and the home leg convincingly 5-0.

FC Copenhagen have a good recent home record in the Europa League and trends show they have won each of their last three games and kept a clean sheet in four of the last six.

CSKA Sofia have left themselves in a difficult position having conceded 2 goals in the 2-1 loss in the first leg. They know they need to either win the game by a 2 goal margin or score 3 or more goals to win on the away goals rule.

Much like their opponents, CSKA Sofia have enjoyed a good start in their domestic league and sit top of the table having played four matches. They bounced back from the defeat against FC Copenhagen to beat Slavia Sofia 2-1 at home in a derby game on the weekend.

The defeat to FC Copenhagen is CSKA Sofia’s only loss this season and they have already played two rounds of Europa League qualifying. They defeated Riga on penalties following a 1-1 draw on aggregate and Admira Wacker 6-1 on aggregate, including a good 3-1 away win.

Trends show there have been over 2.5 goals in CSKA Sofia’s last three Europa League games.

Team news and FC Copenhagen will continue without the injured duo of Jonas Wind and Pieros Sotiriou. Solbakken is expected to keep the same starting XI from the first leg.

CSKA Sofia are set to be without right-back Stanislav Manolev who is coming back from torn ligaments and attacking midfielder Henrique, who has a collarbone fracture. Brazilian Maurides is expected to play up-front.

With a one goal advantage from the first leg, FC Copenhagen know CSKA Sofia need to score goals. This should leave spaces in the Bulgarian defence for them to attack and the home team could run out comfortable winners, scoring a few goals in the process.