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Second placed Trabzonspor will welcome 4th placed Legia Warsaw at Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium in this Europa League group J encounter.
The hosts have 4 points to show for after some very good performances so far, 2-1 at Apollon Limassol and a 3-3 home draw with Lazio after the turks led 2-0 and 3-1 (with just 5 minutes to go). Trabzonspor has a very good team this year, including the likes of Malouda, Bosingwa, Janko or Zokora along with some Turkey national team players like keeper Kivrak, defender Demir or midfielder Adin. Trabzon is currently 6th in Turkey but the team is undefeated in the last 5 games and is just 5 points behind leaders Fenerbahce. Today`s hosts have some problems scoring in the domestic league but in Europe those problems seemed to fade away with the five goals they managed to score in two games.
Legia is the best team in Poland and were expected to have a very good season this year, but things haven`t really gone their way. While they are still leading the league, they are in front by only 2 points in a rather poor domestic competition. Internationally, Wisla was knocked out from the Champions League playoffs by Steaua on away goals, after previously defeating Molde in the same fashion. In the Europa League group stage Legia was very poor so far, losing both games to Lazio and Apollon with the same 0-1 scoreline. The home defeat against the cypriots was particularly worrying, as Legia is supposed to be a very strong home team. Legia lost 2 of the last 3 games played in all competitions.
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Team news: The polish side will miss arguably its best two players for today, Radovic and Kuciak. The keeper, Kuciak, won a lot of points for Legia on his own this season and his substitute Skaba is not a goalie that can be trusted. Trabzon does not have this kind of decisive injuries or suspension issues for this game.
An auxiliary factor for this encounter is that former Trabzonspor legend Kadir Özcan passed a way 2 days ago, so this match will be played in his honor by the hosts and he will be celebrated by the fans. It could add an extra incentive for Trabzon, though they already have enough motivation, with a win putting them in a comfortable position to qualify for the knockout stage.
The turks are looking very strong at the moment and are in very good form overall, despite drawing with Sivasspor in the last league game. Legia is the weaker team here, they are playing poor and can`t create goalscoring chances, especially with Radovic being out. They can`t score, they are prone to huge errors at the back, they are looking clueless in Europe this season, where they only won 2 out of 8 matches (CL qualifiers and EL group stage). The hosts will keep the ball and peg at the Legia defense while the visitors will rely on counters, but this gameplan has not worked out so great for them in the last european encounters. Pick Trabzon to win this against a struggling and inferior side. Quality, form and home court advantage (the turks are strong at home, Legia is poor on the road) should be the deciding factors here. My prediction is Trabzonspor – Legia Warsaw 2-0.
Pick: Trabzonspor
Odds: 1.83 @ William Hill
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.64
Event date: 24 October
Editor Facts
- Rostick is 1 for 2 in tips involving Legia Warsaw this season
