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After the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw in Belgrade, Plzen will attempt to finish the job at home against their Serbian visitors in this Europa League Round of Last 32 tie.
Viktoria Plzen is having a historic season in the Czech Republic so far, leading the league with 15 wins and 2 draws in 17 matches. One of the draws came last weekend against Sigma Olomuc, a match in which Plzen rested players and was thinking more about this reverse leg with Partizan. While Plzen has been stellar domestically, they weren`t quite as good in Europe – getting knocked out from the Champions League qualifiers by Romanian side FCSB, and struggling to qualify from an easy Europa League group with the same FCSB, Beer Sheva and Lugano.
Partizan Belgrade is second in the domestic league, 9 points behind rivals Crvena Zvezda, who have been by far the best team in Serbia this season. Partizan reached this stage of the Europa League by qualifying from a group with Dynamo Kiev, Young Boys and Skenderbeu, claiming 8 points in 6 matches to finish on the second place.
Bet on Plzen vs. Partizan and claim your 100% (100 Euro) freebet at Ohmbet now!Team news & lineups:
Plzen has a full squad available, while Partizan will miss Kosovic (injured) and Mitrovic (suspended).
Viktoria Plzen: Hruska – Reznik, Hejda, Hubnik, Limbersky – Hrosovsky, Horava – Petrzela, Kolar, Kopic – Krmencik
Partizan Belgrade: Stojkovic – Vulicevic, Miletic, Markovic, Miletic II – Jankovic, Pantic, Jevtovic, Tosic – Kana, Soumah
The first leg was an evenly matched affair and the 1-1 draw was probably the fair result. Although some may argue that Plzen scored from an offside position, fact is that the game was pretty balanced and tight.
Partizan not being able to dominate and impose their game at home will definitely worry them, considering how important home court advantage is for this team. True, in Serbia they have been (much) better on the road this season, but that is because teams park the bus when they visit Partizan. In Europe it has been a different situation, with Partizan failing to win any of their three away group stage games against Young Boys (1-1, being completely outplayed), Skenderbeu (0-0) and Dynamo Kiev (1-4).
The home team looks like it should be strong enough to claim victory and qualification here. They are a slightly better team than Partizan, which was proved by how they held them in check in Serbia, and they are having a very good season. Home court advantage should be the X factor, and it`s also worth noting that Plzen has proved much more capable in recent European seasons than their Serbian visitors. They have the experience of winning these type of games at this stage of the competition.
My tip is Plzen to win. I will keep the stakes reasonable because the hosts did have a couple of letdowns in Europe so far this year, but they have a very good team, and they do tend to raise their level in the KO stages. A 7 unit bet seems to make sense here according to my analysis. Prediction: Viktoria Plzen – Partizan Belgrade 1-0.
Pick: Plzen
Odds: 1.74 @ Jetbull
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 5.18
Event date: 22 February
