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Match between bottom two teams in group D of Europa League. Zulte with 1 point (0-0 vs. Wigan, 0-4 at Rubin), Maribor with zero points (2-5 vs. Rubin, 1-3 at Wigan). Elsewhere in the group, Rubin has 6 points and Wigan has 4, so this is must win game for both clubs.
Zulte Waregem is playing very well in Belgium and is on track to fight for the title again after they finished second last year. Zulte is on the 3rd place in the standings, they are on the back of a 1-1 draw at Cercle Brugge but they managed to defeat leaders Standard two rounds ago. Good form for them, and Zulte has been perfect at home so far with 5 wins in 5 games. The belgians have a great team with some fantastic young players like Thorgan Hazard as well as experienced huys like captain De Fauw. Zulte`s players gave some very motivated speeches before the game, calling the encounter extremely important and assuring that they will be 100% focused for the whole 90 minutes to get the very important 3 points.
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Maribor were very lucky to reach the group stages after somehow beating APOEL in the Champions League qualifying 3rd round (2 draws, away goals) despite the cypriots deserving to win both home and away. They clearly lost to Plzen in the playoffs and are now in this group, but they have no business being here. A horrible 2-5 defeat to Rubin was followed by a decent loss to Wigan (3-1) but the english could have led maybe 5-0 at half time. Maribor has a really poor squad, except striker Tavares they have no players with quality for european football. Maribor is first in the league standings, but football in Slovenia is very poor. After three games without a win in the league they got some form and won in the last two rounds 7-0 aggregate against Krka and Olimpija.
Zulte Waregem has to win this game to stand any chance of qualifying for the next stage and against such poor opposition they should be able to get the three points they so badly need. Zulte is the better team for sure, they also proved it in the first 2 group games (despite that 0-4 at strong Rubin), but especially they are playing at home where they are very strong and this is a very important advantage for them today. Having watched Maribor in almost all their european games this season I can’t see them getting any points on the road against a good and stable team like Zulte. My prediction is Zulte Waregem – NK Maribor 2-1.
Pick: Zulte Waregem
Odds: 1.80 @ William Hill
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 5.6
Event date: 24 October
Editor Facts
- Ocean won 6 out of his last 8 picks
