Nordsjaelland – Ludogorets

Europa Conference League Group Stage Round 2
Farum, October 5, 21:00 CET

With the burden of the role of favorites, Nordsjaelland team has an excellent chance to achieve the first triumph in the Europa Conference League group stage, at home against Bulgarian Ludogorets.
The match in Farum on Thursday is a guarantee of certain attacking football, when it comes to both teams. Ludogorets certainly does not have more quality individuals, but it's a team that knew how to surprise with good games against the favorites this summer. An example is the victory over the Dutch giants Ajax 1:0 away from home at the end of August – after the hosts in Bulgaria were defeated 4:1 in the first match of the Europa League qualifiers.
In the last five matches played by the Ludogorets team, at least four goals were scored three times. Now, the hosts in Denmark will, first of all, have the opportunity to exploit the weak points in the rival's defense - there is an excellent chance that Nordsjaelland will score at least two goals in this match.
For the audience in Farum at the "Dream Park" stadium, this match group stage of European competition is absolutely historic, and the Nordsjaelland team will do their best to make the game a real spectacle.
It is important to point out that Nordsjaelland has much less injury problems ahead of the duel. The home team will probably not count on striker Antman, due to a muscle injury. On the other hand, the Bulgarians are in a problem due to the absence of four players - Portuguese defender Almeida and Swiss midfielder Duah will certainly not play, as well as Israeli midfielder Gropper and Bulgarian defender Nedyalkov.
The home team is thus in an ideal opportunity to play another impressive attacking game. In the last 15 days the Nordsjaelland team has faced several unexpected results – the latest being a 0:0 draw away to Vejle last weekend, in the Danish Superliga. However, the team is recognized as extremely efficient when it comes to matches at their stadium. Just since the end of August, victories such as 5:0 over Partizan Belgrade in the European qualifiers and 3:0 over one of the best Danish teams Midtjylland have been achieved. Also, in the 2:2 draw against the biggest rivals and Danish champions FC Copenhagen, the Nordsjaelland forwards looked impressive.
Ludogorets often played unpredictably in European competitions, performed below the expected level of play at home and knew how to shine on the away field... So the forecast of the number of goals is a safer bet than a possible game for the home team to win.
Since the end of August, the Bulgarian squad has been unbeaten in seven games (five wins and two draws) and their form must be respected, regardless of the evident problems in defense that the Ludogorets team has in matches with better opponents.