Makedonija vs CSKA Sofia prediction for Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League showdown at Stadion Gjorče Petrov in Skopje. In the first leg of the ECL qualification quarter-final, Makedonija will host CSKA Sofia. Read on for our free prediction betting tips and preview.
18+ | Commercial Content | T&Cs apply | Begambleaware.org | Gamblingtherapy.org
Bookmaker Ratings prediction one: CSKA Sofia to win – 1.88
Bookmaker Ratings prediction two: Under 2.5 goals – 1.75
Bookmaker Ratings prediction three: Makedonija 0 goal handicap – 3.10
CSKA Sofia to win
Playing on the road, CSKA have not lost in their last two competitive games in the Bulgarian league. Makedonija meanwhile drew and lost their last two home games.
Under 2.5 Goals
Checking Makedonija’s last 13 fixtures, we can see that ten of them ended with under 2.5 goals. Likewise, 13 of CSKA’s last 16 fixtures in all competitions produced fewer than three goals.
Makedonija 0 Goal Handicap
In their last five home games, Makedonija lost just once. CSKA meanwhile drew two and lost two of their last five fixtures n the road. Moreover, Makedonija covered the 0 handicap in ten of their last 11 matches.
After finishing fourth in the league and winning the Macedonian Cup last season, Makedonija will play in the Europa Conference League for the first time. This is the Yellow-Reds’ sixth participation in a European competition. They took part once in ECL, ECL, and the Uefa Cup once and twice in the Intertoto Cup.
Makedonija last appeared in the Europa League in 2019 and lost to Alashkert by 1-6 on aggregate. In the Bulgarian league last season, coach Muharem Bajrami’s team had the worst defense among the top six teams with 44 goals conceded in 33 games.
CSKA Sofia have won the Bulgarian national championship a record 31 times and added 21 Cup triumphs. In addition, the Reds are the only Bulgarian tea to have reached the semi-finals of the European Cup (Champions League) twice in 1967 and 1982.
CSKA have not been able to win the league title since 2007/8 but have been playing in Europe regularly in recent years. In the 2020/21 season, CSKA played in the Europa League group stage along with Roma Cluj and the Young Boy and finished fourth despite a remarkable 3-1 win over Roma.
CSKA Sofia obviously have better experience in Europe having played for so many years in various competitions. We predict coach Sasa Ilic has a team that is capable of overcoming this hurdle with a win in North Macedonia.
/embed]
In four of Makedonija’s last ten matches, a team won by a difference of one goal. And the same trend happened once in CSKA”s one of their last five matches. For our safe bet option, we will back any team to win by a difference of one goal which has odds of 2.28 at Helabet.
There are no reports of injured players for Makedonija at the time of writing this article.
As for CSKA Sofia, forward Bismark Charles is out with an unknown injury, center back Menno Koch has a muscle injury, left winger Mitko Mitkov underwent surgery and right winger Ivan Mitrev is out with a fractured leg.
Makedonija: Stevkovski, Bozinovski, Lazarevikj, Lichina, Misevski, Adem, Lamos, Emini, Aleksovski, Stojkoski, Vosha.
/embed]
Who won the last meeting between these clubs?
This is the first meeting between these teams.
Where will this match be played?
Stadion Gjorče Petrov in Skopje.
Which bookmaker has the best odds for this fixture?
We recommend checking out the odds at Helabet for Makedonija vs CSKA Sofia.