Qarabag FK vs Ferencváros Prediction: Stanislav Cherchesov won’t have a loss in Azerbaijan

On August 3, 2022, Baku will host the match of the Champions League 3rd qualifying round, with local Qarabağ taking on Ferencvaros. The match is scheduled to start at 19:00 (UTC+3).

Qarabağ has been the strongest team in Azerbaijan in the last decade. For many years, the Horsemen could not win a local championship medal, but in the 2012/13 season, they finally won the silver medal and went on to win the national championship for seven years. They finished second again in the 2020/21 season but regained the title at the end of the last season. Now, Gurban Gurbanov's team is playing in the Champions League qualification: first, they beat the Polish Lech 0-1 and 5-0, and then, following the extra time, they beat the Swiss Zurich 3-2 and 2-2. 

Ferencváros appointed Stanislav Cherchesov as their head coach during last season. The Russian coach led the Green Eagles to 33 league titles, which was their fourth in a row. In addition, the team from Budapest won the Hungarian Cup by beating Paksi 3-0 in the final match. This season, the Green Eagles began with the Champions League qualifiers, where they first beat Kazakhstan's Tobol on aggregate (0-0 and 5-1), and then defeated Slovan from Slovakia — 1-2 and 4-1. Moreover, this weekend, Stanislav Cherchesov's players made their debut in the new local championship, beating the Puskas Academia 1-0.

The teams have never played against each other before. The upcoming encounter will be the first in their head-to-head history.

Qarabag and Ferencvaros are the two strongest teams in their countries, and they have been dominating there for many years. And the Hungarian championship, of course, will be stronger than the Azerbaijani one, so the Green Eagles are used to a solid level of competition. On the other hand, the Horsemen are sure to have a tough time. Stanislav Cherchesov's players have not been flawless in the current Champions League qualifying, but they still act with plenty of reserves and can kick on at the right moments. That moment has probably arrived now, so it's a good idea to bet on Ferencvaros not to lose for odds of about 1.80.

The teams have already played four qualifying matches in the current Champions League. If you look at their results, you can't say the rivals were too shut down in defense, as the Azerbaijani team recorded 16 goals (4.00 per game average), and the Hungarians scored 14 goals (3.50 per game average) in the same span of time. All these figures tell us that we are likely to see high productivity in the upcoming game, and we see the best option for our prediction: Total Over (2.5) goals at odds close to 2.15.

Qarabag is a team that is used to playing from the position of strength in the local championship, so in the Champions League, especially in home matches, they tend to play in a similar way. All this allows the Horsemen to open the scoring quickly and then play accordingly. In the matches with Lech and Zurich, the Azerbaijanis always scored a quick goal on their field, and every time it was done by Brazilian Kady. Now Gurban Gurbanov's players will try to start the game as aggressively as possible and it will give the Hungarians a chance to play on the counterattack. Anyway, the action in the opening of the game is quite possible, so it is worth looking at the bet on the goal to take place from 1 to 30 minutes inclusive with the odds of about 1.85.

Our prediction: Ferencvaros will not lose at odds of 1.76 at 1xbet.

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