Will Legia live up to their status as favorites?

As the Club World Cup slowly draws to a close and the Women’s European Championship gathers momentum, international competitions are also slowly emerging from their summer break. This week sees the start of the qualifying rounds for the league stages of the Europa League, Conference League, and Champions League. We take a look at the match between Legia Warsaw and Aktobe, where the bookmakers’ predictions, at least for the first leg, suggest a clear win for the hosts.

The Poles finished only fifth in the Ekstraklasa last season and qualified for the international stage as cup winners. In the first qualifying round, the bookmakers do not expect any major problems in reaching the quarter-finals. In the match between Legia Warsaw and Aktobe, the tip for the home side to progress is currently rewarded with odds of just 1.13. The red, white, green and black team are currently preparing for the coming season.

Legia Warsaw – Statistics & current form

Like most European leagues, the Polish Ekstraklasa is currently in the summer break and the teams are preparing for the coming season. With just over a week to go before the start of the new season, Legia Warsaw is back in action. As reigning cup winners – Pogon Stettin was defeated 4-3 in the final – the hosts are looking to qualify for the league phase of the Europa League.

Last year’s league performance was quite disappointing. With 15 wins and nine draws, the Poles finished with 54 points and only fifth place in the table. They were a whopping 16 points behind champions Lech Poznan. They missed out on European qualification by seven points.

Legia had the second-best offense in the Polish league

The hosts’ strength last year lay in their offense. With 60 goals, the red, white, green, and black team scored the second-most in the top Polish division. Only the title holders were more successful. The best scorers for their team were Spaniard Marc Gual and captain Bartosz Kapustka, who both found the net nine times and will continue to hunt for goals for their team in the coming season. The defense was beaten 45 times, which meant only seventh place in this ranking.

As things stand, the home side will start the new season with a largely unchanged squad. This means that many processes will quickly fall into place, which supports the Poles’ role as favorites. In the match between Legia Warsaw and Aktobe, odds of only 1.24 are being paid for bets on the hosts.

Last year, they made it to the quarterfinals

The friendly matches they have played also show that they are in good form. Things are going better and better for the red, white, green, and black team. After starting with a 2-3 defeat against Wisla Plock, they recently had two wins against Jablonec (1-0) and Gornik Leczna (5-1). However, they have won only one of their last six home games.

Internationally, the home side competed in the Conference League last year and reached the quarter-finals. However, Chelsea proved too strong, even though they secured a remarkable 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Predicted line-up for Legia Warsaw:
Tobiasz – Kapuadi, Pankov, Vinagre, Wszolek – Elitim, Goncalves, Morishita, Oyedele – Chodyna, Shkurin

Aktobe – Statistics & current form

FK Aktobe finished third in the Kazakh Premier League last season, qualifying for international competition. The Red-Whites finished four points behind champions Almaty. It will be difficult to win a sixth league title this season. The last championship was celebrated in 2013.

Fourteen teams compete in Kazakhstan’s top division. After sixteen matchdays, head coach Vyacheslav Levchuk’s team has ten wins and two draws to its name. With a total of 32 points, the Red-Whites are currently in third place, five points behind leaders Astana. With Tobyl Qostanai threatening to overtake them with two games in hand, qualification for the international stage is still up in the air.

Aktobe with strong defense

The Kazakhs’ pride and joy is their solid defense. Romanian goalkeeper Andrei Vlad has only been beaten twelve times, which means less than one goal conceded per game. No other team has had to fish the ball out of their own net less often. The ball has been pushed over the opponent’s goal line 26 times. That puts them in fourth place in this ranking. Haitian Jairo Jean is his team’s top scorer with six goals.

After a four-game winless streak, the Red and Whites recently returned to winning ways. They won their last two games, keeping a clean sheet against both Atyrau (2-0) and Turan (3-0).

Aktobe with good away performance

Aktobe has lost only one of its last six away games. In contrast, Levchuk’s team has emerged victorious four times. Last season, the Red-Whites failed to qualify for the Conference League after being eliminated by Sarajevo. The Bosnians kept their nerve in the penalty shootout and advanced to the next round. The visitors are also the underdogs in the upcoming match. In the game between Legia Warsaw and Aktobe, odds of up to 12.00 are being offered for bets on the Kazakhs.

Predicted line-up for Aktobe:
Vlad – Vatajelu, Andjelkovic, Kiki, Kairov –  Korzun, Shvyrev, Usenov – Jean, Shushenachev, Sosah

Legia Warsaw – Aktobe Head-to-head record

The two teams have met twice so far. The first two matches also took place in the Europa League qualifiers. In 2014, the Poles recorded two wins and advanced to the group stage. After a 1-0 away win, Warsaw didn’t let anything slip in the return leg, winning 2-0 in front of their own fans. The Kazakhs have yet to score against the hosts. The bookmakers also see clear advantages for the home side in the upcoming match between Legia Warsaw and Aktobe.

Legia Warsaw – Aktobe Kazakhstan Tip

The international competitions are kicking off the new season. First, the qualifying rounds will be played, in which the weaker teams must qualify for the league phase. There are four rounds to survive. In the first round of the Europa League, the team from Warsaw will host their Kazakh opponents. The hosts are considered favorites, but unlike their opponents, they are still in the preparatory phase.

The visitors, on the other hand, are in full competition mode, as their national league plays on an annual cycle and is currently in the second half of the season. The Red and Whites are not considered hot favorites for the championship title at the moment, but are once again fighting for a place on the international stage.

The hosts are certainly the favorites, but we don’t expect head coach Edward Iordanescu’s team to set the world alight in their first competitive game. That’s why we recommend betting on a home win in combination with less than 3.5 goals in the Legia Warsaw vs. Aktobe match at odds of 2.05 with the tested bookmaker Bwin.

The visitors’ strength lies in their defense, and they will certainly not invest too much in attack in this first away game, trying to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible. That’s why we think a bet on less than 2.5 goals at odds of 2.40 is worth a small stake in the match between Legia Warsaw and Aktobe.