Espanyol vs Ludogorets Predictions

As they look to continue leading the way in Group H, Espanyol welcome Ludogorets to RCDE Stadium on Thursday evening. The Bulgarians are just a point behind their hosts and will thus be hoping to overtake them with a win.

Espanyol have made light work of collecting seven points from their first three games in Group H, as they’ve done a good job of keeping teams at bay, conceding just one goal in over 270 minutes of football. Offensively, the Spaniards haven’t exactly set the world alight in this competition, but they’ve been steady, scoring in each of their matches, notching a respectable total of four goals.

At the back is where Espanyol have tended to profit on the continent. Since conceding against Ferencvaros on match-day one, Pablo Machin’s men have gone on to keep a clean sheet against both CSKA and Thursday’s hosts. When the pair met in Bulgaria a fortnight ago, Espanyol defended well in what was a tight game, while they also looked a threat on the break.

Things were going well for Ludogorets, who went into match-day three off the back of wins against both Ferencvaros and CSKA, but they were stopped in their tracks by the Spaniards last time out. On that occasion, despite playing on their own patch, Thursday’s visitors found it difficult to get going offensively. They didn’t give a great deal away, but when a team offers little going forward, they always run the risk of coming unstuck.

If we go based on what happened a week ago, then it’s easy to fancy Espanyol to take the spoils on Thursday evening. However, things may be different not that they’re at home and thus will likely be tasked with making the running. In their only previous Group H home match, the Spanish side, when dictating possession, struggled to break down Ferencvaros, who hurt Thursday’s hosts on the break. Moreover, Ludogorets did an excellent job of counter-attacking their way to victory when playing away against the Ferencvaros on match-day two.

Espanyol did beat Ludogorets a week ago, but their win was far from convincing, as neither side created an abundance of clear-cut chances, so it’s easy to feel that they’re too short ahead of this fixture. With roles likely to be reversed this time, the visitors look a good price to get a positive result.