FC Zurich vs AEK Larnaca Predictions

Zurich head into game week 5 of Group A knowing that they have already secured qualification to the knockout stages of the Europa League, as they currently sit on 9 points alongside Bayer Leverkusen, whilst the remaining 2 teams have just 2. There is still top spot up for grabs so we expect to see them take this fixture seriously.

AEK Larnaca are the opposite, they head into this week knowing that they are already eliminated from the competition no matter what the results in their final 2 games. Whilst we don’t expect them to completely disregard this game we think they will be more wary of other commitments, rather than go all guns blazing to win here.

Zurich have won 3 of their 4 Europa League group games this campaign with 1-0 wins against AEK Larnaca and Ludogrets and a 3-2 home win against Bayer Leverkusen, however they lost last time out in Germany against Bayer Levekusen 1-0. They head into this game on the back of an entertaining 3-3 draw away Neuchatel Xamax, a game in which they dominated but defensive errors cost them.

AEK Larnaka have had a campaign to forget in this season’s Europa League, they opened up with back to back losses after losing 1-0 to Zurich and 4-2 at Bayer Leverkusen before picking up 2 draws home and away against Bulgarian outfit Ludogorets. They head into this game on the back of 2 consecutive league wins, with the latest being an impressive 1-0 win over APOEL.

Zurich are generally very good at home in this competition, losing just once in their last 10 outings, a 1-0 loss to Dinamo Minsk. They have won 5 of those 10 games, drawing the other 4. They have faced some tough opposition in that time, beating Leverkusen and Villarreal whilst picking up points against Steaua Bucharest and Borrusia M’Gladbach in that run.

AEK Larnaca aren’t too bad on the road in Europa League action, losing just 2 of their last 9 outings. They have only won twice in that spell however in a run that has seen them draw 5 times. When you delve deeper you find that they have lost to the only two tricky teams faced in Plzen and Leverkusen. They have failed to beat Lincoln Red Imps, Dinamo Minsk, Dundalk and Trencin all in that run, teams not on the same level that Zurich have beaten on home soil.

There is only one thing to play for now in Group A and that is top spot and this opens the betting up for what looks a straightforward selection. As aforementioned Zurich are handy at home in this competition and whilst AEK Larnaca’s away results don’t look bad when you scratch the surface, it’s not as good as it first appears. We can’t see anything other than a home win here and are given excellent value so are backing it with max stakes. For the correct score we feel they will run away with this a bit, especially with AEK Larnaka having nothing to play for here but pride. We are backing Zurich 3-1 on the correct score market here.