Fenerbahce vs Dinamo Zagreb Predictions

Facing group leaders Dinamo Zagreb, who’ve impressed in this competition, won’t be easy, though the fact that the visitors have already booked their place in the next round, coupled with the fact that they’re playing on their own patch, should mean that the Turkish hosts come into this match feeling confident. A point is all that is needed for Erwin Koeman’s men to progress.

They may be four points behind Thursday’s opponents, but the hosts will surely be pleased with the fact that they need to secure just a point to guarantee safe passage to the knockouts with a game to spare.

Back on their own patch, Fenerbahce will surely fancy themselves to get a result against a visiting side that as no reason to go all out for the win in Turkey. After all, home has certainly been where the heart is for the Turks in this competition, as their best two performances came at this venue. In front of a home crowd Koeman’s men have scored four goals and have conceded none, while they’re averaging an impressive 2.14 expected goals for and are giving up just 0.27 at the other end.

Dinamo are certainly better than both Trnava and Anderlecht, but as mentioned above, they’re already through, so they may not be as bothered about giving 100% on Thursday evening, while manager Nenad Bjelica could choose to avoid putting out a full-strength side with qualification already assured. That said, top spot is not yet assured, so it would be foolish to expect the visitors to throw this game.

From a performance point of view, whether they need to win this match or not, Dinamo have been excellent in this competition, there can be no denying that. They had too much in the locker for Fenerbahce in the reverse fixture, while they maintained such high levels away against both Trnava and Anderlecht, so if they are up for this one, then the visitors will certainly compete.

If we consider the circumstances, coupled with the fact that Fenerbahce have looked good at home, then it’s not difficult to see the hosts doing well, though they make little appeal at the prices. In front of their own fans, Koeman’s men may be able to reverse the form with the Croats, but the fact remains that they found it hard to deal with Thursday’s visitors when the teams met previously, as they lost by four goals to one and walked away with an expected goal difference of -1.49.

All things considered, the bet that stands out is ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’. Through or not, Dinamo are likely to adopt their usual attacking approach, which has served them so well up until this point, while Fenerbahce are also no slouches in that department either, especially at home. With the hosts averaging 2.14 expected goals for at home in Group D and with the away side averaging 2.32 expected goals for on their travels, it’s worth supporting a high-scoring game at the prices.