Genk vs Astra Giurgiu Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

It was advantage Genk last week when they visited Astra and came away with a draw and two away goals to take into their home leg. They twice led in the tie but were pegged back just before the end of either half, but considering they only had two shots on goal in the entire game, a draw was probably the fairest result they could have asked for.

Genk have followed this 2-2 draw with a 1-1 draw at home to Sporting Charleroi in the Belgian First Division, taking their unbeaten streak to five matches in all competitions. They have only won two of these matches though, which puts them 7th in the table and two points outside the important top six spots.

Astra aren’t doing particularly well domestically, with a 1-0 win over Vilitorul on Sunday leaving them 6th in the Romanian Liga I. They are unbeaten in four matches now though, and away from home they have won eight, drawn two, and lost one of their last 11 games.

Genk aren’t the easiest side to beat on home soil though. They have only lost two of their last 14 games and have won an impressive ten of them. It’s important to note that whilst both of these teams hold decent respective home and away records, most of the competition they have faced hasn’t been anywhere near the standard you find in the Europa League.

Genk have got to be feeling confident about this though. They have not only been impressive domestically at home, but they comfortably won all three of their home group games in the Europa League. This included games against Athletic Bilbao and Sassuolo as well, whilst Astra lost 4-0 to Roma away from home before beating the comparatively weak Viktoria Plzen and Austria Vienna on the road.

I expect both teams will be going for the win here, and as such we should see quite an entertaining clash. Genk have only failed to score in one of their last nine away days and Genk have scored in 19 of their 21 home games this season. About half of both of their respective home and away games have resulted in a clean sheet, but with the quality of both of their oppositions’ increased and the fact that both teams will be looking for the win, odds of 19/20 for Both Teams to Score look good value. I’m backing a 2-1 win for Genk at 7/1 for my correct score predictions too.