Midtjylland vs Osmanlispor Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

FC Midtjylland, who finished 3rd in the Danish Superliga last season, have started their 2016/2017 campaign off strong, both in the league and in European competition. Until last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat against league leaders FC Copenhagen, Midtjylland were unbeaten in twenty consecutive matches, sixteen of which were competitive fixtures. For a club of their size, Midtjylland have been decent in European competition over recent years – their most notable performance being the 2-1 win at home to Manchester United in the round of 32 last season. The hosts look to be on track for more of the same this season, with consistent performances throughout the first, second, and third qualifying rounds seeing them easily through to this playoff round.

Unlike Midtjylland, Osmanlispor are yet to start their domestic league campaign. Osmanlispor finished 5th in the Turkish Super Lig last season, which saw them qualify into the second qualifying round of the Europa League. While the visitors have also eased through the tournament so far, beating Moldovian side FC Zimbru 7-2 on aggregate and Estonian side Nomme Kalju 3-0 on aggregate in the earlier stages, Danish side Midtjylland is a huge step up in quality. The pressure is definitely on as this fixture represents the furthest the Turkish side has ever progressed in European competition, having only featured in Europe once for the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Midtjylland are very much unchanged over the transfer window. Combining their squad strength and solidity along with their experience in European competition makes them the bookies’ favourites for this match. Contrastingly, Osmanlispor have made a whole host of changes during the summer break, bringing in nine new players, including the signing of striker Cheick Diabate (50 goals from 127 appearances) from Bordeaux. However, seeing as Osmanlispor have much less competitive experience together under their belts, we feel this match does truly favour the hosts. Looking back over Midtjylland’s recent Europa League matches shows that they tend to favour low scoring results, with 1-0 wins in three of their six Europa League fixtures so far this summer.

Hence, we find under 2.5 goals at 17/20 to likely be a safe bet in this match. Midtjylland to win 1-0 at 13/2 with bet365 also seems a tempting price as a correct score bet.