Qabala vs Maribor Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

Qabala, who finished 3rd in the Azerbaijani Premier League last season, are already two matches into their new domestic campaign. They stand top of the table, having taken one win and one draw so far, and come into this off the back of a six match consecutive unbeaten run (W4 D2). Qabala entered the UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round and now find themselves in the playoff stage, thanks to convincing aggregate wins against Georgian side Samtredia, Hungarian side MTK, and French side Lille. Qabala have won all but two of their UEFA Europa League matches this summer (W4 D1 L1) and show no signs of slowing down.

Maribor should, however, prove to be tricky competition here. The Slovenian side are experienced in European competition, reaching the Champions League group stage as recently as two years ago by beating Celtic in the playoff round. Maribor were eliminated from this years’ Champions League second qualifying round by Astana, however, meaning the club failed to advance to the third qualifying round for the first time since their 2003/2004 season. Maribor narrowly qualified through to the playoff stage of the Europa League with a 2-1 aggregate win over Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen.  Their form has seemed a bit shaky in the Slovenian PrvaLiga as of late, taking one draw and one defeat from their last two matches.

Qabala are the bookies favourites here, with the in-form side being priced in at 11/10. Usually, travelling for fixtures in foreign countries takes a strain on the away side, but Maribor are well experienced with the process and this shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance here. We’ve turned our focus instead to the goal scoring form of both sides as better value. Maribor have scored at least one in all six of their last six Europa League away matches and both teams have scored in four of Qabala’s six Europa League matches so far this summer. Nothing indicates we shouldn’t be seeing more of the same here.

With Qabala being the in-form side and having the home advantage, we feel they should be able to nip a result away from the out-of-form and out-of-confidence NK Maribor. Hence, both teams to score at 11/10 and FK Qabala to win 2-1 at 17/2 are our choice bets for this match.