Vitoria Guimaraes vs Standard Liege Predictions

Vitoria Guimaraes have struggled to adapt to European football this season, losing their opening three group games and drawing their fourth in what was always going to be a tricky group to progress from. Standard Liege, on the other hand, have surprised many with some of their performances in the Europa League and while things are tight at the top it is a testament to their good home form that they remain in with a chance of qualification with two games remaining.

All of the stats heading into Thursday clash point towards a double chance bet on Standard Liege being the sensible choice and we have backed the Belgians to claim a narrow 2-1 win in Portugal.

Standard beat Guimaraes 2-0 in the pairs reverse fixture and also have a victory against Frankfurt to their name and in both games, the Belgian side have scored two goals. Vitoria Guimaraes have only narrowly been beaten in their opening three games and held Arsenal to a draw last time out but the Premier League side have been inconsistent this season which does take a little something away from what otherwise would be considered an excellent result for the Portuguese club. Both Guimaraes and Standard have conceded seven goals in Group F but the Belgians have scored two more goals than their Portuguese hosts. Standard have also only kept one clean sheet, against Vitoria Guimaraes, in the group stage while their hosts are yet to keep their opponents out in any of their opening four matches.

Guimaraes have dropped points in half of their home games in the Primeira Liga as well as in all of their home games in the Europa League this season, while Standard have secured three wins and two draws on the road in the First Division A. Standard Liege average over one goal per game on the road this season, winning 38% of those matches and drawing 25%, while over 2.5 goals were produced in 62% of those away games which is above the average for the First Division A. The visitors have scored first in 62% of their away days this season and getting inf front against a low in confidence Guimaraes side this Thursday could prove crucial to securing all three points.

Standard Liege have scored more goals than they have conceded away from home so far this season, but with an average of 1.38 goals conceded on the road, we expect Guimaraes to score in Thursday’s clash. Vitoria Guimaraes average 2.17 goals at home domestically but have only managed to score one goal in their opening two home games in Group F. 60% of the hosts home league games have produced over 2.5 goals so this stadium is used to seeing at least three goals scored and that backs our prediction for a 2-1 win for Standard Liege.

The visitors have only won and kept a clean sheet in the road in 12% of their matches and both teams scored in 75% of the Belgian sides away games this season, making a clean sheet unlikely for Standard this Thursday. Both teams core din half of Guimaraes’ home games in the Primeira Liga this season and the hosts have only failed to score in 17% of the matches played in front of their own fans.

We’re confident that a double chance bet on the visitors will payout this Thursday and we have predicted a final scoreline of 2-1. Standard have outperformed their hosts in Group F this season but are yet to win away which is why we have backed the double chance bet rather than an outright away win on Thursday even though we have backed Standard to win 2-1. The hosts have looked poor in Europe but have only suffered narrow defeats and are expected to get on the scoreboard against their Belgian guests but Standard have the momentum and motivation to secure a positive result in Portugal.