Zorya vs Espanyol Predictions

When they went into half-time a goal to the good at RCDE Stadium a week ago, Zorya appeared to be in a very promising position. Unfortunately, they lost the second half 3-0 and are thus trailing ahead of this second leg. They did score an away goal, which means that all is not yet lost.

Zorya delivered contrasting performances a week ago. In the first half, the Ukrainians were able to compete, as they matched Espanyol for shots on target and bettered their hosts in terms of end-product. However, after just a few minutes of the second half, it was clear that when push come to shove, the Ukrainians lacked the quality to go with an accomplished La Liga outfit.

Playing away from home naturally played its part, though overall, Zorya were unable to match Espanyol in any area, as they conceded six times as many shots as they had and seven times as many shots on target.

Going away to Ukraine won’t be easy for Espanyol, though the Spaniards have proven themselves to be effective away from home in Europa League qualifying this term. First time out, they got the better of Stjarnan, winning by three goals to one. While their second travelling assignment brought about a 3-0 win over Swiss outfit Luzern.

Zorya have been reasonably solid at home in qualifying; they first beat Buducnost by a goal to nil, while they beat CSKA Sofia 1-0 at home too. However, in each of the last two rounds, the Ukrainians have gone home with something to protect, which allowed them to adopt a pragmatic approach. On this occasion, Thursday’s hosts find themselves trailing and thus will be forced to chase the game from pretty much the word go, which does not bode well, given that Espanyol made light work of both creating chances and scoring goals last week.

In the betting, ‘Espanyol to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ looks like a viable option. The Spaniards found it very easy to cut open what appeared to be a weak back-line a week ago, taking advantage of the counter late on the increase their lead. Now that Zorya have no choice but to adopt an attacking approach as they attempt to make a comeback, David Gallego’s men, who’re averaging 3.2 goals for and 1.99 expected goals for, will once again be able to take advantage on the break and thus look a good bet to add at least another couple of goals to their qualification tally.