Vitesse Arnhem vs Viitorul Constanta Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

There is still so much up for grabs in this second leg as the ex-Romanian champions travel to Gelderland with two away goals going against them. Vitesse’s Bryan Linssen and Tim Matavž cancelled out young Denis Drăguş’ brace to give them the advantage in this fixture. With it being only Viitorul’s third ever European campaign, the experience of Vitesse Arnhem in these competitions might also play a large factor in who progresses to the third Europa League Qualifying Round.

Amazingly Viitorul Constanța only formed in 2009, starting off in the third league of Romanian football. They won the league in their first year of existence and then finished runners up two years later to get promotion to the top league. Two promotions in three years wasn’t going to be the end of this amazing story though as they then went on to win Liga I in their eighth season of professional football. After finishing fourth last year they qualified for a third consecutive season of European football and after two early knockouts against much stronger opposition Viitorul finally find themselves in a solid position to progress to the third qualifying round, where either PAOK or Basel await them.

The Romanian league only kicked off on the 22nd of July but Constanța got off to the worst possible start with a 1-0 loss to Dunărea Călărași on the first day. They had been in solid form before this game with progression in the first qualifying round of the Europa League plus a great pre-season with five wins from seven games. This followed by a 1-1 draw with Concordia could spell a poor season ahead for Viitorul where they might not even qualify for European football. Their opponents have also not had the best of times recently.

Despite the Dutch Eredivisie not kicking off until later this month, Vitesse haven’t enjoyed a great pre-season so far –  two losses in four days plus a disappointing draw with the Russian mid-table team Arsenal Tula. However, they managed to get an impressive 3-0 thrashing of Lokomotiv Moscow but to follow this up by failing to get past a team only formed nine years ago is extremely disappointing. Vitesse had a poor season last year finishing 6th so will want to put those wrongs right with a great European campaign this time round.

Despite an admirable performance in Romania, Viitorul Constanța should narrowly miss out on progression to the next round. Their failure to take advantage of the home leg despite being 2-0 up will come back to bite them here. We’re backing a narrow home win due to Vitesse’s solid home form, only two losses in their last 16 home matches, and the away goals advantage means that they are really in the driving seat in this leg.