Hacken will be looking to capitalize on their two-goal advantage when they face Zalgiris Europa League qualifying. With a 3-1 victory in the first leg last week, the hosts gained the lead in the tie. They now have 90 minutes till their playoff matchup with Aberdeen of Scotland.
Preview (Hacken vs Zalgiris)
Srdan Hrstic scored twice before Mikkel Rygaard added the third goal. It gave Per-Mathias Hogmo’s team the upper hand. They had four shots compared to their opponent’s eight. Hacken has also defeated Varberg 2-0 to close the gap to league leaders Elfsborg to one point. The Yellow Ones were defeated 1-0 by Hammarby in the middle of the table. The hosts have recently turned Bravida Arena into something of a fortress. They are the overwhelming favorites to go to the next round. They’ve gone unbeaten in their past 10 competitive home games, with nine victories and a draw.
Zalgiris, meanwhile, snapped a five-match winless record that includes three losses and two draws by defeating Hegelmann Litauen in the A Lyga over the weekend. That victory only allowed them to close the gap on league leaders Panevezys, who have a game in hand and appear poised to unseat Zalgiris after three straight seasons of winning the championship, to six points. Additionally, Vladimir Cheburin’s team participated in the Champions League qualifying process, which got off to a promising start with a 2-1 overall victory against Struga but ended in the second round with a 3-2 overall loss to Galatasaray.
Defender Nassim Hnid managed to score in his side’s 15 attempts at goal in the first leg of this match. Despite Zalgiris having the most of the attacking play for the full 90 minutes. The visitors did not achieve a single victory in any of their three away games during the previous season. It does not auger well for their chances of overcoming the deficit in this one. They also came last in their group in this competition.
Team News
Simon Gustafson, who is currently suffering from a thigh injury, and Blair Turgott, who is likely sidelined for the remainder of the season with a torn cruciate ligament, will both be forced to sit out this game for Hogmo. Amor Layouni, who recently defeated Varberg, scored his fifth goal in his past four games. He will probably continue to play alongside Ibrahim Sadiq, the team’s leading scorer so far this year, on the front line. After scoring the first goal last weekend against Hegelmann Litauen, Mathias Oyewusi has been in outstanding domestic form for Zalgiris and presently leads the A Lyga with 15 goals in 21 games.
After coming off the bench in that game, Marko Milickovic scored his fifth goal of the year, and he will be hoping that his impressive cameo is enough to earn him a return to the starting 11, perhaps in place of Arvydas Novikovas. While the first leg was a closely contested match, we anticipate Hacken to dominate this match at home, where they have been quite strong lately. Although we think the visitors will score, we don’t think it will be enough to win.
Hacken 2 – 1 Zalgiris
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