Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Champions League clash between Ferencvaros and Tobol, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Ferencvaros and Tobol will lock horns in the second leg of their Champions League first qualifying round contest on Wednesday evening, with the tie delicately poised at 0-0.
Neither side could find the back of the net in the first leg last week, but reigning Hungarian champions Ferencvaros will be the favourites to advance on home soil.
Match preview
© Reuters
Ferencvaros are 33-time Hungarian champions, securing the trophy last season in comfortable fashion, finishing 11 points clear at the top of the division.
The Green Eagles played in the group stage of the 2020-21 European Cup, finishing bottom of a section which included Juventus, Barcelona and Dynamo Kiev, picking up just a single point in the process.
Last season, the Hungarian giants beat Prishtina, Zalgiris and Slavia Prague to advance to the playoff round of the Champions League but were beaten by Young Boys, which saw them drop into the Europa League, failing to make it through Group G, collecting just three points from their six matches.
Ferencvaros would face either Slovan Bratislava or Dinamo Batumi in the next round if they were to advance on Wednesday, and the hosts will be the favourites to get the job done in Budapest.
Stanislav Cherchesov's side had played five friendlies ahead of their first leg with Tobol last week, and they are building towards the start of their new league season, which starts at the end of the month against Puskas.
Tobol, meanwhile, won their second Kazakhstan Premier League title last season, and the Kostanay-based outfit are bidding to make the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in their history.
Last term, the club fell in the third qualifying round for the Europa Conference League, while they were eliminated from the Europa League in the first qualifying round in 2019-20.
Ahead of the first leg, Tobol had not played Champions League football since the 2011-12 campaign, when they suffered a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Slovan Bratislava in the second qualifying round, and the team are incredibly inexperienced at this level of football.
Milan Milanovic's side will enter this match off the back of a 6-1 loss to Taraz in the cup on Saturday, while they are 15 games into their league season, sitting fourth in the table, two points behind leaders Astana.
Ferencvaros Champions League form:
- D
Ferencvaros form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
Tobol Champions League form:
- D
Tobol form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
Team News
Ferencvaros have not reported any injury concerns from the first leg of the contest, so it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field for this match.
That said, Marquinhos is pushing for a spot in an advanced area, while Anderson Esiti and Fortune Bassey are also options for change, should head coach Cherchesov decided to freshen the side.
Adama Traore, who has arrived at the club from Sheriff Tiraspol, made his debut for the club in the first leg last week, and the attacker is again expected to be in the starting side.
Tobol, meanwhile, made a host of changes for their cup game with Taraz on Saturday, but the majority of their key players are expected to be back in the side for this match.
Zoran Tosic, formerly of Manchester United, will start down the right for the visitors, while a 4-2-3-1 formation should also see Ruben Brigido feature in a forward position.
Igor Sergeev is pushing for a spot in the side, having featured off the bench in the first leg, but Aybar Zhaksylykov is likely to lead the line.
Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Botka, Mmaee, Kovacevic, Civic; Vecsei, Laidouni; Traore, Marquinhos, Nguen; Boli
Tobol possible starting lineup:
Mokin; Kairov, Maliy, Tomasevic, Amanovic; Jovancic, Tagybergen; Tosic, Zharynbetov, Brigido; Zhaksylykov
We say: Ferencvaros 2-1 Tobol
Tobol more than held their own in the first leg last week, but it is a big ask for them to triumph on Wednesday night. We are expecting it to be a tight affair but believe that Ferencvaros will ultimately have too much and are backing the Hungarian side to advance to the second qualifying round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data
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