Athletic vs Viktoria Plzen Prediction 30 January 2025

🔊 What role will the motivation factor play in the upcoming clash? Athletic has achieved its goals and secured a direct place in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. The match against Viktoria in the 8th round is merely a formality for the "Basques." The Czechs, however, are outside the TOP-8 zone, which forces Miroslav Koubek's team to put in all efforts to achieve the necessary result. Nevertheless, bookmakers predict a convincing victory for the "Lions," which can be played at odds of 1.7.

📊 H2H

The teams have not met each other previously.

🔴 ATHLETIC

Athletic is experiencing an obvious crisis in results - only 1 win in the last 5 matches. Fans of the "Basques" were greatly surprised by the defeat to Turkish Besiktas (1:4) in the last round of the UEFA Europa League. Surprisingly, the Spanish team acted too timidly. Despite Ernesto Valverde's choice of a 4-2-3-1 formation, the "Red-Whites" effectively played without a forward. Gorka Guruzeta played in a withdrawn role and derived very little benefit from it. The "Lions" do not aim for a high percentage of ball possession. Valverde's teams have always been known for their ability to "endure" and maximize benefits from playing as the second number. The most significant personnel loss for the team from Bilbao remains Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta.

🔵 VIKTORIA

At the end of the 7th round of the UEFA Europa League, Viktoria secured a place in the preliminary playoff round. This became possible after a home victory over Belgian Anderlecht (2:0). In this confrontation, it was easy to notice Miroslav Koubek's main tactical ideas. Firstly, the Czech team uses a formation with 3 central defenders. Secondly, interestingly, the "Red-Blues" are not afraid to stretch the opponent's defense by taking quite wide positions on the flanks. Finally, when controlling the ball, "Viktorka" lines up in a 3-1-4-2 scheme, where Lukas Kalvach acts as a pure defensive midfielder performing dirty work. The undisputed leader and one of the main talents of the club's academy is Pavel Schulz. Such a flexible tactical setup, implying flank activity, fully reveals the strengths of the 24-year-old playmaker. This season, he managed to score 10 goals and provide 8 assists.

⚽️ GOAL PREDICTION

For the last three matches, the Czech team has managed to keep their own goal intact. In general, in this European season, Viktoria is characterized by an extremely reliable defensive structure - about 0.9 goals conceded per game. Considering the increased motivation from the "Red-Blues" players, our editorial team allows for a minimal number of goals from the "Basques." We will focus on Athletic's individual total under 1.5 goals.

🚩 CORNER PREDICTION

In this European season, "Viktorka" is characterized by an extremely low average number of corners taken - about 2.8 per game. We also note that the pragmatism of the "Basques" contributes to neutralizing most of the flank threats from opponents. On average per match, Athletic allows no more than 3.3 corners at their goal. The following bet suggests itself - Viktoria's individual total corners under 3.5.

📝 MATCH PREDICTION

We reiterate that the upcoming clash is not decisive for Athletic's fate. Ernesto Valverde is much more concerned with maintaining optimal form for his key players ahead of an important match in La Liga against Betis in the 22nd round. Viktoria, throughout this campaign, displays eye-pleasing football, and it's unlikely that the "Basques" are an authority for them. The match could very well end with a success for the visitors with a score of 2:1. The key bet is Viktoria to win with a handicap (+1).