Ferencvaros vs Leverkusen – Analysis, Prediction, Team News

As part of our Europa League Predictions, we take a look at the second leg between Ferencvaros and Leverkusen. The first encounter was closer than the scoreline suggests – can Ferencvaros get back into the tie? Read on with our Ferencvaros vs Leverkusen prediction.

Ferencvaros vs Leverkusen Match Preview

Although Leverkusen take a healthy 2-0 lead to Budapest, the first-leg encounter between the two sides was not quite the formality that the scoreline suggested. While Leverkusen were certainly the brighter of the two sides at the outset and deservedly took a 1-0 lead, they survived a couple of huge scares as Ferencvaros hit the woodwork and came close on a number of occasions. Ultimately, it came down to the Germans being the more clinical of the two teams, and they’ll be more than happy with such an impressive result. The casual fan would probably have thought that Leverkusen would blow the Hungarians out of the water, but Ferencvaros are a more than decent Europa League side.

Ferencvaros heavily rotated their starting XI for their match against Puskas Academy and lost 2-1. With a commanding 11-point lead at the summit of the Hungarian league, no doubt Cherchesov and his coaching staff felt that this was a risk worth taking as they’ll need to be fresh to have any chance of erasing the deficit in this second-leg match. As such, we can’t draw too many meaningful conclusions from that defeat other than they will have been disappointed not to be able to earn a positive result after their opponents were reduced to 10 men early in the second half.

Leverkusen came from behind to defeat Werder Bremen 3-2 away from home, and the general improvement in their away form has been a huge factor in their recent push for European football next season following an abysmal start to the season for Alonso’s men. However, once again they failed to keep a Bundesliga clean sheet, and with Ferencvaros hitting the bar and going close on a number of occasions in the first leg of this Europa League round of 16 tie, they must improve quickly to avoid allowing the Hungarians back into the match.

Team News

Injuries and Suspensions

Ferencvaros:

Might Not Play: Mmaee, Nguen, Paszka

Will Not Play: Besic, Botka, Owusu

Leverkusen:

Might Not Play: Wirtz

Will Not Play: Aranguiz, Bellerabi, Lunev, Schick

Ferencvaros vs Leverkusen Lineups (Predicted)

Ferencvaros (4-2-3-1): Dibusz; Civic, Knoester, Abena, Wingo; Esiti, Vecsei; Marquinhos, Zachariassen, Traore; R. Mmaee

Leverkusen (4-3-3): Hradecky; Hincapie, Tapsoba, Tah, Frimpong; Palacios, Amiri, Demirbay; Diaby, Adli, Hlozek

Our Prediction

We feel that first of all, Leverkusen have enough quality in attack, particularly through their youthful, enterprising forward unit of Hlozek, Diaby and Adli to ensure that they grab the goal that makes life very difficult indeed for Ferencvaros. One goal ensures that the Hungarians require at least three to force the game to extra time, and though that’s always a possibility in football, it’s not especially likely.

For their part, Ferencvaros can absolutely trouble a shaky defence which has one clean sheet in ten games to its name – in the reverse fixture. That was a rather fortunate clean sheet to boot, so we can certainly envisage Ferencvaros being able to at least establish a foothold in the tie.

Leverkusen’s recent improvement in general but particularly away from home is where we stop short of predicting a home win for Ferencvaros. Had this tie been held a few months back, we would be tempted to back them given home advantage and the trials and tribulations that Alonso’s men have endured this season. Throwing in the fact that Leverkusen went to Monaco and won to force the game to penalties, we see no reason why they can’t grab a goal here to effectively kill the game.

Ferencvaros 1-1 Leverkusen

Ferencvaros vs Leverkusen Betting Tip – Draw Odds: