MX23RW : Friday, January 24 14:35:31| >> :600:109050573:109050573:
[monks data]
Europa League | Third Qualifying Round | 2nd Leg
Aug 12, 2021 at 6pm UK
Stadio Antonis Papadopoulos

Anorthosis
2 - 1
Rapid Vienna

Lafferty (45+1'), Roushias (88')
Husbauer (21'), Christodoulopoulos (32'), Risvanis (50'), Artymatas (58'), Lafferty (63')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Kara (64')
Hofmann (16'), Greiml (46'), Ljubicic (55'), Schuster (89'), Strebinger (90+3')

Preview: Anorthosis Famagusta vs. Rapid Vienna - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa League clash between Anorthosis Famagusta and Rapid Vienna, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Anorthosis Famagusta have it all to do on Thursday evening in the second leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie with Rapid Vienna.

The Cypriot side fell to a 3-0 loss in last week's first leg and now require something close to a miracle at the Antonis Papadopoulos if they are to stay in the competition.


Match preview

Rapid Vienna manager Dietmar Kuhbauer pictured on November 5, 2020© Reuters

Rapid would have had their sights set on qualifying for the Champions League, but their hopes of doing so were ended by Sparta Prague in the second qualifying round.

Instead, Dietmar Kuhbauer is now relying on the Europa League for their European fix this season, with Zorya Luhansk awaiting in the playoff round.

The Austrian side must first complete the job against Famagusta, but they will certainly fancy their chances of doing exactly that should their recent form by anything to go by.

Rapid followed up their 3-0 win in last week's fixture with a victory by the same scoreline against Wolfsberger in the Austrian Bundesliga at the weekend.

With a return of one win, one draw and one defeat from their opening three games, the Green-Whites are sixth in the table and looking up rather than down.

The hosts have yet to begin their domestic league campaign, meaning that they have had a full week to stew on the heavy loss to Rapid.

Ercan Kara gave Rapid a first-half lead at the Allianz Stadion and Anorthosis could not stem the tide, with further goals from Taxiarchis Fountas and Marco Grull following.

The Blue & White have had to deal with the loss of some key players over the summer, so it is perhaps no surprise that Temur Ketsbaia's men were so soundly beaten.

However, Anorthosis do at least have the safety net of the Europa Conference League, which they will enter at the final qualifying round should they indeed lose to Rapid.

Anorthosis Famagusta Europa League form:
  • L

Anorthosis Famagusta form (all competitions):
  • L

Rapid Vienna Europa League form:
  • W

Rapid Vienna form (all competitions):
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • W



Team News

Rapid boss Kuhbauer is unlikely to make many changes from the first-leg win, even if his side do have a three-goal cushion.

Fountas and Kara justified their selection up top by both getting on the scoresheet, though Oliver Strunz will be eager for a start on Thursday.

Lukas Sulzbacher and Lion Schuster were also used as substitutes in the first leg and may come into Kuhbauer's thoughts here.

As for Anorthosis, Ketsbaia may look to change things slightly in attack with his side in need of at least three goals.

Goalkeeper Assaf Tzur had to be replaced in the first leg, meanwhile, so Giorgi Loria is in line for a recall.

Anorthosis Famagusta possible starting lineup:
Loria; Korrea, Arajuuri, Antoniadis, Correia; Ioannou, Artymatas, Husbauer; Kaltsas, Lafferty, Christodoulopoulos

Rapid Vienna possible starting lineup:
Strebinger; Schick, Greiml, Hofmann, Ullmann; Arase, Knasmullner, Grahovac, Grull; Kara, Fountas


SM words green background

We say: Anorthosis Famagusta 1-3 Rapid Vienna (Rapid win 6-1 on aggregate)

All the hard work was done in the first leg for Rapid, who barring a calamitous collapse in Cyprus on Thursday will be one step away from the Europa League group stage.

An early goal for Famagusta may make things interesting, but we cannot see them keeping their opponents quiet in what should be a routine away win.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a draw or an away 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.Draw/Away:data



ID:458832:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect7396:
Written by
Daniel Lewis

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rapid Vienna win with a probability of 38.86%. A win for Anorthosis Famagusta had a probability of 35.12% and a draw had a probability of 26%.

The most likely scoreline for a Rapid Vienna win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.47%) and 0-2 (6.57%). The likeliest Anorthosis Famagusta win was 1-0 (9.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.36%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 8% likelihood.


Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Game History

How you voted: Anorthosis vs Rapid Vienna

Anorthosis Famagusta
20.0%
Draw
13.3%
Rapid Vienna
66.7%
60
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Celtic's Callum McGregor celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates  on July 28, 2021
Read Next:
Thursday's Europa League predictions including Jablonec vs. Celtic
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
QLazio761019
2Athletic Bilbao751116
3Frankfurt751116
4Man Utd743015
5Lyon742114
6Spurs742114
7Anderlecht742114
8FCSB742114
9Galatasaray734013
10Bodo/Glimt741213
11Olympiacos733112
12Plzen733112
13Rangers732211
14AZ732211
15Union SG732211
16Real Sociedad731310
17Ajax731310
18PAOK731310
19Midtjylland731310
20Elfsborg731310
21Roma72329
22Ferencvaros73049
23Fenerbahce72329
24Besiktas73049
25Porto72238
26FC Twente71427
27Braga72147
28Hoffenheim71336
29M. Tel Aviv72056
30RFS71245
31Slavia Prague71154
32Malmo71154
33Ludogorets70343
34Qarabag71063
35Nice70252
36Dynamo Kiev70161


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!