Ludogorets vs Sutjeska – By winning Bulgaria’s first division for the 11th time in their history last season, Ludogorets guaranteed their place in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
The Eagles competed in the Champions League group stage in 2014–15, going up against Real Madrid, Basel, and Liverpool. They also qualified for the groups of the 2016–17 edition.
In order to advance to the European Cup group stage last season, Ludogorets advanced all the way to the playoff round before losing to Malmo 3-2 on aggregate, which caused them to drop into the Europa League. They finished fourth in a group that also included Braga, Red Star Belgrade, and FC Midtjylland.
If Sutjeska loses, Ante Simundza’s team will be hopeful that they can win this two-leg match and move on to the second qualifying round, where they will play either Shamrock Rovers or Hibernians.
In order to be ready for the return of competitive play, Ludogorets has played four friendly this summer, the last of which was a 3-0 victory against Nurnberg on June 26. However, the day before, they were defeated 3-0 by Ferencvaros.
Sutjeska, on the other hand, have never participated in the Champions League group stage, thus it would come as a great surprise if they were able to make it through all of the qualifying stages.
The Blue and Whites were defeated by Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League last season.
Sutjeska lost in the opening round of the Europa League qualifying in 2020–21 as well, but they were able to qualify for this level of the Champions League by winning the Montenegrin First League in 2021–22 with a record-setting 75 points from 36 games.
Milija Savovic’s team is undoubtedly the underdog going into the two-game series with Ludogorets, but a successful outcome in the first leg of the match would give them confidence going into the second game on July 12.
Ludogorets vs Sutjeska – Betting Analysis
Although we are finding it tough to back anything other than a home victory in the first leg, the Bulgarian team should have too much quality across the two matches. Sutjeska are surely capable of making this a miserable 90 minutes for Ludogorets.
With goals in each of their previous 6 games, Ludogorets Razgrad has been on a string of consistent goal-scoring performances. In that period, they have accrued 14 while also surrendering a total of 2.
In the past six games, Sutjeska Niki, a team for Miljan Radovic, has been able to score five goals. They have given up a total of eight goals in those same encounters.
According to our assumptions, Ludogorets Razgrad ought to control the ball and generate a number of good opportunities.
Sutjeska Niki may have a difficult time scoring on the other end, but we do believe that they have a good chance of doing so during this match. The final score is predicted to be a straightforward 3-1 victory for Ludogorets Razgrad.
Ludogorets vs Sutjeska – Head-to-Head
Our Prediction: Over 2.5 Goals
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