Žilina vs. Jablonec: Preview and betting tips

Jablonec will play a rematch of the Conference Europa League play-offs in Slovakia on Thursday evening, when they will be hosted by Žilina. The northern Czechs can go into the match in complete peace, while the Slovakian team must erase a huge deficit.

Probably few people expected Jablonec to be able to cope with Žilina so easily in the first match. They won 5:1 at Střelnice and even the fans of the North Bohemian team were surprised.

Žilina, although it had to deal with a lot of inconveniences recently, is one of the leading Slovak teams. Last season, Jablonec was also relegated in Europe after a clash with Dunajská Streda.

But now back to the match. As mentioned, the Slovakian team will have to make up for a four-goal deficit, but they are in a great mood for the duel with Jablonec. In the league, they beat Senica 3:0, while the North Czechs only drew with Slovácko.

The overall comparison of form in the new season looks better for Žilina, while Jablonec has won only two of its eight competitive matches, including one against the Slovakian side.

If anyone has a proper motivation to do something about the match, it’s Žilina. They are doing quite well in the domestic competition, Europe would be an extra bonus. Jablonec, on the other hand, can settle for a big cushion and might want to save a bit for the league, where they don’t exactly shine.

It’s no surprise then that the odds are not very high on Zilina. It is not impossible that the Slovakian team could win. However, it is not really expected that Jablonec will be beaten by four goals.

It is worth mentioning that Žilina has lost only once in European Cups to a team from the Czech Republic in regular time. It was in Jablonec.

The North Bohemians are not doing well at all in Europe. Overall, Jablonec has won only two of its last 14 games in the cups (2-4-8), while the team has lost six of its seven matches on home soil.

So everything speaks, at least within the match, in favour of Žilina, who should definitely not lose. Jablonec should, however, keep the promotion.