Fenerbahce take on the visitors Maribor in the first leg of UEFA Conference League qualification semifinals. The match will be played on Thursday, August 10th at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium (Istanbul).
The vice-champion of Turkey started their preparation for the season with a draw against Zenit in a friendly match. Then they suffered a loss to Crvena Zvezda. However, they managed to defeat Neftchi afterwards. They also succeeded in the Conference League qualification, eliminating the modest Moldovan team Zimbru, scoring 9 unanswered goals in two matches – 4 and 5 goals in each game. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that the defensive strengths of the Yellow Canaries are impenetrable. On the contrary, in the previous championship, they conceded 42 goals in 36 matches. They also allowed nine goals in 8 matches in the Europa League last season, where they reached the playoffs.
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Maribor won both rounds of the starting Slovenian championship and scored 5 goals. In the previous championship, the grandmaster of Slovenian football secured only a bronze medal but scored the most goals – 70 in 36 matches. In the current Conference League, the Violets have already deprived Maltese Birkirkara of the European autumn, scoring in both matches against them. They also kept the Luxembourgish Differdange from scoring in any of their two encounters.
On paper, Fenerbahçe outperforms Maribor in all aspects. But what will happen on the field? On the field, the Turks will likely attack throughout the match and might even win. However, it's unlikely they'll be able to keep their goal locked down. Their defense isn't their strong point – it's probably their most vulnerable spot. The number of goals they conceded has been mentioned earlier. It's worth noting that they kept a clean sheet in only two-thirds of the matches in the previous championship. In the previous Europa League, they conceded in 6 out of 8 matches. In turn, Maribor has had goal-scoring efforts in 17 out of their last 20 matches. The opponents haven't faced each other before, and predicting the outcome of the upcoming duel or the winner is uncertain, but a goal from the away team is quite likely in this match.
Prediction for the match: Maribor to score – yes.
