Ordabasy take on the visitors Legia in the first leg of UEFA Conference League qualification quarterfinals. The match will be played on Thursday, July 27th at Stadion Kazhymukan Munaitpasov (Šymkent).
Ordabasy are facing a challenging but pleasant situation when it comes to choices. The blue and white team can be compared to the local clubs that were created in the mid-20th century, in the post-war years. For the last 25 years, the representatives of Shymkent have almost consistently played in the top football division of Kazakhstan. However, their best results so far have been third-place finishes in 2017 and 2019 (in the previous season, they finished only fifth), and winning the domestic cup in 2011 and 2022. They have regularly participated in European competitions, but in their six previous attempts, they managed to pass only a couple of initial opponents, Jagiellonia in 2012 and Torpedo (Kutaisi) in 2019. Their latest attempt in 2020 was halted by the pandemic when Ordabasy was eliminated after a single defeat at home against Botosani. Now they are starting again at home. However, is it worth exerting themselves, considering that they are closely competing with Astana for the top spot in the country's highest division on their domestic field?
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On the other hand, Legia traditionally set ambitious goals. The army team is rightly considered the flagship of Polish football. In Warsaw, they have witnessed European cup semi-finals, reaching the European Cup final in 1970 and the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1991. They have won the top Polish league, Ekstraklasa, 15 times. However, their latest league title came in 2021, with them having missed out on winning it twice since then. In the previous season, they allowed Rakow to take the title and settled for a cup (their 20th in history) along with second place in the final league standings. Under the guidance of Kosta Runjic, the team got a partial revenge against the blue and white by defeating them in Chorzow during the Polish Super Cup, and later, they secured a convincing 3-0 win against LKS (Lodz) in the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League. The team aims to perform well in the European competitions this time, having skipped the previous season's European campaign, and they are determined to please their fans.
As for the head-to-head meetings, the Polish side has played against Astana and Aktobe before, but this will be their first visit to Shymkent. The prediction for the match Ordabasy - Legia is that the Polish visitors are considered favorites even when playing away. However, it's the beginning of the season for them, and traveling to Kazakhstan can be challenging. The suggested bet is on a neutral outcome, total under 2.5 goals.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
