Preview: Borac Banja Luka vs. Ferencvaros – prediction, team news, lineups

Borac Banja Luka are set to host Ferencvaros on Thursday at Gradski Stadion in the second leg of the Europa League‘s fourth and final qualifying round.

The sides’ first clash on August 22 was a tense affair, and though Ferencvaros were arguably the better team, the match ultimately ended goalless and left all to play for in the second leg.

Match preview

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Thursday’s hosts had just 33% possession in the first leg and had few opportunities to attack in the final third, with just one of their six shots coming from inside the penalty area.

In fact, Borac Banja Luka had just two shots in the entirety of the second half, one of which was poorly struck in the 80th minute, while the other was blocked on the edge of the box in the 90th minute.

Boss Mladen Zizovic will at least be pleased that the draw ended a streak of three consecutive losses on the road in European competitions.

The Bosnian-Herzegovinian top-flight champions are currently seventh in their domestic league with three points from one match and have three games in hand on leaders Posusje, who have 10 points.

Zizovic’s side have won 19 of their last 25 home matches, including their last two European games at Gradski Stadion.

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Hungarian champions Ferencvaros will be disappointed that they were unable to generate many good opportunities in the first leg despite having 67% possession and producing 12 shots, twice as many as Borac Banja Luka.

Six of the Green Eagles’ attempts were from inside the penalty area, and they completed 281 passes in the opposition half, more than three times the figure Borac Banja Luka managed.

However, though they were dominant in terms of possession and shots, boss Pascal Jansen will be disappointed that his team’s best chance came in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, from what was a rare moment of good attacking play.

Jansen’s side come into the second-leg clash having lost just once in their last 12 matches, though in the Europa League they have failed to win any of their last five games.

Ferencvaros have also lost seven of their last eight away fixtures in the competition, and have only won three of their last 20 matches on the road in the Europa League.

Borac Banja Luka Europa League form:

Borac Banja Luka form (all competitions):

Ferencvaros Europa League form:

Ferencvaros form (all competitions):

Team News

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Sebastian Herrera could return to the starting lineup for the hosts after serving his suspension in the first leg.

Elsewhere, Borac Banja Luka could start Enver Kulasin, Stefan Savic and Nikola Sreckovic behind striker Jovo Lukic.

As for the visitors, they could recall centre-back Raul Gustavo after he received a red card against FC Midtjylland on August 13.

Ferencvaros could name a similar starting lineup to the one they fielded in the first leg, so expect goalkeeper Denes Dibusz to be shielded by a defence of Cebrail Makreckis, Ibrahim Cisse, Mats Knoester and Cristian Ramirez.

Borac Banja Luka possible starting lineup:
Manojlovic; Kvrzic, Meijers, Carolina, Herrera; Grahovac, Skorup; Kulasin, Savic, Sreckovic; Lukic

Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Makreckis, Cisse, Knoester, Ramirez; Abu Fani, Rommens; Ben Romdhane, Zachariassen, Traore; Varga

We say: Borac Banja Luka 0-2 Ferencvaros (Ferencvaros win 2-0 on aggregate)

If Ferencvaros can dominate possession as they did in the first leg, there is every chance that they could create more opportunities in the final third this time around.

Additionally, if Borac Banja Luka are as limited in attack as they were in the first leg, then they could struggle to get back into the game if the visitors take an early lead.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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