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Steffen Schmidt - August 8, 2023
Fenerbahce vs Maribor
UEFA Conference League Qualification
Date: 10 August 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 19:00 UK / 20:00 CET
Venue: Ulker Stadyumu Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Spor Kompleksi (Istanbul).
Fenerbahce did not have any problems storming past Moldovan side Zimbru Chisinau at the start of their 2023/24 UEFA Conference League journey.
The Turkish heavyweights bagged nine unanswered goals past the Moldovans over two legs to book the third round matchup against Slovenian side Maribor.
Fener have done an amazing job during the summer transfer window by acquiring the likes of Edin Dzeko and Dusan Tadic among others.
They now have a star-studded attacking line with the likes of Michy Batshuayi, Ryan Kent, Joshua King, Diego Rossi, Serdar Dursun, and Sebastian Szymanski alongside the aforementioned duo.
The hosts are massive favorites both in the first leg on Thursday night at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadyumu and over two games in general in this matchup.
Maribor are one of the biggest Slovenian clubs but they have not been even close to their best in the last several years.
They only came third in the 1. SNL standings at the end of the last season and they are not showing the most promising form at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign either (at least when it comes to European competitions).
Damir Krznar’s men barely went past the likes of Birkirkara from Malta (3-2 on aggregate) and Differdange from Luxembourg (5-4 on aggregate) to reach this stage of the competition.
Maribor needed a late penalty-kick goal from their main star Josip Ilicic in the extra-time of the second leg against Differdange seven days ago.
When it comes to the domestic league, we must say that Maribor own a perfect record with two wins in two games without a single goal conceded along the way.
Maribor have struggled to get past the likes of Birkirkara and Differdange in the previous two rounds and they do not have much to hope for in the tie against star-studded Fenerbahce.
We will back the hosts to win by two or more goals difference at the 1.85 odds as the main pick while you can hardly make a mistake backing Fener to have the lead at the half time and win the match at full time at the 1.83 odds.
