Conference League League Phase, Matchday 4, Thursday, 28.11.2024 at 18:45
The clubs from Austria want to clear the table in Europe! In our Conference League tips, Linzer ASK are on course to reach the knockout round, but after the first three matchdays things are looking anything but good.
The team travels to Bosnia on Thursday without a win to its name, but is actually favored there. What’s this all about and why I don’t think we’ll see more than 2.5 goals?
I’ll tell you in my Banja Luka LASK betting tip!
In our international betting tips, we naturally have a special focus on the representatives from Austria – and now it’s LASK’s turn! European sounds are wafting through beautiful Linz, but the results do not yet match up.
The Black & Whites have already had to face Djurgarden, Olimpija Ljubljana and Cercle Brugge; Banja Luka, Florence and Vikingur still await in the coming weeks. The interim results are anything but rosy:
2:2 against Djurgarden, 0:2 against Ljubljana and 0:0 against Bruges – the team has yet to win. They were robbed of their reward right at the start, as they squandered a 2:0 lead against Djurgarden.
They conceded one goal before the break and three afterwards, so I can certainly describe the second 45 minutes as a weakness. At the same time, I have to admit that the offense is no longer working properly
The last two games were scoreless, but that’s exactly what’s needed for the knockout phase. Perhaps the Conference League is like the Bundesliga in that there comes a point when the famous knot bursts?
With five defeats from their first six games, Linz got off to the worst possible start, but have now only lost one of their last eight games and have even finished four of their last six with three points.
One weakness in the national competition remains, however, and that is that they only managed to play to nil in the 4-0 win against Klagenfurt. In the Conference League, they only managed that in the 0-0 draw against Cercle Brugge.
The Bundesliga dress rehearsal before the game against Banja Luka was a success. They won 2:1 at Red Bull Salzburg, defied a deficit and Maximilian Entrup scored the winner in the 88th minute.
The fact that they won away from home was particularly pleasing. It almost goes without saying that LASK had never faced Banja Luka before. And although the Austrians are winless: The bookmakers trust the team!
On average, the visitors come away with odds of 2.00 at Bet365, while the values for Banja Luka are 3.40. The club from Bosnia is of course not a big name in international competition.
After many qualifications in the respective competitions, they finally managed to advance to the group stage in 2024/25. The team started with a 1:1 draw against Panathinaikos and even followed it up with a 1:0 against APOEL Nicosia.
However, they then lost 2-0 to Vikingur on the third matchday, meaning that all three games ended with less than 2.5 goals scored. Offensively, there was relatively little going on, but the defense did not allow too much.
Panathinaikos and APOEL Nicosia were two opponents who had significantly more experience in the European Cup. Nevertheless, Banja Luka managed to snatch four points from the duo, which is quite a feat.
In the eight qualifying matches that the team has played this season (in the Champions and Europa League), there has been extra time or even a penalty shoot-out three times – so it certainly won’t be boring here!
In the domestic Bosnian league, Banja Luka kept a clean sheet in nine of 13 matches. A strong result, but of course the quality of the opponents in the championship leaves a lot to be desired.
Will Linz finally manage to get their first international win? The Whites and Blacks are fighting match for match, but it hasn’t worked out yet. They have two draws to their name, so nothing is lost.
On the other side, Banja Luka are a team that should not be underestimated. They have already picked up four points and, like LASK, the games are very close anyway.
Based on the reasons I have collected, I have decided to bet on a close, hard-fought match and also to take into account the relatively few goals conceded by both teams. My tip is therefore:
The 2.5 goals will not be scored!
