Conference League quarter-final, first leg, Thursday, 10/04/2025 at 9:00 p.m.
The international dream lives on. Rapid Vienna is looking forward to the Conference League quarter-finals, but will have to play away first. The goal: to secure a good starting position for the return leg, which is coming up in a few days.
In my Djurgarden SK Rapid betting tip, I am trying to find out which side has the better chances of winning. I don’t think that the guests will be able to win this duel and am betting on “Double Chance 1X” with a maximum of four goals.
The form is not right, and that at the most important phase of the season! Rapid Vienna has lost its way and is on the decline in the Austrian Bundesliga’s championship play-offs.
The downward trend began before the turn of the year. Two of the last eleven league games have been won, so they have nothing to do with the top spots. So maybe the focus is now on the international competition?
Perhaps, because in the Conference League they have made it into the round of the best eight. It is the first time since 1984 that the club has appeared so far forward in Europe.
To be honest, the Austrians owe their survival of the last sixteen more to luck than to their own strength, because against Banja Luka, extra time was needed to decide the game.
After the 1-1 away draw, it was Louis Schaub who scored the 2-1 in extra time at their own stadium. This result saved Rapid to the finish line, and they made it to the quarter-finals.
The group stage had actually been quite relaxed, and they never ran the risk of being knocked out. The only defeat was 3-1 against Omonia Nikosia, and there was a 1-1 draw against the Shamrock Rovers.
2-1 against Basaksehir, 1-0 against Noah, 3-0 against Petrocub and 3-0 against Copenhagen, four wins. Admittedly, the opponents were not particularly strong internationally.
Copenhagen, for example, have a lot of experience, but almost lost to Heidenheim later in the competition. Away from home, they won against Basaksehir and Petrocub – and they are not the biggest names in the world.
Dion Beljo has played a major role in his team making it this far. He has scored five goals and provided three assists in the current competition, so I can confidently recommend a bet on him to score a goal at odds of 3.75 in the Bet365 app.
Incidentally, Djurgarden and Rapid Vienna have played each other before – but only the most die-hard fans remember! In 1963, when the competition was called “International FC”, the Austrians won 3-0 and 3-1.
As nice as such an exact result would be on Thursday, we can confidently leave history out of it. Incidentally, for our bookmakers with a PayPal function, it is incredibly difficult to determine who is ahead in the first leg.
The average odds show a 2.60 to 2.65 advantage from the Austrians’ point of view, so the advantage is minimal. So has Djurgarden proven to be an unpleasant team in the current competition?
The Swedes appeared in the round of 16 of the Conference League two years ago, and have now made it one round further. And the same applies here: they survived the preliminary round with four wins, without having to go through the playoffs.
After a slow start against LASK (2-2) and Guimaraes (1-4), the team rallied to beat Panathinaikos (2-1), The New Saints (1-0), Vikingur (2-1) and Legia Warsaw (3-1).
The last sixteen finally saw Djurgarden take on Pafos, and once again, the team impressed with their ability to stage a comeback. After losing 1-0 in the first leg, they turned the game around at home with a completely unspectacular 3-0 victory.
3:0, 3:1, 2:1, the Swedes have now won their last three home games, always scoring at least two goals. So if you want to risk the “Over 1.5 goals” for the host, you can look forward to odds of 2.50 at Bet365.
Rapid Vienna and the current form, it just doesn’t fit. Nothing is going right for the Austrians anymore. However, the crisis in the league can perhaps be hidden by a strong performance in the Conference League.
In Europe, Rapid have had a lot of luck recently, but the performances of Djurgarden have impressed me a little more. The hosts of next Thursday have found a home strength, and their rhythm (in Sweden, the new season just started) doesn’t bother them.
Therefore, I am betting that Djurgarden will not lose this first leg at home. Since I expect a very competitive affair, I also do not expect a spectacle. My tip is therefore as follows:
If there are a maximum of four goals, Djurgarden will not lose!
