Europa Conference League round of 16, Thursday, 13/03/2025 at 6:45 pm
Rapid Vienna failed to achieve the hoped-for preliminary decision in the first leg at Borac Banja Luka. For long spells in the game, the green-and-whites were the better team, but a failure to convert chances and a penalty in injury time prevented Rapid from getting the three points (1:1).
However, there is more than one way to read this first meeting between the two teams. If you put aside your frustration at the draw, it quickly becomes clear that the Austrian team did not waste many opportunities.
Banja Luka tried to score from open play primarily through quick transitions. However, after the Hütteldorfer took the lead at the latest, the Bosnians’ attacks also fizzled out for the most part.
Robert Klauß and his team have quite a good chance of qualifying for the Conference League quarter-finals in my Rapid Vienna Banja Luka betting tip.
The offensive department of the guests was one of the weakest of all participants in the previous competition and should be able to successfully complete a do-or-die game in front of their home crowd.
For the second leg between Rapid Vienna and Borac Banja Luka, I am therefore taking odds of 1.87 at Bet365 and playing “Banja Luka Under 0.5 goals”.
The bookmakers’ prediction
The league phase had Rapid Vienna finish in fourth place. The goal difference of 11:5 goals shows quite quickly that the Austrian representative scored especially thanks to his defense.
The guests from Bosnia were five points behind the green-whites after six completed games in the league phase. The level of performance of these two teams already showed obvious differences there.
The best betting providers probably also derive the drastic gap between the respective win odds from this difference.
A home win yields a maximum win odds of 1.50. You can make about 7.50 times the profit if you bet on a win by Borac Banja Luka.
AI prediction SK Rapid vs Banja Luka: That’s what ChatGPT tips
I compared my SK Rapid Banja Luka tip with the AI predictions. The views of artificial intelligence are apparently not far removed from my thoughts on this pairing. As an entry recommendation, ChatGPT names a bet on “Both teams to score: No”, which you can play at Bwin for odds of 1.68.
The betting variant with a medium risk is somewhat more creative. For this, the AI draws on the favorites role of the hosts and advises a match combo consisting of a “SK Rapid win” and “Over 2.5 goals” in the game. If you combine the two variants into one bet, you will ideally get 2.15 times the winnings back at Tipwin.
For the bet with the highest risk, ChatGPT again deviates from its previous recommendation and spits out an outcome bet. Betano offers odds of 6.60 for “SK Rapid wins 2-0 against Banja Luka”.
Analysis: SK Rapid vs Banja Luka
The form of the Green-Whites is a farce. Most recently, Rapid lost four of six competitive games. The 1-1 draw in the first leg against Banja Luka was followed by a dangerous 2-1 defeat against TSV Hartberg, which jeopardized their qualification for the champions’ round.
However, it would not be sensible to be completely unsettled by these results. The Rapid team still has one of the four best defenses in the Austrian Bundesliga (24.7 xG).
In addition, Robert Klauß’s team has not conceded more than 1.1 goals per league game – a top-3 value at the national level.
The defense has also made a positive impression quite often in the Conference League. According to Wyscout, Rapid have not conceded more than 1.19 expected goals in any of their matches.
The Klauß team need not fear any fireworks after the experiences of the first leg against Borac Banja Luka.
The most important thing is not to make any major mistakes. So far, the Bosnian team has only finished one of nine matches in the Conference League with more than one goal of their own.
The guests have so far achieved almost nothing from open play and also scored only 0.53 expected goals in the first leg.
Odds analysis
I can’t see any flaw in the clear favoritism of the green-whites. Although the current form is quite modest, the difference in performance level should be big enough.
What surprises me, however, are the balanced odds for over and under 2.5 goals in the game. For both variants, you get an offer of a betting odds of about 1.87.
In connection with the Bet365 betting bonus, I would take it as an alternative to my SK Rapid Banja Luka tip. After all, seven out of nine Conference League pairings have offered the guests a maximum of two goals so far.
SK Rapid vs. Banja Luka odds: Nobody scores their goals better
It’s a mystery to me how Banja Luka found their way into the Conference League round of 16. The efficiency of this team can be an example to many a club.
The reigning Bosnian champions have scored only six goals in nine European appearances. The guests triumphed in three matches, shared four points and were only beaten in two matches.
If you also take into account the expected goals of Zizovic’s team, it is even clearer that Banja Luka has achieved the maximum from its own offense.
The red-and-blues have scored less than one expected goal in six of nine Conference League games. An extremely low number.
On top of that, Zizovic’s team have not scored in their last three European away games and are beginning to feel the consequences of their declining efficiency.
I would only place a bet that the guests score at least one goal under these conditions in conjunction with a freebet.
All or Nothing
This week will decide the rest of the season for Rapid Vienna. On the domestic front, Rapid must beat Grazer AK to be sure of qualifying for the championship round.
Before Robert Klauß can deal with this situation intensively, however, he must first qualify for the Conference League quarter-finals.
A clean sheet against the outsiders from Bosnia is the best way to achieve this. At home, Rapid have won two of their three Conference League fixtures without conceding a goal.
In addition, the green-whites celebrated a victory without conceding a goal in two of their three previous competitive matches at home in the Allianz Stadium.
There was also a celebration in the last home game, which was supposed to serve as a kind of liberation. Against SCR Altach, Rapid’s forward line fired from all feet and won 5-0.
The current top option in the home side’s attack is Dion Beljo. The former Augsburg player scored a noteworthy goal in the first leg and has already scored four times in the current competition.
In contrast to the guests, the team from the Austrian Bundesliga has so far lacked the necessary clinical finish in front of the opposing goal.
The Rapid players have so far managed a solid 5.4 shots on goal per Conference League game, but have only been able to convert 9.8 percent of them.
My SK Rapid Banja Luka tip:
The qualitative difference in the squads pushes the Rapid players into the role of favorites, no matter how weak the results have been over the past few weeks.
Borak Banja Luka thrived on efficiency in the previous matches, but above all on the necessary luck in their own stadium. However, the guests cannot count on that in this game.
My SK Rapid Banja Luka betting tip: Banja Luka will NOT score!
