Europa League Quali, 2nd round, first leg, Thursday, 25.07.2024 at 18:00
Even before most of the national championships start, the Europa League qualifiers are already underway. The two traditional clubs Wisla Krakow and Rapid Vienna meet on Thursday.
In the duel between the 13-time Polish champions and the 32-time Austrian champions, the best sports betting apps have the Viennese as favorites to win with odds of around 1.70.
In my Wisla Krakow Rapid Vienna betting tip, I want to take a closer look at how the odds are actually distributed ahead of the first match in Poland and why I expect at least three goals in the game
The Austrians finished fourth in the championship and qualified for the 2nd round of the Europa League. This did not meet the high expectations of the Austrian record champions, but after a turbulent season they were happy to qualify for an international competition at all.
It remains to be seen how the team of Robert Klauß, who took his place on the Green-Whites’ coaching bench last November, will perform in the new season.
With Marco Grüll (to Werder Bremen) and Leo Querfeld (to Union Berlin), the two best Rapid players of the past season have left for the German Bundesliga and striker Fally Mayulu has also left the Viennese club for England.
Instead, Louis Schaub returned to Rapid after six years in Germany (Cologne, Hamburg, Hanover) and Switzerland (Lucerne). With 16 goals, he is the third-best European Cup goalscorer in the history of the Green-Whites. In Krakow, however, he will not be able to add to his tally as he fell ill at short notice and did not make the trip
The Viennese also strengthened their defense with Frenchman Serge-Philippe Raux Yao and Hungarian team player Bendeguz Bolla. In attack, Dion Beljo, on loan from FC Augsburg, should provide the goals.
Last weekend, Rapid drew 1-1 with AC Milan in their 125th anniversary match, with the Italians fielding 22 players and the Viennese also using numerous squad players.
The first competitive match of the season is now on the agenda in Krakow. The Poles already have that behind them
As Polish Cup winners, Wisla have already had to play in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, beating Kosovan runners-up KF Llapi.
After a 2:0 home win, the team from Krakow also won the second game 2:1 away and advanced to the 2nd round with an overall score of 4:1.
The remarkable thing about this fact is that although Wisla Krakow are the Polish cup winners, they are also a second division team.
And even there, the 13-time champions did not play a dominant role in the 2023/24 season. In the end, Wisla Krakow only finished in 10th place in the 2nd Polish League
The fact that the team should not be underestimated was demonstrated in the cup competition, where Wisla reached the final after defeating second-division teams Polonia Warsaw and Stal Rzeszow, as well as Ekstraklasa teams Widzew Lodz and Piast Gliwice, where they beat Pogon Szczecin 2:1 after extra time.
In the final in Warsaw, the equalizer to make it 1:1 was only scored in the 9th minute of stoppage time.
Despite this success – the first title since winning the championship in the 2010/11 season – the club parted ways with coach Albert Rudé and several players also left the club.
Now Kazimierz Moskal, who has managed Wisla on several occasions, is set to lead the Krakow club back to the top flight.
In my opinion, however, it is questionable whether they will manage to reach the third qualifying round of the Europa League. This is the first time since 2012 that Wisla have been represented in a European Cup competition.
Only the direct clash on Thursday evening will shed light on the current performance of Wisla and Rapid.
The last time Rapid faced a Polish club in the Conference League qualifiers was two years ago, when they struggled badly against Lechia Gdansk. After a 0-0 draw at home, the Viennese secured promotion with a 2-1 away win.
Wisla Krakow’s first championship match in the second-tier I. Liga was scheduled for last weekend, but the game at LKS Lodz was canceled. This gave the Poles more time to prepare for their game against Rapid
However, I assume that this circumstance will not make a big difference. The Vienna squad is much stronger, so I can imagine that Rapid will prevail in the first game in Krakow.
Due to the early stage of the season, there could still be coordination problems in defense on both sides, which could have a positive effect on the number of scoring chances.
In my Wisla Krakow Rapid Vienna betting tip, I therefore expect: More than 2.5 goals in the match!
