Date: Thursday, September 20
Time: 21:00 CET
Venue: Stadion Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava
Spartak Trnava vs Anderlecht Bet365 Odds
Spartak Trnava vs Anderlecht Preview
Festive jubilations could be heard all over western Slovakia when Spartak Trnava won the domestic league title for the first time in 44 years. The result brought them a chance to enter the Champions League qualification phase, where they eliminated Zrinjski and shocked Legia before dropping out to Red Star Belgrade. They didn’t lose their chance to play in Europe and made the most of it by knocking out Olimpija Ljubljana to qualify for the Europa League for the very first time.
In stark contrast, this is Anderlecht’s 55th successive season in European competition. The Belgian powerhouse finished second during the 2017/18 regular season but dropped to third place in the Championship playoff group. The final position earned them a direct berth in the Europa League group stage, where they were drawn against Fenerbahce, Dinamo Zagreb and Slovakian debutants Spartak Trnava – their first opponent.
Spartak lost the head coach who let them to the title in the off-season. He departed for CSKA Sofia and was replaced by Radoslav Latal. The team is undergoing an adjustment period. That, together with all the attention given to securing a spot in Europe has led to a poor start in Slovakia’s top division, where they have won only two of their first eight games. After winning their first four Jupiler League matches, Anderlecht has also slumped lately, losing at Brugge and Genk and drawing with Antwerpen. Therefore, none of the teams come into this fixture in, particularly good form.
Spartak Trnava vs Anderlecht H2H
Spartak Trnava and Anderlecht have met each other before. It happened all the way back in the 1972/73 European Cup and Trnava won both legs by the same 1-0 score. It was the only time the Slovaks have faced a Belgian opponent. Meanwhile, Anderlecht has not played against a team from Slovakia since 1975.
Spartak Trnava vs Anderlecht Bet365 Odds
Trnava 5 (4/1)
Draw 3.75 (11/4)
Anderlecht 1.8 (4/5)
Excluding qualifiers, Slovakian sides have won just one of their 30 Europa League and Champions League games combined (W1, D4, L25). Despite qualifying through the playoffs, Trnava has only one win in their last 12 European home games (W1, D6, L5). All signs point towards an Anderlecht victory. Considering the Belgians have kept just one clean sheet in seven competitive matches this season, we can also expect both teams to score.
Both teams to score – 1.95 (19/20)
