Our prediction for this Europa League match:
Rapid Vienna
Match Time & Date:
20/09/2018
12:55 PM
Prediction: 1-1
Spartak Moscow
Rapid Wien booked their place in the Europa League by beating the likes of Slovan Bratislava and Steaua in the qualifiers. The Austrian side have big ambitions for the 2018/2019 season, but they did not make a flying start in the national championship. Rapid Wien, though, did well to beat Slovan Bratislava and Steaua in previous two home games in the Europa League, which is certainly giving fans a reason for optimism ahead of Thursday’s football match. Spartak Moscow, on the other hand, have been producing fine performances in the Russian Premier League at the start of the season and despite the fact that they failed to impress in the Champions League qualifiers, we believe that they are capable of making life difficult for Rapid Wien in their Europa League opener. Anyhow, seeing that the Austrians are tough to beat at home, there is a big value in betting on draw.
Highlighted Player (Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo):
Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo is a left winger who was born in Antwerp, Belgium on July 1, 1995. Bolingoli-Mbombo is a product of Beerschot youth academy, but he played for Club Brugge during his youth career as well. The pacey winger made his first-team debut with Club Brugge on July 26, 2013 in the opening match of the 2013/2014, coming as a substitute for Maxime Lestienne in the dying minutes of the game.
On March 19, 2015 Bolingoli-Mbombo produced one of the best performances of his career as he scored a brace against Besiktas in the Europa league last 16, helping Club Brugge make it to the quarter-finals of the European competition. The Belgian footballer, who is a cousin of Manchester United attacker Romelu Lukaku, has yet to earn a cap for the national team.
Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo’s main position is left winger, but he is used as a left back as well. In 2017 he moved to Rapid Vienna and he has been playing for the Austrian side ever since.
Highlighted Team (Spartak Moscow):
Spartak Moscow are the most successful club in Russia. The Narodnaya komanda did well to win the Soviet championship on 12 occasions and they won their tenth Russian Premier League title in the 2016/2017 season.
Speaking of the club’s European success, Spartak Moscow made it to the European Cup (Champions League) semis in the 1990/1991 season, but Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille proved to be a big catch for the Russian champions. Spartak were beaten by OM 3-1 in Moscow, while suffering a 2-1 loss to the French side in the return leg at Stade Velodrome.
The club was founded in 1922 and they are considered as “the people’s team”. Spartak Moscow welcome their rivals at Otkrytie Arena, the stadium which was opened in September 2014. The venue will be called Spartak Stadium during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The club’s main rivals are Dynamo Moscow and there have always been fireworks in clashes between the two capital clubs.
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