Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Thursday’s football game at Victoria Stadium pits together Gibraltar and Bulgaria, the two teams who are still eyeing their first wins of the process. Gibraltar are stuck at the bottom with no points in their pocket, and it is no wonder the bookies see them as big underdogs in Thursday’s clash. Both Coombes and Casciaro are pushing for a start, speaking of the home team. The Bulgarians, on the other hand, aim to make amends for a heavy 5-2 loss to Georgia.
Since Yasen Petrov’s troops will not have a better chance than this to return to winning ways, we are tempted to put our money on the visiting side. When the two teams met in a friendly two years ago Bulgaria outplayed Gibraltar 3-0, and we predict that the history is going to repeat itself. You should know that over 2.5 goals have been netted in four of Bulgaria’s last five games in all competitions.
Highlighted Player (Dimitar Evtimov):
Dimitar Evtimov is a Bulgarian goalkeeper who plays for Accrington Stanley in the League One. The 190-cm tall shot-stopper played for the likes of Volov Shumen and Chavdar Etropole during his youth career and he continued playing for the Chavdar Stadium outfit at senior level.
Dimitar Evtimov then decided to take a step forward in his career as he signed for English club Nottingham Forest in April 2011. After spending a brief time loan at Ilkeston, he signed a loan deal with Gainsborough Trinity in November, 2011. The Bulgarian goalkeeper played for the likes of Nuneaton Town, Mansfield Town, Olhanense and Port Vale on loan as well before signing a contract with Burton Albion in September, 2018.
However, seeing that he was hungry for a first-team football at Pirelli Stadium, Dimitar Evtimov decided to move to Accrington Stanley in the winter of 2019. He was on the verge of keeping a clean sheet on his Acctington debut, but the capital club eventually broke the deadlock, winning the game 1-0.
Highlighted Team (Bulgaria):
Bulgaria national football team are well known for their “Golden generation” of players led by Hristo Stoichkov. The Bulgarian football legend was producing thrilling performances for the national team at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in USA and he helped the Lions make it to the semi-finals of the tournament.
The likes of Trifon Ivanov, Krasimir Balakov and Yordan Letchkov enjoyed a very successful tournament as well and, no doubt, they recorded a historical result at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The Bulgarians defeated Germany in the quarter-finals, but Italy proved to be a big catch for Dimitar Penev’s team. Bulgaria eventually suffered a heavy loss to Sweden in the third-place playoffs. Nowadays, Bulgaria struggle in qualifiers for major tournaments and it has to be noted that they have not participated at the finals since 1994.
Vasil Levski National Stadium is considered Bulgaria’s home ground and the capacity of the stadium is 43.320. Bulgaria wear white shirts, green shorts and white socks when playing at home, whilst green and red are their second colours.