Thursday 28/08/2014, 22:00, Europa League Qualifiers, Rio Ave vs Elfsborg

Rio Ave vs Elfsborg Ave Preview

The Portuguese domestic championship has begun and after two games, Rio Ave is sitting at the top of the league due to better goal average. Even though they are tied with five other squads, including the most recent champions, they are playing some dazzling offensive football. Rio Ave will try to carry that momentum in the Europa League Qualifiers and offset a narrow margin defeat suffered one week ago in Sweden. Elfsborg comes to Portugal hoping to consolidate that result and would gladly settle for a draw.

Rio Ave vs Elfsborg Ave Odds

At Ladbrokes

Rio Ave 1.85, Draw 3.50, Elfsborg 4.50

Rio Ave vs Elfsborg Ave Tips

Rio Ave was clearly unimpressed by the fact that they didn't have home pitch advantage last week and used an offensive starting formation with three strikers. It is very likely that they will stick to this strategy tonight, but there are a couple of things that could change up front.

Boateng will probably start on the bench, while Ahmed Hassan Koka will be given a place in the starting formation after his impressive performance over the weekend. The Egyptian striker scored three times on the road, while midfielder Pedro Moreira found his way to the next twice, utterly crushing Estoril.

Rio Ave is no longer in the position where they can settle for one point, because anything short of a victory would see them eliminated from the Europa League. They had a hard time taking the initiative in the first half and this is when Elfsborg scored both their goals, but it greatly helped their cause that Marcelo took advantage of a defensive error to close the gap.

The Portuguese side only needs a narrow margin victory to advance to the group stage, but they won't retreat in their own half after scoring. As for the Swedish team, the strategy for tonight is straightforward, with a single striker being enough and Prodell is the one expected to spearhead the offensive.

Key Facts

• In the first leg, the Swedish side had slightly better ball possession, but it was Rio Ave who created more dangerous scoring opportunities.
• Rio Ave already eliminated a Swedish team from the Europa League qualifiers and allowed no goal against IFK Goteborg

Rio Ave vs Elfsborg Ave Prediction

After scoring five goals over the weekend, Rio Ave is justly credited with the first chance to win the qualifier this Thursday. The odds still stand at 1.85 with Ladbrokes but it is very likely that they will go down as kickoff draws near, so punters shouldn't wait any longer for placing a bet.

Bet: Rio Ave @ 1.85 with Ladbrokes