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Valur vs Maribor Prediction & Betting tips
Football teams from Iceland are still among the exotics in European club football. According to their quotas, the bookmakers at Valur Reykjavik versus Maribor therefore estimate the chances of a sense of achievement as low. Never before has an Icelandic team come close to a UEFA group stage. Quite different the Slovenes. Maribor has celebrated in recent years, three participations in the premiership group stage and welcome Liverpool, Sevilla, Chelsea and Schalke 04 in their own stadium.
However, the foundation for such highlight games is laid in July and August. This is also known by Darko Milanic, who has been training Maribor for the second time since March 2016 (previously between 2008 and 2013). In between, Milanic added his Vita two overseas stations in Graz and Leeds. Especially the England adventure ended in disaster. After 32 days and six games without a win, he was released on Elland Road again. In Slovenia, the 51-year-old with five championships and four cup wins is the title hamster. For Wednesday, we expect a balanced game and would give a tip to 1X between Valur Reykjavik and Maribor according to betting base forecast.
Valur Reykjavik:
Iceland has always been worth a trip as a holiday destination. But the small country has more to offer than beautiful landscapes, volcanoes and geysers. The footballers also caused a sensation in the recent major tournaments. The infrastructure with numerous indoor halls enables a good education, before the talents in Scandinavia, England or the Netherlands mature to experienced professionals. The national league, on the other hand, did not really benefit from this upturn. At club level, the Icelanders remain a football dwarf, which is why the bookmakers at Valur Reykjavik against Maribor, according to odds estimate the host as an outsider. Reigning champion Knattspyrnufelagio Valur from the capital Reykjavik is currently in the middle of the current season, as the league is played in Iceland during the calendar year and the season kicked off in April. With the title hat trick, it should be nothing more this season. After twelve matchdays, the deficit as table fifth on record champion KR Reykjavík is already 13 points.
Only two of the twelve teams currently have more defeats than Valur (six bankruptcies). Nevertheless, the squad of coach Olafur Johannesson showed shape improved in recent weeks and won four of the youngest five matches. Only with leaders KR lost the 22 -fold titleholder Valur narrowly with 2: 3. This is a glimmer of hope for the game against the Slovenians, so between Valur Reykjavik and Maribor, our prediction for tip placement tends to 1X. After eight years of abstinence, Valur participated for the first time in 2016 in a qualifier for a UEFA competition. In the past three years, the only time left for the Icelanders has been in the Europa League qualifying round, when they finished third against Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova. Well-known player in ranks of Valur is national goalkeeper Hannes Thor Halldorsson, whose most famous act was the held penalty by superstar Leo Messi during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Maribor:
Between 2011 and 2015, the NK Maribor drove five championships in a row. This absolute dominance came “Vijolicasti” last lost something. In 2016 and 2018, capital club Olimpija Ljubljana was crowned Slovenian Champion. Record champion Maribor (15 titles) was both times only vice – even a year ago tied with Olimpija. Last May, however, the Empire (eight league titles in the past eleven years) struck back and is therefore part of the Champions League qualifiers. In this, the Slovenes make the trip to Iceland as a favorite, as proven by Valur Reykjavik against Maribor numerous odds of various bookmakers. The Champions League group stage reached Maribor so far three times – in addition to the seasons 1999/00 and 2014/15 last in the 2017/18 season. In addition, the Slovenians were represented three times in the group stage of the Europa League (2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14). In total, this makes five successfully completed qualifying rounds in the past eight years.
This is a great success for the club from the second largest city in Slovenia. The most interesting player in the ranks of Maribor is Luka Zahovic. The son of former world-class player Zlatko Zahovic has scored a total of 51x in the past three seasons and finished last season with 18 goals top scorer. Whether or not the 23-year-old will have a legendary status similar to that of his famous dad and current sporting director of Maribor remains to be seen. Due to the weak test game results in the last weeks (2-0-3), we do not expect an easy walk for the Slovenians in Iceland and would try our luck between Valur Reykjavik and Maribor with a tip on the double chance 1X. With Jan Mlakar Maribor also lost a service provider (13 goals, after lending back to Brighton).