Ferencvaros Budapest fight the demons from the previous year
Last season, Ferencvaros Budapest reached the intermediate round of the Europa Conference League. There, the Fradi were narrowly defeated twice by the eventual champions Olympiakos Piraeus 1-0. Nevertheless, the Whites left a reasonable impression on the bottom line and came through the preliminary round without defeat, for example.
The reigning Hungarian champions are even aiming for a place in the Champions League group stage in 2024/25. In the second qualifying round, the French city team are already considered the clear favorites. Ahead of Ferencvaros Budapest’s first leg against TNS, the bet on the expected home win is only 1.20 at the top of the table
The extremely one-sided starting constellation is based on the one hand on the fact that FTC naturally have much more international experience and individual quality than their upcoming opponents. On the other hand, home advantage plays a not insignificant role. Particularly in view of the fact that the visitors from Wales have already achieved a great success for themselves by reaching the second round. On Tuesday evening, however, everything points to a confident home win for Ferencvaros Budapest against TNS
While the German champions from Leverkusen are in the middle of their summer preparations and the Olympic soccer tournament in Paris starts next weekend, the qualifying matches in the three European competitions are traditionally something for insiders or lovers of surprises.
Ferencvaros Budapest – statistics & current form
We have already discussed Ferencvaros Budapest’s extremely respectable performance in the last Conference League season in the introduction. However, their participation in the third-tier UEFA competition was preceded by a bitter disappointment in the Champions League qualifiers. The Whites were knocked out in the first round after an embarrassing 3-0 home defeat in the second leg against the no-name side KI Klaksvik from the Faroe Islands. The Fradi also fell far short of their own expectations in the goalless first leg away from home.
In this respect, FTC still has a lot to make up for in the top flight. With a view to the upcoming second round first leg, however, it must be taken into account that a different coach, Pascal Jansen, has been in charge in the Hungarian capital since the summer. The 51-year-old was under contract with AZ Alkmaar until January 2024 and succeeds Dejan Stankovic, who left for Spartak Moscow after winning the championship in his debut year in the French city.
In his first head coach position outside the Netherlands, Jansen can rely on almost the entire championship-winning squad. The most prominent departure was certainly Krisztian Lisztes, who moved to Eintracht Frankfurt for 4.5 million euros. Otherwise, there was no major fluctuation on the incoming or outgoing side
Ferencvaros want to set the course for progression at home
Preparations for the new season have gone quite well so far for the Hungarian league leaders, who have recently won six league titles in a row. The Whites remain unbeaten in five matches. However, their form is on the up, as they followed up their 3-1 win over Croatian first division side Istra with a 2-2 draw against West Ham United in the previous week’s dress rehearsal.
After reaching the last 16 of the Europa League in 2022/23 and surviving the Conference League group stage in 2023/24, the ambitious Fradi have now set themselves the goal of securing a ticket for the expanded 36-club main draw in the top flight for the first time since 2020/21. The home match against the Welsh serial champions should be a mere formality in this respect.
In any case, we are of the opinion that the home side, who are significantly stronger in terms of quality, will prevail with relative ease. In the run-up to the first leg between Ferencvaros Budapest and TNS, we are therefore checking the odds on a handicap victory for the Green-Whites. Even a lead of two or more goals at half-time seems absolutely possible in our eyes. With the Bet365 promotion code in July 2024, you have the great opportunity to play Asian handicap bets. For an AHC tip (-2.25), an attractive 2.20 is offered in the Bet365 app as an example.
Predicted line-up of Ferencvaros Budapest:
Dibusz; Botka, Knoester, Cisse, Ramirez; Loncar, Abu Fani, A. Toth; Traore, Pesic, Kehinde
TNS – Statistics & current form
For the 16th time this millennium, The New Saints have had the chance to prove themselves in UEFA Champions League qualifying. The Welsh record champions are still waiting for their first appearance in the main draw of one of the now three European competitions. Last season, the club from Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain, a small town on the English border, were knocked out in the second round by Swedish representative BK Häcken. The score was 1:5 after the first and second legs.
In 2024/25, the club, which was founded just over 20 years ago, will once again be classified as a blatant underdog in the second qualifying round. If we look at the odds for progression ahead of the first of the two direct duels between Ferencvaros and TNS, this assessment is fully confirmed. Betano is offering 7.10 as the highest odds on the unpopular team unexpectedly making it through to the third round of the CL qualifiers for the first time in over ten years. Even with one of the many free bets without deposit, it takes a lot of imagination to justify such a risky bet
The New Saints know high-class opponents – but only from TV
On a positive note, however, The New Saints have already played two competitive games this season, unlike their upcoming opponents. In the past two weeks, the Welsh serial champions faced FK Decic Tuzi from Montenegro. After a 3-0 first-leg win at home, a 1-1 draw away was enough for them to progress. However, the Hungarians are now a completely different caliber, which is why the underdogs from Great Britain will need an absolute top performance to avoid losing all chances of progressing to the next round in the Groupama Aréna.
However, to put the quality of the squad into perspective, it should be mentioned that nine players in the Green & White line-up alone have a higher market value than the entire Welsh squad. Apart from that, TNS are not necessarily used to being challenged. The team of English head coach Craig Harrison ended the past season at home with 30 wins and two draws from 32 games. In the end, they finished 33 (!) points ahead of their “closest” rivals. With regard to a suitable Ferencvaros vs The New Saints prediction, it remains to be seen how the underdogs will react to resistance and unusual setbacks in a match.
Predicted line-up from TNS:
Roberts; Daniels, Pask, Bodenham, Davies; Brobbel, Clark, Redmond, Smith, Williams; Young
Ferencvaros Budapest – TNS head-to-head comparison / H2H result
Like many qualifying matches these days and weeks, the match between the Hungarian champions and the Welsh title-holders will be played at competitive level for the first time. There is therefore no need to consider the direct comparison. Perhaps the only thing worth mentioning is the fact that the league season in the country of the European Championship participant starts a week earlier than the season in Wales, which has been one-sided for many years.
Ferencvaros Budapest – TNS Tip
After an embarrassing 3-0 home defeat against KI Klaksvik in the first qualifying round in 2023/24, the Fradi increasingly became a home power. Of the seven international home games that followed, including against prominent teams such as the eventual Conference League finalists from Florence and Piraeus, only one was lost. Matches against Shamrock Rovers, Zalgiris and Cukaricki, meanwhile, were won easily and above all clearly.
In view of the change of coach this summer, any comparison should be treated with caution, but the results in recent years have undoubtedly shown that the Whites can cope well with the role of favorites at home. In the first leg of the second round of the CL qualifiers, new coach Jansen’s team will once again have a clear advantage. The betting odds on the three-way market between Ferencvaros Budapest and TNS are clearly in favor of the Hungarian champions for good reason:
In our opinion, the one-sided odds distribution is entirely justified. In addition to the home bonus, there is also a significant difference in quality. We therefore expect the home side to win by a clear margin and wouldn’t be surprised if FTC laid the foundations for a positive result in the first 45 minutes.
Our preferred approach between Ferencvaros and The News Saints is therefore to bet on the favorites taking a half-time lead with a difference of two or more goals. With high odds of 3.05 at Happybet, we choose a small bet of three units and refer to the Happybet test report, which reveals the strengths/weaknesses of the betting provider
