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FC Corvinul Hunedoara play host to Rijeka in the second round of the Europa League qualifiers on Thursday. The Croatian outfit will journey to the Michael Klein Stadium looking to secure an early march on the hosts and begin the new campaign on a high.
Corvinul Hunedoara kicked off their quest to make history in the Europa League as they picked up a 4-2 aggregate victory over Hungarian side Paksi FC in the first qualifying round.
While Florin Maxim’s men suffered a 2-0 second-leg defeat in Romania last Thursday, an emphatic 4-0 win in the first leg was enough to see them through the first round.
While Corvinul are currently in the Romanian second tier, they booked their spot in the Europa League qualifiers after a shock penalty shootout victory over SC Oțelul Galați in the cup final on May 15.
Elsewhere, Simun Butic came up clutch for Rijeka as he netted an 86th-minute equalizer to hand them a 1-1 draw with Triglav Kranj in their final warm-up game.
This wrapped up a decent pre-season for Zeljko Sopic’s men, who picked up three wins and one draw while losing twice in their six friendly matches.
Rijeka will head into the 2024-25 campaign looking to improve their performance from last season as they finished second in the Croatian HNL and suffered a 3-1 aggregate defeat against Dinamo Zagreb in the cup final.
FC Corvinul Hunedoara vs Rijeka Head-To-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the first meeting between Corvinul Hunedoara and Rijeka, who will both be looking to begin their head-to-head record on a positive note.
- Corvinul Hunedoara have lost all but one of their last six games across all competitions, with the 4-0 victory over Paksi on July 11 being the exception.
- Rijeka have failed to win their last four competitive away matches, losing three and claiming one draw since April’s 2-0 victory at Istra.
- Corvinul Hunedoara are unbeaten in 10 of their 11 home games this year, claiming nine wins and one draw so far.
FC Corvinul Hunedoara vs Rijeka Prediction
While Corvinul Hunedoara will look to continue from where they left off in the first round, they will need to be at their best against a significantly superior side in Rijeka.
However, Rijeka boast the firepower needed to get the job done and we are backing them to secure a comfortable first-leg victory.
Prediction: FC Corvinul Hunedoara 1-3 Rijeka
FC Corvinul Hunedoara vs Rijeka Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Rijeka to win
Tip 2: First to score - Rijeka (The hosts have conceded the opening goal in seven of their last eight games)
Tip 3: Over 4.5 cards - No (There have also been fewer than five bookings in five of Corvinul’s last six matches)
