Zorya vs Rapid Vienna prediction, preview, team news and more | Europa League 2021-22 playoffs
Zorya welcome Rapid Vienna to Slavutych-Arena for the second leg of their Europa League playoff tie on Thursday.
The visitors hold the advantage in the tie, having picked up a 3-0 victory on home soil last week. Taxiarchis Fountas, Ercan Kara and Marco Grull all got on the scoresheet for the Austrian side.
Rapid Vienna followed up that victory with another 3-0 home win over Ried in the Austrian Bundesliga on Sunday. Kara and Grull once again found the back of the net before Robert Ljubicic completed the rout with an 81st-minute strike.
Zorya followed up last week's defeat by edging a seven-goal thriller with a 4-3 away victory over Mariupol in the Ukrainian Premier League. Shahab Zahedi starred with a brace in the victory.
The winner of this tie will secure qualification to the group stage of the Europa League, while the loser drops down to the Europa Conference League group stage.
Zorya vs Rapid Vienna Head-to-Head
Last week's meeting was the first clash between the two sides and Rapid Vienna's convincing victory put them in control of the tie.
The capital side have been in fine form and have won four of their last six games in all competitions. Zorya have two wins from their last six games in all competitions.
Zorya form guide (all competitions): W-L-D-L-W
Rapid Vienna form guide (all competitions): W-W-L-L-W
Zorya vs Rapid Vienna Team News
Zorya
There are no known injuries or suspension worries for the hosts.
Injuries: None
Suspension: None
Rapid Vienna
Oliver Strun and Christopher Dibon have both been sidelined by injuries.
Injuries: Oliver Strun, Christopher Dibon
Suspension: None
Zorya vs Rapid Vienna Predicted XI
Zorya Predicted XI (4-4-2): Mykyta Shevchenko; Juninho, Maksym Imerokov, Vitaliy Vernydub, Denys Favorov; Vladyslav Kochergin, Yehor Nazaryna, Vladislav Kabaev, Artem Gromov; Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Sergiy Buletsa
Rapid Vienna Predicted XI (4-4-2): Richard Strebinger; Maxmilian Ullmann, Maximilian Hofmann, Leo Greiml, Filip Stojkovic; Marco Grull, Srdjan Grahovac, Robert Ljubicic, Kelvin Aratse; Ercan Kara, Taxiarchis Fountas
Zorya vs Rapid Vienna Prediction
Zorya need at least three goals to qualify and this puts them in the untenable situation of being forced to go all out in attack. This would leave space for Rapid Vienna to exploit and the visitors have enough quality to take advantage.
We are predicting another victory for Dietmar Kuhbauer's side, albeit by a narrow margin with goals at both ends.
Prediction: Zorya 1-2 Rapid Vienna
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