With the Europa Conference League reaching Matchday 6, the reformed 36-team League Phase is beginning to take shape, with what will be required to qualify for the next stage becoming clearer.
As was expected at the outset of the tournament, Chelsea lead the table with five wins from five.
As you trickle down the table, you see a common characteristic of this format, with clutches of three, four, and sometimes five teams all on the same amount of points, making every single fixture crucial to teams’ final position.
With that being the case, it’s difficult to predict where teams will end up, but if you fancy a football bet, the only place to go is betFIRST. Whatever you bet preference, we have the latest odds and loads of markets to choose from, and new customers can get a Welcome Offer to help them get started.
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Vitoria to draw with Fiorentina @ 3.15
It’s 2nd vs 3rd in what has turned out to be the headline fixture of Matchday 6, as Vitoria meet Fiorentina. Vitoria, who are 2nd, remain one of only three unbeaten teams (alongside Chelsea and Shamrock Rovers) so far in the competition, putting themselves forward as a contender for the nascent European trophy.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, have been a contender for this trophy in the past two seasons, eventually being beaten in the 2023 and 2024 finals by West Ham and Olympiacos, respectively. Of course, they’ll be aiming to go one further but with those psychological scars and a Chelsea team looking stronger than they’ve been for a while, it will be a tough task.
We think a draw will suit both teams in the grand scheme of things, with both very likely to secure a top 8 finish should they grab one more win.
Rapid Vienna to draw with Copenhagen @ 3.20
Both of these teams sit among the play-off qualification places, with Rapid in 9th and Copenhagen in 16th. And it has been a bitterly disappointing display from the Danish team, especially when you recall that they were in the Champions League group stage just last year, finishing 2nd in a group containing Bayern, Manchester United and Galatasaray.
Conversely, Rapid have perhaps overperformed expectations so far, accumulating 10 points from five games and putting themselves within touching distance of a top 8 finish that would see them qualify for the Round of 16.
However, we think it’s about time Copenhagen got their act together and started playing to their level in this competition, so we think they’ll be able to grab a draw in Vienna
Cercle Brugge to beat Basaksehir @ 1.95
One of the two Belgian representatives in the Conference League comes from Cercle Brugge, who have made a good impression in its early stages. They occupy 7th place in the League Phase table, putting them in an excellent position to qualify for the Round of 16.
Turkish outfit Basaksehir started their Conference League campaign slowly with two consecutive defeats that has had them fighting an uphill battle ever since. And we believe that struggle will continue as we see a home win for Cercle Brugge in this encounter.
Gent to beat Larne FC @ 1.15
The other Belgian team in the competition, Gent, are just one point behind Cercle Brugge but five places, showing the compactness of teams throughout the league. Matchday 6 sees them face bottom of the table Larne, so will be expecting to increase their points tally by three.
Larne are without a point and seemingly without a hope in this game and the competition, more widely. An easy win for Gent, even away from home.
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