Lokomotiv Plovdiv (Home)
- The home side has not lost in five league games with three wins and two draws, including a 1-0 victory over Septemvri and a 0-0 draw at Beroe.
- Lokomotiv’s Dušan Kosič is a pragmatic coach from Slovenia who has built his team’s reputation on being very solid at the back.
- They have kept three clean sheets in the last five and conceded only two goals in that period, but they aren’t the sort of side that will sit back and rely on a one-goal lead.
Cherno More Varna (Away)
- The away side has not been as consistent, winning two, drawing one and losing two of their last five, with their 3-0 away win over Septemvri the highlight.
- Iliev’s strength is his ability to set up his side to be well-organised and he has a number of systems in his locker with the 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 the most commonly used.
Head-to-Head
- The two clubs have met 63 times in all competitions over the years and the head-to-head is evenly matched with Cherno More having won 27 times to Lokomotiv’s 25, with 11 draws.
- Four of the last five meetings have been decided by a single goal or drawn and the home team is currently ahead of Cherno More in the table with 46 points from 30 games compared to their guests’ 44.
Key Players
- Lokomotiv
- Parvizdzhon Umarbayev is the chief creator in the midfield with seven assists.
- Juan Esteban Perea is their primary striker and top goalscorer this season, while Joël Zwarts and Cătălin Itu have also contributed regularly.
- Cherno More
- Georgi Lazarov is their main goal threat, having scored between seven and eight times this season, but he has a knack of arriving at the right place at the right time and has scored some crucial goals.
- Asen Donchev and Vasil Panayotov are key creators for Cherno More, while Nikolay Zlatev can provide another option with five goals and a knack for making an impact as a substitute.
Betting Insights
Both teams have kept this fixture very tight in recent years with the last two meetings finishing 1-1 and both of these clubs have been defensively sound recently, so the ‘ Both teams to score - No ’ market at 1.72 is understandably a popular option for punters.
Prediction
- We think this will be a very tight game with neither manager taking any big risks.
- Lokomotiv will be missing key squad members through long-term injury and could also have a couple of suspensions, which could weaken them a little.
- Our overall selection is for the draw or Lokomotiv to win and for it to be a defensive affair, although we can’t rule out a 1-1 or 1-0 Lokomotiv win in the correct score markets.
