Real Betis and Zenit St. Petersburg face off on Thursday in the second leg of their Group of 16 Europa League showdown at Benito Villamarín Stadium.
When these two teams faced off last Thursday it was Real Betis that came away with the 3-2 victory. Guardo Rodriguez opened up the scoring in the 8th minute, and they added two more goals in the 41st minute. Zenit scored two goals in the first 28 minutes, but it wasn’t enough as the defense let them down. There were zero goals scored in the second half of that game. Real Betis had only 37 percent of the possession, but they were still able to win. Real Betis is in a great position leading in aggregate and also having three away goals under their belt.
Real Betis is playing some really good soccer heading into this game having won four games in a row but they have also given up at least one goal in each of those games. In the last game against Mallorca, Real Betis was able to win 2-1. Real Betis jumped out to an easy lead, but it was the goal in the 83rd minute that was the difference in coming away with the victory. On the season, Real Betis has scored 47 goals total while their defense has given up 30 goals. Juanmi has been the best player all season scoring 12 goals and adding one assist. There are five different players that have scored at least four goals.
On the other side of this matchup is Zenit St. Petersburg who have their backs against the wall coming into this game. The last game for Zenit actually came against Real Betis, so they are at least well-rested coming into this game. Zenit has scored 44 goals total while the defense has given up 20 goals in the Russian Premier League. Artem Dzyuba has been the best player for Zenit scoring 10 goals and adding four assists.
Real Betis has been scoring goals, but their defense has been an issue still, and I expect there will be plenty of scoring in this game. Real Betis is going to score a goal or two, but Zenit will push numbers forward and find a way to score a goal or two. Back the over to 2.5 to cash.