Ludogorets vs Real Betis Prediction: Both teams to bag in Razgrad

Ludogorets Razgrad made an ideal start to the league phase of the 2025/26 Uefa Europa League, beating Malmo 2-1 in Sweden last Wednesday. Their next opponents, Real Betis, could only draw 2-2 at home with Nottingham Forest on the same night.

Below are my Ludogorets vs Real Betis predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of Thursday's game at the Huvepharma Arena in Razgrad, Bulgaria (17:45 BST, TNT Sports 7).

Team News

Swedish right-back Joel Andersson (unspecified) was withdrawn in the 40th minute of Sunday's 3-0 victory over Montana in the Bulgarian First League, and looks set to miss out on Thursday's match. Anton Nedyalkov, who replaced Andersson against Montana, could earn a promotion to the starting XI, with the Bulgarian international likely to start at left-back, with Son moving over to right-back.

Georgi Terziev, Kwadwo Duah (both knee) and Aguibou Camara (unspecified) remain sidelined for Rui Mota's side.

Football Odds

As for Real Betis, Marc Bartra, Diego Llorente (both muscle), Nelson Deossa (ankle), Isco (broken leg) and Pablo Garcia (international duty) are unavailable.

Manuel Pellegrini is expected to make changes to the side that started Sunday's 2-0 win against Osasuna in La Liga, with Sergi Altimira, Junior Firpo, Angel Ortiz, Giovani Lo Celso and Cedric Bakambu all hopeful of beginning the game in Razgrad.

Today's Football Fixtures

Ludogorets vs Real Betis Odds

Despite beating Malmo in Sweden, Ludogorets are considered underdogs at home on Thursday, with odds of 7/2 for a victory implying a 22.2% probability of success. Last season's Uefa Conference League runners-up, Betis, are 4/5, or a 55.6% chance, to record their first league phase win of the campaign, with the draw priced at 13/5.

Visiting forwards Cucho Hernandez (6/4) and Bakambu (13/8), who opened the scoring against Forest last week, head the anytime goalscorer market. Eric Bille (13/5), who struck Ludogorets' second goal against Malmo, is first up for the hosts.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 4/5

Ludogorets struggled for points and goals in last season's UEL league phase, failing to win any of their eight games (D4, L4) and scoring just four times. They blanked in 2-0 home defeats to Slavia Prague and FC Midtjylland, and a loss by the same scoreline at Anderlecht, as well as in goalless draws against Viktoria Plzen and Lazio in the Czech Republic and Italy, respectively.

However, in their only match against Spanish opposition, Athletic Club, Ludogorets drew first blood, scoring in the 20th minute, only for Inaki Williams and Serrano to turn the contest around in the second half.

Thursday's hosts will be aware of the size of the task in front of them, with Betis enjoying a superb 2024/25 season, finishing sixth in La Liga and reaching the Conference League final, where they fell 4-1 to Chelsea.

However, Pellegrini's side aren't known for their defensive prowess, with both teams scoring in a league-high 71% (27) of their 38 games last term. The trend has continued in 2025/26, with 71.4% (five) of their opening seven La Liga contests seeing BTTS-Yes land.

Betis also exchanged four goals with Forest in their opening European encounter, and if we look back on their Conference League campaign last season, we can see league-phase defeats at Legia Warsaw (1-0) and Mlada Boleslav (2-1) in Poland and the Czech Republic, respectively, as well as a 1-1 draw away at Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok in the second leg of their quarter-final tie.

Ludogorets would back themselves against all three of those sides that scored and avoided defeat against Betis, so I like the look of BTTS-Yes in Thursday's game at 4/5, with the Spaniards finding the net in 15 of their 17 European outings in 2024/25.

Player to Receive a Card - Son (LUD) @ 4/1

When a player wins seven fouls, drawing three cards, as Real Betis winger Abde Ezzalzouli did in his side's 3-1 La Liga victory over Real Sociedad on September 19, you sit up and take notice.

The 23-year-old was fouled four times inside the first 26 minutes by Venezuelan right-back Jon Aramburu, who was issued a yellow for the last of those offences. La Real's right-sided centre-back, Igor Zubeldia, also went into the book for upending Ezzalzouli in the 54th minute, with midfielder Carlos Soler and Brais Mendez taking him down later on in the game; Soler was cautioned for his unfair challenge.

Ezzalzouli was fouled twice in his other two league appearances this season, a 2-2 draw with Levante on September 14, and last Sunday's 2-0 victory over Osasuna at the Estadio de La Cartuja, where he opened the scoring in the 19th minute.

Clearly, the Morocco international, who averaged 1.3 fouls won per game in last season's Uefa Conference League, despite only averaging 51 minutes on the pitch per match, is in a confident mood, and that should allow him to express himself further on Thursday in Razgrad.

Andersson would likely have started at right-back on Thursday, but after being taken off early on the weekend, it appears that Son may shift over from left-back, where he started the 2-1 victory over Malmo. Son is right-footed but has divided his time between right and left-back for Ludogorets.

The Spaniard has only been shown five yellows in 69 league appearances for the Eagles, averaging a card every 13.8 games, but in 28 European outings, spread across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, he has received six cautions and one red, averaging a card every four games.

Son was booked twice in six Champions League qualifiers last season and has already been cautioned in the Europa League this term. He committed a single foul against Malmo, but his yellow was for time-wasting in the 61st minute.

The 31-year-old averaged 0.9 fouls per game in the 2024/25 Europa League, but up against Ezzalzouli on Thursday, he might be forced to make multiple, so he looks great value to go into the book at 4/1.

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