Ludogorets vs Shkendija Prediction: Hosts to turn things around

Ludogorets have a first-leg deficit to try to turn around as they face Macedonian side Shkendija in the second leg of their Uefa Europa League playoff on Thursday (18:30 BST). Despite taking an early lead in Skopje last week, Ludogorets were undone by goals from Liridon Latifi and Besart Ibraimi either side of half-time to go down 2-1 to last season's Macedonian champions.

Read on for my Ludogorets vs Shkendija predictions, accompanied by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Mounir Chouiar started in a front three for Ludogorets in the first leg but was replaced by Bernard Tekpetey in the second half. Caio Vidal was an unused sub in the first leg, but the 24-year-old Brazilian could be in the mix for a start here.

Football Odds

Boss Rui Mota should name a familiar starting XI, with experienced campaigners like captain Anton Nedyalkov and Ivaylo Chochev – who came on last week – expected to start.

Today's Football Fixtures

Latifi and Ibraimi both scored in the first leg and are likely to return to the Shkendija first XI after making substitute appearances in the weekend stalemate against Arismi, when manager Jeton Beqiri elected to shuffle his pack.

Ludogorets vs Shkendija Odds

Ludogorets are hefty favourites at 3/10 to get a 90-minute victory in the second leg and 4/9 to win the tie overall. The visiting Shkendija are priced at 13/8, or a 38.1% chance, to convert their advantage into progress and 15/2 to win the second leg. The draw is priced at 4/1.

Ludogorets -1 @ 19/20

The home side are unbeaten in their last 18 games in Razgrad in all competitions and are deservedly favourites to land the win they need here.

They came up against a decent Ferencvaros side in the Champions League qualifiers and shouldn't be harshly judged on that defeat.

They are aiming to make the group/league phase of Europe's second-tier tournament for an eighth time and are established at this level.

Shkendija are looking to make it to that level for the first time. They won the first leg, but Ludogorets had more shots and more on target and can turn things around with a comfortable home win.

The visitors lost 5-1 at Qarabag in the Champions League qualifiers in their previous away European mission and could come unstuck again.

Both teams to score @ 11/10

This could be a relatively high-scoring encounter. Shkendija have found the net in seven of their last nine competitive games, including both legs of the Champions League qualifier against FCSB.

They hit the front in Qarabag this month too, but went on to suffer a 5-1 rout.

Ludogorets were blanked by a smart Ferencvaros side as they exited the Champions League, but, aside from the two legs against the Hungarian side, they have scored in eight of their other 10 competitive games this term.

Offers

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