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Rakow Czestochowa will welcome Sturm Graz to the ArcelorMittal Park for a UEFA Europa League fixture on Thursday.
The home side are coming into the game on the back of a comfortable 3-0 home win over Radomiak Radom at the same venue in the Polish Ekstraklasa over the weekend. Bigdan Racovitan scored a brace to inspire the victory.
Sturm Graz, meanwhile, claimed maximum points with a narrow 1-0 home win over Tirol in the Austrian Bundesliga on Sunday. Gregory Wuthrich's 44th-minute goal proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Die Schwoazn will turn their focus back to the continent where their opening game saw them fall to a 2-1 defeat on home turf against Sporting Lisbon despite having taken the lead. Rakow suffered a 2-0 loss against Atalanta in Bergamo.
The respective defeats left both sides on zero points in Group D, with Rakow bottom based on goal difference.
Rakow vs Sturm Graz Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the first meeting between the two sides.
- Rakow are facing Austrian opposition for the first time in their history.
- Sturm Graz have won just two of their last 17 games in European competition, losing 11. Furthermore, they have won just one of their last 10 away games in the Europa League (six losses).
- Five of Rakow's last six home games in all competitions have seen at least one side fail to find the back of the net.
- Sturm Graz are facing Polish opposition for the first time in their history.
- Sturm Graz failed to find the back of the net in eight of their last nine away Europa League defeats.
Rakow vs Sturm Graz Prediction
Rakow have had a meteoric rise in the last few years, having competed in the second division of Polish football just seven years ago. Since then, they have gone on to win a maiden league title and are competing in the group stage of a European competition for the first time in their history.
Sturm Graz are more experienced in that regard, although the Austrians have a particularly poor record on their travels. Both sides started the tournament with defeats and are underdogs on paper to make it to the knockout rounds. Third place in the group and a drop to the UEFA Europa Conference League is a more realistic probability.
We are backing the home side to claim a narrow win with goals at both ends.
Prediction: Rakow 2-1 Sturm Graz
Rakow vs Sturm Graz Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Rakow to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
