Preview: Petrocub Hincesti vs. Real Betis

La Liga side Real Betis will head on their travels for Thursday’s Conference League encounter with Moldovan champions Petrocub Hincesti.

The Spanish side are sitting in 22nd place in the league phase, while the hosts are languishing in 34th position with just a point to their name.

Match preview

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Petrocub have struggled to adapt to their first appearance in the main draw of a UEFA competition, having drawn one and lost three of their four matches in the Conference League.

The Moldovan side began the league phase with three consecutive European defeats against Pafos, Jagiellonia Bialystok and Rapid Vienna, before they finally got on the board with a 1-1 away draw against Istanbul Basaksehir.

They appeared to be heading to a narrow defeat until Ion Bors netted a 96th-minute equaliser to ensure that his side returned from Turkey with a point to show for their efforts.

While they have may avoided defeat, Petrocub still have significant work to do in their final two matches against Betis and Hearts if they are to have any hope of closing the three-point gap to the top 24.

With their domestic league on a winter break, Andrei Martin‘s side have not played a match since they drew with Istanbul Basaksehir on November 27, and they will hope that extra time off can help them claim their first-ever victory in the main draw of a UEFA competition.

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Betis will have experienced an underwhelming European campaign up until this point, with their four league phase games producing one win, one draw and two defeats.

After taking a point from their first two matches, Betis required a 94th-minute winner to claim a much-needed 2-1 victory against Celje on matchday three.

Unfortunately for Los Verdiblancos, they came out the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline in their most recent European outing, giving up an early lead to fall to a narrow defeat to Mlada Boleslav in Czechia, leaving them just inside the top 24 on goal difference.

However, Betis’ struggles have not been confined to European competition, having won just one of their previous six competition matches, with that sole victory taking place against fourth-tier Sant Andreu in the Copa del Rey.

In fact, Los Verdiblancos are winless in five La Liga matches, but they would have taken some confidence from Saturday’s hard-fought 2-2 draw against Barcelona, which came courtesy of Assane Diao‘s stoppage-time equaliser.

Manuel Pellegrini will now want his side to build upon that result as they look to claim their first away point in the Conference League this season.

Petrocub Hincesti Conference League form:

Petrocub Hincesti form (all competitions):

Real Betis Conference League form:

Real Betis form (all competitions):

Team News

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Dumitru Bivol, Nicky Clescenco and Constantin Sandu have been left out of Petrocub’s European squad, making them ineligible for Thursday’s home fixture.

Attacker Dan Puscas is pushing for a starting berth following his appearance as a half-time substitute against Basaksehir.

Bors is also hoping to claim a spot in the Petrocub lineup after coming off the bench to net a late equaliser on matchday four.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Hector Bellerin, Marc Roca, Nobel Mendy and William Carvalho, while Rui Silva is unlikely to feature after he picked up an injury in the warm-up against Barcelona.

Betis are also expected to be without the services of midfielder Johnny Cardoso and attacker Pablo Fornals due to muscle issues.

Meanwhile, Argentina international Giovani Lo Celso will miss the final two league phase games through suspension after being sent off in the closing stages against Mlada Boleslav.

Petrocub Hincesti possible starting lineup:
Smalenea; Potirniche, Mudrac, Douanla; Jardan, Platica, Diallo, Lungu, Bors; Puscas, Ambros

We say: Petrocub Hincesti 1-2 Real Betis

Betis have won just one of their four matches in the league phase, but we still think that they will have the quality required to claim all three points on Thursday, especially as Petrocub have lost three of their four games in the Conference League.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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