Preview:Ludogorets Razgrad vs Real Betis - prediction, team news, lineups

Spanish side Real Betis will travel to the Huvepharma Arena in Bulgaria for Thursday's Europa League clash against Ludogorets Razgrad.

The hosts started the league phase with a narrow win over Malmo, while Betis played out an entertaining draw with Nottingham Forest on matchday one.

Match preview

Ludogorets are competing in the Europa League main draw for a second consecutive season after negotiating a playoff round tie against Shkendija.

The Eagles, who dropped down from Champions League qualifying, overturned a 2-1 first-leg deficit with a 4-1 extra-time victory over the North Macedonian side in the return leg.

Rui Mota's side went on to kick off their league phase campaign with a 2-1 away victory against Malmo, which came courtesy of first-half efforts from Petar Stanic and Yves Eric Bile.

They followed that impressive result with a dominant 3-0 home win in Sunday's league clash with Montana, stretching their unbeaten run to six matches in all competitions (W4, D2).

Ludogorets will have their work cut out to extend their undefeated streak on Thursday, having lost all nine of their previous European encounters against Spanish opposition.

However, they can at least take confidence from the fact that they have not lost a competitive home game since suffering a 2-0 Europa League defeat to Midtjylland in January.

Betis are hoping to enjoy another strong European campaign after finishing as runners-up in last season's Conference League.

Los Verdiblancos kicked off their fourth Europa League campaign in five seasons with a hard-fought 2-2 against Nottingham Forest at La Cartuja.

The Andalusian side appeared to be heading towards a 2-1 defeat until Antony netted an 85th-minute winner to rescue a point for his team.

Betis scored a couple of more goals in Sunday's La Liga home clash against Osasuna, which saw Abde Ezzalzouli and Cucho Hernandez find the net in a 2-0 victory, making it four competitive games without defeat since losing to Athletic Club at the end of August.

After moving up to sixth spot in La Liga, Manuel Pellegrini's charges will now turn their focus to their first meeting with Ludogorets since the two sides faced off in the 2022-23 Europa League group stage, when Betis recorded 3-2 and 1-0 victories.

However, their hopes of claiming a third consecutive head-to-head win may be tempered by the fact that they have drawn all three of their away matches this season.

Ludogorets Razgrad Europa League form:

Ludogorets Razgrad form (all competitions):

W W D D W W

Real Betis Europa League form:

Real Betis form (all competitions):

D L D W D W

Team News

The hosts remain without the injured Aguibou Camara, while Georgi Terziev and Kwadwo Duah have not been included in the league phase squad due to their respective injury issues.

Defender Joel Andersson is a doubt for matchday two after being forced off in the first half of Sunday's league win over Montana.

Bile will be looking to score in a third consecutive European game when he leads the line in Thursday's home fixture.

As for the visitors, they will head to Bulgaria without the injured quartet of Marc Bartra, Diego Llorente, Isco and Nelson Deossa.

Pablo Garcia is also unavailable for selection, with the youngster representing Spain at the Under-20 World Cup in Chile.

Alvaro Valles is expected to replace Pau Lopez in goal, while Angel Ortiz, Junior Firpo, Sergi Altimira and Cedric Bakambu are also options to start on Thursday.

Ludogorets Razgrad possible starting lineup:

Padt; Son, Almeida, Kurtulus, Nedyalkov; Naressa, Stanic, Duarte; Marcus, Vidal, Bile

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Valles; Oritz, Natan, Gomez, Firpo; Amrabat, Altimira; Antony, Fornals, Ezzalzouli; Bakambu

We say: Ludogorets Razgrad 1-1 Real Betis

Betis are yet to record back-to-back victories this season, and having drawn all three of their opening away matches, we think that there will be another draw in Thursday's contest, especially as Ludogorets have not lost a competitive home game since January.

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