Bulgaria - Hungary predictions and free betting tips [16/11/2023]

On Thursday, 16th November, as part of the 9th round of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, the Bulgarian national team will meet the Hungarian national team. The hosts have openly failed this campaign and are last in Group G, while the Hungarians are leading the tournament table and have virtually secured a top-two finish.

Predicted Lineup

Bulgaria: Dyulgerov; Dimitrov, Antov, Petrov; Popov, Gruev, Chochev, Turitsov; Despodov, Borukov, Delev.  
Hungary: Dibusz; Balog, Lang, Szalai; Nego, Nagy, Styles, Kalmar; Csoboth, Szoboszlai; Nemeth.  

Stadium

The match will be held in Sofia at the Vasil Levski Stadium.

Bulgaria

Having failed to win since the start of the qualifiers (2 draws and 4 defeats), the Bulgarians rightfully occupy the last place in the tournament table. Striker Despodov scored the only 2 goals for this team in June in matches against Lithuania (1:1) and Serbia (1:1). Since then, the hosts have lost to Montenegro (2:1) and Lithuania (0:2). In October, Bulgaria also lost to Albania 2:0 in a friendly match, and the last victory of the Tricolors took place in Cyprus in November 2022 – since then, 9 matches have passed (3 draws and 6 defeats). The consequence of such depressing results was the resignation of head coach Mladen Krstajic, so now the team will be led by Ilian Iliev (who will continue to work as a coach of Cherno More Varna, which is currently battling for the championship title with Sofia's CSKA).

The hosts are coping with injuries to main defenders Hristov (Spezia) and Krastev (Catanzaro), as well as midfielder Yordanov (Ludogorets). Young players Galchev (22 years old, Levski Sofia), Petkov (20 years old, Levski Sofia), Stoyanov (22 years old, Hapoel Be'er Sheva) and Petkov (23 years old, Greuther Furth), who were present in October, have not been called up for this squad. Midfielder Kraev (Levski Sofia), who was sent off in the last round against Lithuania, will be disqualified. Bulgaria has only scored 3 times in 6 qualifying matches, and captain Despodov (PAOK, 10 goals in 43 matches) is the main striking force of the Tricolors. At the same time, Bulgaria has only conceded 10 goals, which may speak for a fairly coordinated defence.

Hungary

In recent years, the Hungarian national team has often pleased fans with positive results, and this allows the team to lead Group G of the current qualification. To guarantee their participation in Euro 2024, the guests only need to score one point, while the 1st place remains theirs (they have played one less match and scored one more point than the next following Serbia). Hungary is full of confidence in their abilities and so far, they have not suffered defeats during this campaign (4 victories and 2 draws). In the last round, they won a crucial match against the Serbian national team (2:1), but then had to settle for a draw against Lithuania (2:2). On the 67th minute, Dominik Szoboszlai reduced the arrears in the score, and on the 82nd minute, Barnabas Varga equalised with a precise shot.

The Magyars also lost only one of the last 10 away matches in all competitions. Several players of the Hungarian national team are unavailable due to injuries: these are defenders Orban (Leipzig) and Fiola (Fehervar), midfielder Kleinheisler (Panathinaikos), forwards Szalai (Freiburg, 12 goals) and Varga (Ferencvaros, 4 goals). Defending solidly, the team has conceded 4 goals in 6 rounds of this qualifying tournament. Defender Salai (Hoffenheim, 39 matches) and midfielder Szoboszlai (Liverpool, 8 goals in 36 matches) are the leaders of the guests and will definitely start on Thursday. Andras Nemet, who has not scored this season in 10 appearances for the national team, and Ujpest winger Kevin Csobot will be responsible for creativity in attack.

Head-to-head

In March, the Hungarians crushed Bulgaria 3:0 at home. The last time Bulgarians beat their upcoming opponent was way back in 2005.

Match prediction: Bulgaria - Hungary

Bulgaria's new head coach Iliev is hoping to please home fans in his very first game in his new post, but this will be quite difficult. Hungary is eager to secure their top spot in this group as soon as possible and get a ticket to Euro 2024. Half a year ago, the Southern team was unable to resist a more skilled opponent, so what will change this time? My forecast is a victory for the guests.