Matchday 5 of the Europa League 2024/25 group stage between Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) and Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) will take place on November 28 at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany. Dynamo Kyiv vs. Viktoria Plzen: prediction and betting odds, statistics.
Predicted lineups for Dynamo Kyiv vs. Viktoria Plzen
Dynamo Kyiv (4-3-3): Georgiy Bushchan – Kristian Bilovar, Taras Mykhailko, Oleksandr Karavayev, Vladyslav Dubinchak – Mykola Shaparenko, Volodymyr Brazhko, Vitaliy Buyalskyi – Nazar Voloshyn, Vladyslav Kabayev, Vladyslav Vanat.
Viktoria Plzen (3-5-2): Martin Jedlicka – Vaclav Jemelka, Svetozar Markovic, Jan Paluska – Milan Havel, Lukas Cerv, Pavel Sulc, Lukas Kalvach, Cadu Cruz – Erik Jirka, Prince Kwabena Adu.
The starting lineup for each team is based on their previous match in this tournament.
Dynamo Kyiv
The Ukrainians are at the bottom of the Europa League group stage standings. After four rounds, Dynamo has not earned a single point, similar to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Additionally, Kyiv remains the only team yet to score in the main stage of this European competition. In the last round, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi's side suffered a 0-4 defeat against Ferencvaros, marking their second heavy loss in the tournament. Earlier, the club lost 0-3 to Lazio.
Defender Vladyslav Dubinchak will miss the game due to a red card in the last match.
- Dynamo is on a five-match losing streak in the Europa League.
- The club has conceded first in their last 12 matches in this tournament.
- The Ukrainians have failed to score in 9 of their last 12 Europa League games.
Viktoria Plzen
Unlike their opponents, the Czechs are unbeaten in the main stage of the Europa League 2024/25. However, their first victory came only in the last match, defeating Real Sociedad 2-1 at home. Prior to that, Viktoria had three consecutive draws. With six points, Miroslav Koubek's team is in 16th place, three points behind the top eight.
- The club's unbeaten run in this tournament stands at eight matches (5 wins and 3 draws).
- A maximum of three goals have been scored in 18 of Viktoria's last 20 Europa League games.
- In 6 of the Czechs' last 7 Europa League matches, the first half ended in a draw.
Dynamo Kyiv vs. Viktoria Plzen: Match Prediction
Kyiv has been disappointing in this Europa League campaign. The team has lost all four rounds and hasn't scored a single goal. While the initial three losses could be attributed to facing teams from top leagues, the heavy defeat by the Hungarians showed that the team is not fully committed to playing in the group stage. It's worth noting that before the match against Ferencvaros, Ukrainian clubs had not lost to Hungarian teams in European competitions (12 wins and 1 draw).
I believe the Ukrainians have already resigned themselves to the fact that achieving anything significant in this European competition is unlikely. In their last 12 matches in this tournament, they have suffered 11 defeats and one draw. The lack of motivation could be exploited by the Czechs, who have yet to lose, even against Bundesliga and La Liga representatives. Interestingly, in the qualification for the group stage, Viktoria defeated another UPL representative, Kryvbas, in two matches (2-1 and 1-0).
My prediction – Viktoria Plzen with a handicap (0)
