Dinamo Zagreb vs Dynamo Kiev

December 3, 2012
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Dinamo Zagreb are still searching for their first points in this year’s Champions League, and they remain the only team in European competitions not to have scored a goal in group stage. Dynamo Kiev may be through to Europa League, but the Ukrainians will see this match as an excellent opportunity to improve their record on European travels.

Can Dinamo score a goal?

Dinamo Zagreb have been investing considerable amounts of money into the playing squad over the years, but the shocking atmosphere around the club as well as the poor rapport with fans have proved to be huge problems this season. Weak domestic competition and the lack of big matches in Croatian HNL also prevented the team from giving their best in Europe, but the reality is this team don’t have enough quality to mix it up with some of Europe’s best sides. Having lost all five Champions League group games, failing to score a single goal and conceding 13 in the process, Dinamo Zagreb will be very motivated to show some improvement against Dynamo Kiev, but I just don’t see how they are going to match their more illustrious opponents. New coach Krunoslav Jurcic did record a victory in his first game, but his players will have to play a perfect match if they are to stop Dynamo from winning in Zagreb.

Apart from Ivan Peko and Jerko Leko, boss Jurcic will have fully fit squad to choose from, with 16-year-old Alen Halilovic likely to feature at some point.

Good value on Dynamo Kiev

Dynamo Kiev have become regular in Champions League group stages, but they had the misfortune of being placed alongside European giants Porto and PSG. While showing a lot of potential in the process, the Ukranians just couldn’t do enough to remain in the race for a place in the next stage, but they have at least secured their place in Europa League last 32 round. After losing at home to PSG, Dynamo recorded four-goal wins over Arsenal Kiev and Hoverla, proving they are slowly raising their form. With boss Oleg Blokhin seeing the Dinamo game as a good opportunity to extend the winning run and further improve the atmosphere in the team, we can expect another solid showing from the Ukrainians. The experienced boss has a very big squad to choose from and the back-up players that do get a chance to start are expected to give their best to impress the boss.

Oleg Blokhin is expected to rest several starters in this match, with Ognjen Vukojevic, Admir Mehmedi and Marco Ruben all expected to start.

Verdict

With their fans continuing to boycott the team, Dinamo Zagreb cannot count on home field advantage in their attempt to avoid finishing the campaign without a single goal scored. Dynamo Kiev are expected to take this game seriously, which makes away win a very good option here.

Top pick: Away win   2.05 (21/20) @ Coral

Alternative pick 1: Dynamo Kiev to win to nil   4.00 (3/1) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 2: Under 2.5 goals   2.10 (11/10) @ Sportingbet

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