Having won their first four Europa League games in style, Vojvodina will be brimming with confidence when they host Bursaspor at packed Stadion Karadjordje. The Turkish giants, on the other hand, will be hoping their superior quality and experience is going to compensate for the somewhat poor energy levels.

Vojvodina on fire

Ever since the ambitious businessman Ratko Butorovic was appointed club president, Vojvodina have been closing the gap behind Serbian giants Partizan and Crvena Zvezda, and even though he has unfortunately passed away recently, the club have continued their uptrend. After some average coaches failed to get the maximum out of some excellent players, club chiefs finally made the right decision when they appointed Marko Nikolic, who has impressed at the start of his career in Novi Sad. While experiencing some problems in the clash with Hibernians of Malta due to the fact their pre-season training had only started, Vojvodina looked much better against Hungarian giants Honved, recording a 5-1 aggregate victory to set up a clash with Bursaspor. While new goalkeeper Matej Delac, on loan from Chelsea, has added much needed stability to the back line, chances are the team will be even more lethal up front now that by far the best striker in Serbian Superleague Aboubakar Oumarou is set to return from injury. Seeing as how Enver Alivodic, Stojan Vranjes and Petar Skuletic are also going to give the visiting defenders all sorts of headaches, I seriously doubt Bursaspor will be able to keep a clean sheet in Novi Sad. It is highly unlikely the hosts will be scared of their more illustrious opponents, but they can rather be expected to stay true to their attack-minded approach.

New signings Andrija Kaludjerovic, Janko Tumbasevic and Nikola Lekovic are in line for debuts, but Stefan Denkovic and Ivan Fatic are ineligible. Bojan Nastic is banned, while Mijat Gacinovic is away on international duty.

Hardly a walk in the park for Bursaspor

Just like their next opponents, Bursaspor have done really well to disrupt the usual order at the top of their domestic league, having even won the Turkish Super Lig title for the first time in their history in 2010. The team looked pretty good last term, finishing the league campaign in fourth place, albeit just six points behind second-placed Fenerbahce. However, the Green Crocodiles appear to be readying a fresh assault on the Super Lig title, having attracted some high-profile players this summer. Seasoned footballers Sebastien Frey, Renato Civelli and Taye Taiwo were among those to have arrived at the club, although Maurice Edu and Scott Carson both left. With new players obviously needing some time to adapt to the new surroundings, Bursa have been pretty disappointing in pre-season, conceding no less than nine goals in friendlies against Dortmund and Frankfurt. And while they should look a little bit better some two weeks later, it is perfectly clear they are still far from the desired form and can, therefore, be expected to struggle in Novi Sad, especially at the back. Meanwhile, the likes of Batalla, Belluschi, Sestak and Pinto should find a way to Matej Delac’s goal.

There are no fresh injury worries for boss Hkmet Karaman, although Ozan Ipek remains sidelined through injury.

Verdict

Vojvodina have been quite impressive up front in the first two qualifying rounds and with top scorer Oumarou back to the side and packed Stadion Karadjordje behind them, I can see the hosts scoring at least one goal. Sheer individual quality of Bursaspor players should help the visitors record a good result ahead of the return leg, but it is important to note their back line has been conceding goals for fun of late.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   2.00 (1/1) @ William Hill

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.73 (8/11) @ bet365

Alternative pick 2: Draw   3.40 (12/5) at BetVictor

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