Plzen v Hearts

Viktoria Plzen vs Hearts Preview

Czech Republic hosts Viktoria Plzen will have first bite of the cherry in terms of home advantage on Thursday evening when they play host to Scottish Premiership club Hearts when the two teams do battle in the 1st leg of this Europa League play-off tie at the Doosan Aréna with Plzen bringing a solid looking eight-game unbeaten sequence into this clash, while Hearts will be looking to halt an eight-game winless run in all competitions.

Viktoria Plzen have picked up six wins during their recent eight-match unbeaten spell which includes home and away wins against Ukrainian side Kryvbas KR in the previous 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League with a 3-1 win on aggregate along with collecting four wins in the domestic top flight as well.

Czech Liga victories gained over the likes of Dukla Prague, Hradec Kralove, Karvina and a 3-0 win away from home at Ceske Budejovice on the weekend will give the upcoming hosts plenty of confidence that they can make the most of home advantage on Thursday night.

The bigger picture shows Viktoria Plzen have been dealt just the single defeat in their previous 14 games in all competitions, that being a 2-1 loss at home to Qarabag in a pre-season friendly but also includes picking up 10 wins in the process as well, while eight of these 14 games also saw Plzen keep clean sheets.

By contrast, Scottish visitors, Hearts, are currently stuck in the doldrums having failed to win any of their last eight matches in all competitions and having also slipped to five defeats within this period, The Jambos look to have a mountain to climb in this 1st leg clash at the Doosan Aréna on Thursday evening.

Defeats to Leyton Orient, Tottenham and Fleetwood Town in pre-season friendlies proved to be not great preparation for the forthcoming Scottish Premiership campaign as Hearts have also failed to win any of their opening three games of the new domestic season as well.

A creditable 0-0 draw at home with Rangers on the opening day of the season was followed by disappointing defeats at the hands of Dundee 3-1 away from home in the Premiership along with suffering a 2-0 loss on the road at Scottish Championship side Falkirk in the League Cup on the weekend.

The bigger picture shows Hearts have managed to pick up just one win from their previous 12 games in all competitions, slipping to seven defeats and failing to score in six of these matches as well.

Viktoria Plzen v Hearts Verdict

Viktoria Plzen have lost just twice in their last 15 home games in all competitions, picking up 10 wins and keeping nine clean sheets, so the prospect of both teams scoring here looks unlikely.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS No @ 1.83

Other side bets worth considering:

Viktoria Plzen win & BTTS No @ 2.50

Correct Score: Viktoria Plzen 2-0 @ 7.50