Valur vs Dinamo Zagreb

Valur’s hopes of maintaining their Champions League journey are on the line as they welcome Dinamo Zagreb to the Hlídarendi, trailing 3-2 from the first leg.

Despite trailing 3-0 in the 88th minute of their first-leg clash, Valur pulled two goals back to keep this qualifying last-16 tie alive. However, a loss in Zagreb halted Valur’s five-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W4, D1). Also, it was only the second time in their last ten games that they conceded more than once, a sequence that yielded just four clean sheets, though. Encouragingly, though, the ‘Valsarar’ have netted 2+ goals in three of their last four competitive outings, with six of their seven strikes in that spread of games coming in the second half of play. Additionally, the hosts come into this showdown on the back of a stunning 25-match unbeaten streak on home soil (W19, D6), a run they embarked on back in June 2020.

On the other hand, the visitors are enjoying a purple patch of their own, having put together 15 consecutive games without losing since a 2-1 away loss to Villarreal in the 2020/21 Europa League quarter-finals (W12, D3). If considering just competitive matches, the reigning Croatian champions have won their last four outings in a row, notably scoring 3+ goals on three occasions. Supreme first-half performers, the ‘Blues’ won the first half by over 1.5 goals ‘to nil’ three times in that four-game sequence. Equally impressive away from home, Damir Krznar’s men have racked up a seven-fixture unbeaten run on the road, netting over 1.5 goals in the last four on the spin (W5, D2), including friendlies.