Kuban v Swansea: Second-half goals more likely than first

Swansea were stung by a stoppage-time Djibril Cisse equaliser when the sides met in the Europa League a fortnight ago and with the Welsh side hoping to keep things tight in the early exchanges in Russia, the game is more likely to come to life after the half-time whistle.

This is what the Europa League is all about, tea-time kick-offs in Russia. Swansea will have had plenty of time on the aeroplane to kick themselves too, as with moments to go in the first meeting at the Liberty, they looked like as if they were about to take complete control of Group A until conceding the penalty.

Michael Laudrup’s men still find themselves in command of the group though, on seven points, though the Dane would probably settle for a point in Krasnador – invitingly priced at 23/10 with Ladbrokes – given Kuban’s recent resurgence under their new Belarusian coach.

That trip to Wales was Viktor Goncharenko’s first game in charge of Kuban and he not only earned them their first point in Group A, but his new side’s domestic form has also improved dramatically.

In the intervening fixtures they’ve won back-to-back Russian Premier League games for the first time all season, including a derby-victory over city rivals FK Krasnador.

This renewed vigour could easily be enough to nudge punters towards the hosts’ price of 9/4 for victory, though Swansea’s 3-0 triumph in Valencia showed just what the Swans are capable of on the road.

Away from the thorny territory of predicting a winner though, one particularly prevalent pattern has emerged in Kuban’s recent fixtures, which is also the case in Swansea’s as well; more goals arriving in the second half, as was the case at the Liberty.

This eventuality can be backed at 21/10 and would have landed in six of Kuban’s last seven games in all competitions and three out of four of Swansea’s matches also.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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