The 1st leg of the UEFA Europa League qualification stage will take place this Thursday, June 29th. With a loaded schedule of 50 games and 100 teams getting ready to showcase their talents, it will be extremely hard to decide which games to cover and provide you with some chance to win some money. Therefore, we have decided to combine 4 matchups per post so that you get exposed to as many betting opportunities as possible. In this post we will cover the games between Skendebereu (Albania) vs. Sant Julia (Andorra), Norrkoping (Sweden) vs. Prishtina (Kosovo), Midtjylland (Denmark) vs. Derry City (Ireland) and Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) who will host the KF Tirana (Albania).
Skendebereu (ALB) vs. Sant Julia (AND)
3-Way: 1: Skendebereu -1000; X: ++1050 Draw; 2: Sant Julia +3515
Spread -2.5: Skendebereu -118; Sant Julia +124
Total +3.5: Over -125; Under +125
Skendebereu Korce
The young team from Albania will have the chance to play in front of the Albanian adepts on Thursday by the 1st leg of Europa League qualification stage. The team will face the Saint Julia from Andorra.
Skendebereu finished the last season at the 3rd position in the Albanian Super League with a total of 72 points, three points behind the champion Kukesi and after losing only 6 games in the entire season.
On Thursday night, Skendebereu will step onto the pitch after having played 2 friendly matches during the break. The team lost in Hungary by 0:1 to Fehervar, and a draw against the Macedonian club Rabotnicki (1:1).
The main player of the team is the attacker Hamdi Salihi, 33 years old. He was one of the top scores in the Albanian Super League last season, scoring 15 goals in 33 games.
Skendebereu also put high hopes in the Albanian national team midfielder Liridon Latifi, 23 years old, who scored 11 goals in 34 games last season.
Sant Julia
On the other side of the pitch will be the Sant Julia team from Andorra. The visitors are fully aware that they will have a tough game against the Skendebereu Korce in the 1st leg of the Europa League qualification stage.
The San Julia team is considered an older team. Most of the semi-professional players are above 30 years old. The squad is formed mostly by foreign players.
The team ended their at the 2nd position in the Andorra national league. Not bad, right??? But for those who are not very familiar with the league, it is a league with only 8 teams competing.
The main player of Sant Julia is the defender Sebastian Varela, the 37 years old international from Uruguay. He is also the player with most international games (16 games).
The Sant Julia team has not played any games since they finished their regular season in May.
Skendebereu (ALB) vs. Sant Julia (AND) – Match Prediction
The Skendebereu has a tremendous advantage against Sant Julia. Even not playing in one of the best leagues of Europe, the Albanian league at least can be considered a professional one and much more competitive compared to the Top league in Andorra. The win for the home side will not come in question, so therefore I will stay away from suggesting a bet in that direction. Rather, I will lay down some money on the total. The 3.5 goals looks very tempting and although both teams will be pretty raw going into this contest, I expect the hosts to shoot the lights out and top the over 3.5 goals.
MY PICK: Over 3.5 goals (-125)
Norrkoping (SWE) vs. Prishtina (KOS)
3-Way: 1: Norrkoping -476; X: +800 Draw; 2: Prishtina +1800
Spread -2.5: Norrkoping +110; Prishtina -118
Total +4: Over -104; Under -119
Norrkoping
The Sweden team is used to playing in the UEFA’s Europa League and even the Champions League competition. The team is already playing the main season in the Swedish National league, having already played 13 games. Norrkoping is currently holding the 2nd position, with 8 wins, 3 draws and only 2 losses. So far, they have scored 21 goals and allowed 12.
The main player of the team is the attacker Karl Holmberg, 24 years old. He is the top scorer of the team this season so far, with 6 goals in 13 appearances, and also one of the top scorers of the Swedish Allsvenskan league.
Norrkoping will enter this contest with a decent form in recent league matches (4 wins and 1 draw) during which they have scored a total of 9 and conceded only 3 goals.
Prishtina
The team from Kosovo is considered a very young team, with most of the players between 19 and 23 years old. The team finished the previous season at the 2nd position of the Kosovo national league. According to the available resources, the team from Kosovo played their last competitive game back in May, so the game on Thursday will surely be a great test for this young unit.
Prishtina will mostly rely on the defensive unit in hope to keep a good score going into the return fixture. During the last season, the team has allowed only 18 goals in 33 rounds played, while offensively, the scoring unit provided a total of 46 goals. The team clipped 22 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses during the last season, but came 5 points behind the top ranked Trepca 89 team.
Important to note is the fact that the teams is made mostly from the National players.
Norrkoping (SWE) vs. Prishtina (KOS) – Match Prediction
Two teams with a totally different style of play will face-off on Thursday in the qualifying round of the Europa League at the Nya Parken stadium. On one side it will be the hosts who prefer a more offensive oriented style of play, while on the other side, the visitors will stick to their game plan and force a defensive oriented game. The total for this game is set at 4, but expecting the visitors to tighten their defense, I will take the under 4 goals.
MY PICK: Under 4 goals (-104)
Midtjylland (DEN) vs. Derry City (IRL)
3-Way: 1: Midtjylland -476; X: +650 Draw; 2: Derry City +1600
Spread -2: Midtjylland -106; Derry City -106
Total +3.5: Over +118; Under -128
Midtjylland
Midtjylland will host Derry City in the 1st leg of the UEFA Europa League qualification stage. The Danish team will look to collect valuable International experience on Thursday night, considering that they were formed not that long ago (1999).
The team finished their last season at the 5th spot of the Danish Superliga. In 26 games played, the team collected 10 wins, 8 draws and 8 losses. It was a very average campaign, considering that the team finished only two positions above the relegation zone.
The main player of the team, without a doubt, is the veteran Dutch player Rafael Van der Vaart, 34 years old. The team will need his best football to achieve great result on Thursday. The team will also put a lot of faith in the young Nigerian player, Ebere Onuachu, 23 years old. He was the best scorer for the team last season with 18 goals in 33 appearances.
The team comes from two friendly games, winning both. In one of the games, against the semi-professional team Brande IF, the team won by 10:0.
Derry City
The renowned Irish team, Derry City, will not have it easy against Midtjylland.
One of the things that could go in favor of the Irish team is the fact that they have already played 19 games in the domestic competition and should have already reached their best form.
Currently they are holding the 5th spot of the Irish Premier Division, having won only 28 points, 27 points behind the top ranked Cork City. In those 19 games played so far, Derry City has scored 29 goals, while conceding 22.
During the last season, the team finished ranked 3rd, winning 17 games, while also collecting 11 draws and 5 losses (scoring 48 and conceding 29 goals).
The main player of the team is the attacker Rory Patterson, 32 years old, from North Ireland. He was the top scorer of the team last season, scoring 17 goals in 32 appearances. But this season he hasn’t scored yet. The team is in need of his goals this season and especially going into the Europa League Thursday’s matchup. Barry McNamee is the teams best scorer this season with 7 goals.
The team comes from 2 losses suffered in the domestic league, a 1:2 home loss to Cork City and a 2:3 away loss to Bray.
Midtjylland (DEN) vs. Derry City (IRL) – Match Prediction
The hosts are the clear favorite to win this game, but the visitors will certainly not lay down their weapons and surrender that easily. The team from Ireland is in the midst of their season and should be in a better shape which is why I believe that they will prove to be a tough cookie for the hosting side. On that note, I will look for the Under 3.5 goals which is offered at -128.
MY PICK: Under 3.5 goals (-128)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) x KF Tirana (ALB)
3-Way: 1: Maccabi Tel Aviv -714; X: +750 Draw; 2: KF Tirana +3000
Spread -2.5: Maccabi Tel Aviv +114; KF Tirana -122
Total +3: Over -135; Under -143
Maccabi Tel Aviv
The pride of Israel – Maccabi Tel Aviv, will host the uncomfortable Albanian team KF Tirana on Thursday night at the Netanya Stadium, in the UEFA Europa League – First round of the Qualification stage.
Maccabi Tel Aviv just stared the season, playing 2 friendly games at home, with 1 draw, and 1 win. The first game finished with 1:1 against Trencin from Slovakia, and the other was 3:0 against Spartak Trnava also from Slovakia.
The team ended at the 2nd spot of the domestic competition last season, which gave them the opportunity to play in the UEFA Champions league, qualifying matches, but they failed to reach the most prominent competition.
The team played 26 games, with 17 wins, 5 draws, and only 4 losses last season.
The team has some players that could make a difference in this game: the defender Egor Filipenko from Belarus; the national midfielder Gal Alberman; the Iceland attacker Vidar Orn; and the national attacker Tal Ben Chaim, last season top scorer in the national league from Israel.
KF Tirana
The Albanian team will be put up for a real test when they step onto the Netanya stadium on Thursday night. The team has not seen the international competition since the 2012/2013 season and now that they have finally reached the Europa League, it is certain that they will do whatever it takes to stay in the Europa League as long as possible.
They team finished their last season at the 9th position in the Albanian national league. They played 36 games, collecting 8 wins, 15 draws, and 13 losses, and scoring 29 goals against 32 suffered, finishing at the relegation zone.
The main player of the team is the attacker Moise Nkounkou, from the national team of Congo.
Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) vs. KF Tirana (ALB) – Match prediction
The KF Tirana will hope for some miracle on Thursday night when they face the Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv. I will take the AH 2.5 on the hosts and expect some juice with the +114 at the table. The difference between these two teams is huge which is why I expect nothing but a huge win for the hosts.
MY PICK: Maccabi Tel Aviv AH -2.5 (+114)
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