Conference League Quali, 2nd round, second leg, Tuesday, 30.07.2024 at 18:00
Starting in the Champions League qualifiers, Pyunik Yerevan and FC Struga have one last chance in the Conference League qualifiers.
The first leg has already been entered in the books and ended in a 2:1 victory for FC Struga. This advantage allows the visitors to play with a focus on defense.
These are not the best prospects for the home side, who have yet to record a single win in three competitive matches this young season. In my Pyunik Yerevan FC Struga betting tip, I expect “Under 2.5 goals” in the match and place my bet for odds of 1.70 at Interwetten.
It must be frustrating to start a new season with three games without a win. However, the Armenian champions must put an end to this little misery in their second clash, otherwise it’s bye-bye, European competition.
The bookmakers may have found a small consolation and favor the hosts with odds of up to 2.05 in their own stadium.
Eghishe Melikyan and his team have yet to prove that they can win this season. Perhaps you should therefore equip yourself with odds of just under 4.00 for a win for the visitors and combine them with a sports betting bonus
Three games, i.e. 270 minutes of play (+ injury time), were not enough for the hosts to score more than a single goal.
The Armenians were knocked out of the CL qualifiers against Dinamo Minsk (0:0, 0:1). However, it could have looked a lot clearer if you look at the shots fired in comparison.
In both matches combined, Melikyan’s charges only fired eleven shots – Dinamo Minsk were allowed more than twice as many (25).
The first two performances of FC Struga were less one-sided. The team from North Macedonia fought back with all their might against Slovan Bratislava, scoring three goals, but still had to bow out of the CL qualifiers (2:4, 1:2).
The level in the Conference League, on the other hand, suits the visitors’ strengths better, as they confirmed in their 2-1 first-leg win.
Qatip Osmani saw his team put in a spirited performance, which gave them a huge advantage in terms of goals scored (16:3).
However, there were not many high-caliber goals, otherwise the result would have been even clearer after the expected goals (1.37:1.07 xG per FC Struga).
I don’t expect the visitors to score as many goals in this match, as their focus will primarily be on defending
In addition, the North Macedonians’ attack should not be overestimated. The first goal in the first leg came from a penalty, the second from a Sunday shot from the third row.
Furthermore, I don’t expect Pyunik Yerevan to be able to step up a gear in attack. The home side’s only goal also came from a penalty kick
If you take a look at the Bet365 app, you’ll see a similar assessment from the bookmakers. The bookmaker doesn’t really trust the attacking play of either team and gives odds of “Both teams to score: No” with odds of 1.69.
If we pull last season’s results out of the filing cabinet, we see no goals for Pyunik Yerevan against Bodö/Glimt (0:3, 0:3) in the third qualifying round of the Conference League.
FC Struga, on the other hand, fared a little better last season, even advancing to the decisive qualifying round and conceding a maximum of one goal in four of their six matches
But back to this season. Struga showed just how stable the back line can be in preparation.
Qatip Osmani’s charges have won three of their four friendlies without conceding a goal. Their opponents in these matches were Partizani Tirana (1:0), Tirana (1:0) and KF Llapi (2:0),
The game film of this pairing could look like this: The home side do their best to turn around the 2:1 deficit from the first encounter with limited resources.
Struga limited their attacking efforts to the bare minimum, concentrating on defending and making for a lengthy game.
My Pyunik Yerevan FC Struga tip: There will be a maximum of two goals
