Crusaders - B36 - Tips by users and experts on football, 11 July 2019: UEFA Europa League

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Crusaders Win • 1.71

Crusaders finished fourth in the NIFL Premiership last season, a full twenty points behind the eventual winners Linfield, and will be hoping to challenge for the title in the 2019/20 campaign. The hosts haven’t made it through the qualifying stages since 1993 when they were defeated in the first round of the UEFA Cup by Swiss side Servette. B36’s record in European competitions is even worse than their hosts’, though they did make it through to the group stage of the Intertoto Cup in 1997 where they lost all four games and finished in last place.

Crusaders haven’t started their new domestic season yet but their pre-season form has been very good, with three wins and ad raw picked up from four friendlies. One of those friendlies includes the 1-0 win over Scottish side Motherwell, and it is results like that which will give Crusaders a confidence boost heading into Thursday’s match. B36 drew their last Faroe Islands league game on the 22nd June where they were held at home to a 1-1 draw by fellow title-chasers NSI.

These two clubs have never met before but the form and performances of Crusaders suggest the hosts have enough in them to claim a win on Thursday. Crusaders are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions, have kept five clean sheets in their last six matches, and are unbeaten in their last eight home games in league and cup; while B36 have only won four of their previous forty-six European games, which is why we’re backing a 2-0 win for Crusaders on Thursday.

Frederiksberg, Jacobsen, and Przybylski all joint top score for B36 in the Meistaradeildin this season with four goals apiece, while last season Paul Heatley grabbed fourteen league goals for Crusaders. We’re confident that Crusaders will win on Thursday and have predicted a final scoreline of 2-0. The hosts are the bookmaker’s favourites to win the 1st leg and have a better record than their guests in Europe, though there probably isn’t too much between the two clubs in terms of overall quality.