Football – Europa League – 3rd Qualifying Round
Thursday 7th August 2014 – Kickoff: 1800hrs
Following a 1-1 draw away at Ukraine outfit Zorya in the first leg, Norwegian side Molde will be looking to put the tie to bed tonight when they host the second leg at their Aker Stadion.
Molde were a mite fortunate though to come away with shared honours in the first leg with substitute Svendsen grabbing a late equaliser with just a minute to go, but with home advantage here tonight, Molde will be expecting to be in the hat for the next round.
On the domestic front, the Norwegian Tippeligaen is in full swing and Molde are currently sitting top of the division some eight points clear of second placed Odd Ballklubb. On home ground, molde hold a very solid record of 8-1-0 25/7 and they are actually unbeaten in their last eighteen matches at the Aker Stadion in all competitions.
Molde saw off Slovenian side Gorica in the previous Europa League tie, winning in convincing fashion 4-1 in their last home fixture in this competition.
Visitors Zorya will probably count themselves a little unlucky to be heading into this second leg on level terms due to Molde’s last minute equaliser, but that’s football and they now face a difficult task of overhauling an impressive Molde side in their own backyard.
The Ukrainian domestic season has just got underway, and after the first two matches, Zorya find themselves bottom of the Ukraine Premier League following defeats at home to Metalist 1-2 and a 0-1 loss away at Olympic Donetsk.
Zorya beat Albanian outfit Laci in convincing fashion in the previous round, taking the away leg 3-0 and then followed that up with a 2-1 win in the second leg at home.
The difference in form and quality should be evident tonight as hosts Molde are in confident mood and have performed well in their domestic league – Zorya may well struggle to keep up with the hosts tonight, and I’ll therefore back Molde to also cover the -1 handicap tonight in what could be either a 2-0 or 3-1 win. If Molde win by just one goal then we get our stake back.
Pick: Molde AH-1 @ 1.81 Pinnacle
