Crusaders Vs Basel
Crusaders Vs Basel Thursday, 28 July 2022 – 20:00 (BST)
UEFA Europa Conference League Qualification
Pick: Crusaders +1.5 Asian Handicap
Odds: 5/6
Bookmaker: Bet365
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 26 July 2022)
Preview: At only 2-0 down in the tie, with many expecting them to lose convincingly in Switzerland first time round, Crusaders F.C will feel they are still very much in this. Can the crowd inside Seaview, Northern Ireland, provide the catalyst for a famous result?
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Table of Contents
Crusaders – Seaview crowd needs to play its part?
Fourth place in Northern Ireland’s NIFL Premiership earned Crusaders F.C a spot in the first qualifying round of this season’s UEFA Europa Conference League, where they’ve already defeated Gibraltar’s Magpies 4-3 on aggregate to set up this tie with Swiss giants Basel. Stephen Baxter’s men were outclassed in the first-leg, falling to a 2-0 scoreline at St. Jakob-Park to opponents reduced to ten men in the 33rd minute.
I’m sure the crowd will make for some atmosphere inside Seaview, where Crusaders play all their home matches. Whether this has much effect on such vastly experienced players like those in the Swiss camp remains to be seen. Above all else, Crusaders weren’t all that reliable here last season, producing the sixth-best figures (W9 D4 L6) in NIFL Premiership. They actually won more fixtures on their travels in 2021-22.
Key Stat: Crusaders would win two of their last three European home games, as many as they had managed in their seven previous European outings (W2 D2 L3) in Northern Ireland.
Basel – Swiss specialists in sharing spoils?
A name that feels synonymous among the European circuit is that of FC Basel, whose history is storied and features 15 group stage appearances. Eight of those in the Champions League. Last season seen them embark on a run to the Round of 16 in this tournament. Under former player Alexander Frei, Basel remained unbeaten in Group H against Qarabag, Omonia and Kairat before crashing out to Ligue 1’s Marseille.
The club has fallen on hard times though. Last season’s second place finish in the Swiss Super League marked a fifth successive campaign without a league championship, runners-up on four occasions. They drew far too many league games away from home last term (9 of 18 games) and carried this into Europe, very nearly drawing all three group stage matches on their travels (W1 D2).
Key Stat: FC Basel drew their only away game of the 2022-23 Swiss Super League season, a 1-1 scoreline vs Winterthur on 16 July. It means they have now now drawn each of their last five Super League away fixtures.
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Crusaders Vs FC Basel Betting Advice
With the scores still level at 0-0 when their opponents were reduced to ten men with little more than 30 minutes on the clock, Crusaders must have been sensing a famous result in Switzerland. Even with that numerical advantage, the team from Northern Ireland couldn’t make it count, and one has to wonder whether the scoreline might have had a more convincing look to it had it not been for that Basel red card.
Crusaders Vs Basel – Key Facts:
- Goals late in the first half and early into the second earned FC Basel a 2-0 victory over in Switzerland in the first leg. It was a win achieved despite playing an hour with a man less owing to Taulant Xhaka’s red card for two bookable offences.
- Crusaders hopes of a comeback are boosted by a record of five wins across their previous 11 European home games (D2 L4), defeating Magpies of Gibraltar 3-1 at their Seaview stadium in the last round of this season’s UECL.
- Basel are hugely experienced in Europe and would progress to the last-sixteen of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021-22. However, they’ve made an uninspiring start to the new Swiss Super League, drawing their first two matches 1-1.
Bookmakers must be of a similar opinion. Because, despite that modest first-leg result, the Swiss side are prohibitively short odds to win this second leg. This is something I cannot support. Basel are winless away in six Swiss Super League games, haven’t won a league game so far this season (D2), and drew two of four away matches in this competition last term (W1 L1). Meanwhile, Crusaders would lose just four of eleven prior European home games (W5 D2), netting in each of the past four.
Best Betting Odds – Crusaders Vs FC Basel
Crusaders – 13/2 (BetFred)
Draw – 15/4 (Coral)
FC Basel – 4/11 (Bet365)
