Saburtalo Tbilisi V Sheriff Tiraspol Betting Tips: Home or Draw – 16 July 2019

Sheriff Tiraspol could toil again in Europe

Champions League Tips

Saburtalo Tbilisi V Sheriff Tiraspol

Tuesday 16th July 2019 – 18:30 Kick-Off
UEFA Champions League First Round Qualifying
Pick: Saburtalo Tbilisi or Draw (Double Chance)
Odds: 4/7
Bookmaker: Betfair

1 X 2
7/4 49/20 27/20

* (All betting odds displayed in this article were correct as of July 15th, 2019 at 13:27)

First Leg: Sheriff Tiraspol 0-3 Saburtalo Tbilisi (Goals: Ognjen Rolovic, Giorgi Kokhreidze and Levan Kakubava)

Preview: There was a significant upset in Moldova last week, as a club making their European debuts stunned a side that were competing in the group stage of the Europa League as recently as 2017. Georgian champions Saburtalo Tbilisi are now on the cusp of the second qualifying round after comprehensively beating Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0. Can the visitors turn the tie around in Tbilisi or have Saburtalo given them too much to do?

Champions League Betting at Bet22

 

Saburtalo Tbilisi Preview – Georgians to complete formalities back home?

Playing in Europe for the first time in the club’s 19-year existence, against an opponent with over a century of appearances in continental fixtures. Saburtalo Tbilisi produced arguably the shock of the round to thrash Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0 in the first leg. Forward Ognjen Rolovic provided them with a first-half lead, but strikes shortly after the hour mark from Giorgi Kokhreidze and Levan Kakubava added further gloss and capped a memorable European debut for the Georgian champions.

As surprising as the initial outcome was, especially considering the margin of victory, the match statistics gave the impression it was nothing less than they deserved. The team affectionately known back home as Saburtaloelebi recorded more goal attempts and efforts on target. So clearly weren’t overawed by either the occasion nor the opposition.

That stunning performance puts them in a commanding position to qualify, with their odds drastically shortening to 1/25 as a consequence. Those short odds are perhaps justified due to Saburtalo’s formidable home record in recent times. En route to their maiden Georgian championship in 2018-19, the club from Tbilisi fell to only two losses (W13 D3 L2) inside their Bendela Stadium in the capital Tbilisi.

This season, meanwhile, has seen them produce even stronger numbers on their own patch having lost just one of eleven so far (W8 D2 L1, GF20 GA8). While an average of 0.73 goals conceded at home would suggest the hosts are more than adequately equipped to defend their healthy advantage.

Saburtalo DrawNoBet
21/20

MoPlay

 

Sheriff Tiraspol Preview – Ominous away record spells the end?

Due to their sustained success in Moldova, where they have been crowned league champions in 17 of the previous 19 seasons, Sheriff Tiraspol have featured regularly in the early qualifying rounds of Europe’s club competitions. For them to falter in the manner that they did last week, against a team making their continental debuts, will have come as a huge surprise to everybody back home.

To lose your home leg 3-0, creating fewer scoring opportunities than your opponents in the process, does not bode well ahead of facing the same opposition but in unfamiliar surroundings. I say unfamiliar; it was only twelve months ago that Sheriff were in Georgia at this same stage of the competition. Fortunately for them, a 2-1 defeat away to Torpedo Kutasi (a team currently fourth in the Georgian top league, six points worse off than Sarburtalo) didn’t adversely affect them from progressing over two legs, winning 4-2 on aggregate.

That recent experience of Georgia is hardly inspiring. Nor is their recent track record on the road in Europe. Focusing exclusively on matches played in qualifying rounds, Sheriff Tiraspol have not managed to beat a team on their travels in Europe since 2014, when recording a 3-0 win over Sutjeska Niksic of Montenegro. Their record during the intervening period makes for ominous reading: W0 D3 L8, GF7 GA17.

Last season, meanwhile, saw them fall to defeat on all four occasions they were the visiting side. There was that aforementioned loss in Georgia but also defeats in Iceland, Macedonia and Azerbaijan to Valur (2-1), Shkendija (1-0) and Qarabag (3-0), respectively. It feels like something of an understatement to claim Sheriff require an extraordinary performance here if they are to progress, certainly based on their recent exploits on the continent anyway.

 

Saburtalo Tbilisi V Sheriff Tiraspol Key Facts:

  • Georgian champions Saburtalo have tasted defeat once at home in the league in the current campaign (W8 D2 L1).
  • Sheriff Tiraspol have failed to win any of their previous 11 away European qualifiers (W0 D3 L7).
  • Making their European debuts last week in Moldova, Saburtalo Tbilisi recorded a stunning 3-0 victory over Sheriff Tiraspol.

 

Betting Summary

The Georgian champions were superior to the margin of three clear goals in the opening leg, and there isn’t much in the way of logical reasoning to suggest it will be drastically different now they are back on their own patch.

Saburtalo Tbilisi were seemingly good value for their emphatic victory, producing the better numbers in all attacking categories. To suddenly assume they will cave in at home, where they’ve been immense domestically, against a team that don’t tend to travel well in Europe seems like a huge leap of faith.

Saburtalo and Draw in the Double Chance market could be shrewd, although the odds are thin at 4/7. A braver person than I might chance the hosts to win again, at very appealing odds as well, but the 11/10 with Betfair about the home side in the DrawNoBet market could be a more conservative approach.