The New Saints V Feronikeli Betting Tips: Under 2.5 Goals – 9 July 2019

Wales versus Kosovo in Champions League Qualifier

Champions League Tips

The New Saints V Feronikeli

Tuesday 9th July 2019 – 19:00 Kick-Off
UEFA Champions League First Round Qualifier
Pick: Under 2.5 Goals
Odds: 3/4
Bookmaker: Bet365

1 X 2
10/11 12/5 3/1

* (Betting Odds were taken from Bet365 on July 8, 2019 at 10:08)

Preview: A place in the second round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League is the prize on offer for these two clubs. Welsh side The New Saints can boast plenty more experience in such fixtures having been regulars in qualifiers for many years, and that could be a crucial factor up against a team from Kosovo making their European debuts. The small Park Hall Stadium in Oswestry, Wales is the venue.

2019/20 UEFA Champions League Betting at Bet365

 

The New Saints Preview – Welsh champions experience to prove key?

Welsh football fans must realise summer is upon them whenever The New Saints are back in action for their annual fixtures with some of Europe’s more obscure clubs. That is right, Champions League qualifiers are back for another season. A memorable 6-0 aggregate defeat to Liverpool in 2006 aside, this usually means a couple of matches against a team from somewhere such as San Marino or Malta, but this year is a little different as they prepare to face opponents from Kosovo for the very first time.

The third qualifying round remains the furthest the 13-time Welsh Premier League champions have ever progressed in this competition, and that was a one-off in 2010-11. Last season saw them eliminated at the very first hurdle, bowing out to Shkëndjia of Macedonia 5-4 on aggregate despite winning the home leg 4-0. That, too, was a one-off, as TNS are usually adept at negotiating the first qualifying round having successfully done so in the three previous seasons.

In 2015-16, the club with a stadium capacity of a mere 2,000 seats eased past B36 Tórshavn of the Faroe Islands by winning 6-2 on aggregate. 2016-17 saw them eliminate San Marino’s Tre Penne 5-1. While 2017-18 was a closer affair as they edged out Gibraltar’s Europa FC 4-3. Their track record at this stage of proceedings is rather encouraging.

Domestically, TNS are quite simply a class above everybody else. The gulf between them and the rest of the league was 12 points last season as they secured an eighth consecutive league title, scoring almost a century of goals in the process (99). Preparations for their next European skirmish, as well as their upcoming season, has featured a handful of friendlies against fellow Welsh sides. They won each of them comfortably, unsurprisingly.

Under 2.5 Goals
3/4

Bet365

 

Feronikeli Preview – Winning debut on the cards for Kosovo champions?

Kosovo only gained a UEFA license as recently as 2016, and that would explain why only a handful of other, mostly smaller, nations in the footballing sphere are below them in the latest UEFA Co-Efficient ranking. So while this is officially a ‘First Qualifying Round’ tie, for Feronikeli this will be their third match of the competition after overcoming Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps (1-0) and Andorra’s FC Santa Coloma (2-1) in one-legged ties in the Preliminary Round. Both victories were earned in Kosovo.

This is, however, the club’s first season in UEFA competition, despite claiming three league titles in the past seven seasons. That includes last season. The team nicknamed The Black Tigers suffered only three losses throughout the entire campaign (W25 D5 L3, GF64 GA14) to finish five points clear at the summit. Meanwhile, a comprehensive victory in the cup final earned them their first league and cup double. So this is clearly a club on the up, back home at least.

Their domestic form on the road last season should also provide them with plenty of encouragement ahead of this rare voyage to Wales. On only five occasions did they fail to secure a winning outcome (W11 D4 L1), losing only once and shutting out eleven sides in the process. That latter statistic could be important here, as clean sheets are always a sought-after commodity away from home in European ties. SkyBet offer 11/4 on them keeping a clean sheet in Wales.

Nine of their eleven away wins were accompanied by a clean sheet. Meanwhile, under 2.5 goals would have been a winning bet in 11 of their 16 league fixtures away from home. If they were to approach this match with anything other than caution initially, it would be a huge surprise.

 

Key Facts for TNS V Feronikeli:

  • Welsh Premier League champions TNS have won three of their previous four Champions League First Qualifying Round ties.
  • Feronikeli won the league title in Kosovo last term but are making their debut in UEFA competition qualifiers.
  • These two clubs have never played a competitive fixture before.

 

Betting Summary

There isn’t a great deal to go on for this contest between two clubs from fairly obscure leagues, in Wales and Kosovo respectively. The Welsh Premier League is ranked 47 in the latest UEFA Co-Efficient rankings, one place above the Football SuperLeague of Kosovo. Although Kosovo haven’t been a UEFA member for too long.

The last club from Kosovo to compete in a Champions League qualifier was FC Drita last season, who were comfortably beaten 5-0 by Swedish side Malmo. The time before that it was Trepça 89, and they fared much worse against inferior opponents in Vikingur Gota from the Faroe Islands, losing 6-2. Neither reflect well on the standard of football in Kosovo at the present time.

The New Saints boast enough experience and nous in UEFA qualifiers, as well as some decent past form in the first qualifying round in particular, to suggest they can secure a first leg advantage at home to a team making their continental debuts. I suspect the visitors will seek to keep this close though, so Under 2.5 Goals has some appeal at around 3/4 with Bet365.