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Steffen Schmidt - July 10, 2023
B36 Torshavn vs Paide
UEFA Conference League Qualification
Date: 12 July 2023, Wednesday
Kick-off at 19:00 UK / 20:00 CET
Venue: Gundadalur (Torshavn).
B36 will start their European campaign for the new season on Wednesday evening when they host Estonian side Paide in the first leg of the Conference League first qualifying round.
Neither outfit have ever been anywhere close to the group phase of any continental competition.
B36 Torshavn had a pretty decent run last year, eliminating Borac Banja Luka and Tre Fiori on the way to the third qualifying round of the Conference League where Danish Viborg were too strong for them (1-5 on aggregate).
Nevertheless, we’ve seen that B36 can keep things quiet defensively against the teams of their level or at least close to their level.
We certainly have reasons to consider Paide as such an outfit. The Estonians are a pretty young team. They were founded in 2004 and have only played the elite class of their country’s football since 2009.
Paide have regularly played in Europe in the last three years with a limited success. Last season brought them the very best run as Paide eliminated the likes of Dinamo Tbilisi and Ararat-Armenia on the way to the third qualifying round of the Conference League.
Interestingly, both of these wins have come on penalties. Also, it is interesting to note that Paide have failed to find the back of the net in any of the last four Conference League matches, including the mentioned win on penalties (two separate goalless draws) against Ararat-Armenia and the elimination at the hands of Belgian giants Anderlecht in the third qualifying round.
It is also important to note that Paide are struggling badly in the new season of Estonian top flight. They have won just 4 of 20 Meistriliiga outings this term and are only fourth from bottom in the league standings at this phase of the season.
We should be in for two close encounters as there is really not much to separate the two rivals in terms of quality or competitiveness (both teams are amid the regular seasons in their respective domestic leagues).
This is why the Under 2.5 goals FT is the way to go here. You can back it at the 1.61 odds. Knowing that Paide have failed to score in four consecutive matches in Europe last year, we will alternatively back B36 to keep a clean sheet at the 2.50 odds.
