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Steffen Schmidt - July 26, 2023
Crusaders vs Rosenborg
UEFA Conference League Qualification
Date: 27 July 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
Venue: Seaview (Belfast).
Crusaders stunned Haka 3-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Conference League first qualifying round to book a second round clash against another Scandinavian rival.
The Northern Irish Cup winners will play host to Norwegian heavyweights Rosenborg in the first leg of their second qualifying round tie on Thursday evening at the Seaview.
As you can see from the bookmakers’ odds, the Norwegians head into this double-header as massive favorites to advance.
However, we must say that Rosenborg are still miles away from the good old days when they used to be regular contestants in the Champions League group stage, back in the late 1990s.
They have even failed to qualify for European competitions two years ago. Things do not look great for Rosenborg at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign in the Norwegian top flight either.
The team led by Svein Maalen occupy the 10th position in the Eliteserien standings after 16 rounds of the competition.
They have only scored 18 goals in the process and they have only escaped the relegation zone thanks to back-to-back wins over Tromso and Stromsgodset in the last two Gameweeks.
Crusaders have shown some quality in the double-header against Haka and their fans can expect a similar matchup against somewhat (only somewhat, though) tougher opposition this time around.
This is by all means a winnable affair for the Northern Irish team who will have their chances, especially in the first leg in Belfast.
Rosenborg are not the team to be feared of anymore and we like the attractive 2.50 odds offered for Crusaders to avoid a defeat in the first leg in Belfast.
Alternatively, we will shoot for the Under 2.5 goals FT bet at the 2.05 odds knowing that Rosenborg have been struggling for goals since the start of the 2023 Eliteserien campaign.
