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Steffen Schmidt - July 26, 2023
Derry City vs KuPS
UEFA Conference League Qualification
Date: 27 July 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium (Derry).
Derry City have somehow found a way to jump above Faroese HB Torshavn as their first hurdle in the 2023/24 UEFA Conference League qualifying campaign.
They’ve done so thanks to midfielder Sadou Diallo whose first-half strike from the second leg played seven days ago made all the difference in an entire tie.
The Northern Irish will now face a much more serious opposition in the likes of KuPS. The Finnish team have a much broader European experience with decent results in the last three years.
KuPS have made it to the Europa League playoffs in 2020, the Conference League playoffs in 2021, and the third qualifying round of the Conference League last year.
Derry City, on the other side, have failed to jump above the maiden obstacle in any of their four previous European campaigns since 2017/18 season.
Knowing they did not impress in the elimination of HB Torshavn this summer either, it is hard to resist the temptation of backing the away win straight away in the first leg, especially at such attractive odds.
KuPS have done very well in the 2023 Veikkausliiga campaign as well so far in the season. They hold the second place in the league table despite winning just one of the last four domestic league affairs.
Derry City are third after 25 rounds of football in the Irish Premier Division, currently sitting four points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers.
KuPS have had much more success in Europe in recent years and we see them as clear favorites to advance from this tie, regardless of the odds set by the bookies ahead of the first leg on Northern Irish soil.
The away win is the way to go at the sky-high 3.00 odds, especially knowing about subpar performances the hosts have shown in the opening qualifying round against the opposition from Faroe Islands. The second pick will be KuPS to keep a clean sheet at the 3.25 odds.
