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Peter Green - July 22, 2019
Dundalk vs Qarabag
Champions League Qualification
Date: Wednesday, 24 July 2019
Kick-off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Oriel Park (Dundalk).
Dundalk may be at the top in the Irish Premier Division and the current defending champions. But their league, as a whole, is a notch below the one that their opponents are from, the Azerbaijan Premier League.
On top of that, Qarabag is the defending champion of their domestic competition and has been for the last several years. Their performance in comparison to the other contenders has been entirely on another dimension, that for past many seasons, they have made the best returns of all those in contention, in almost all of the stats.
Goals-wise, we’re in probably for a great fixture, considering the form of both squads, and the home advantage of Dundalk, which will level the playing field a bit.
Qarabag was unbeaten in 20 of their last 22 games and scored two or more goals in 12 of their last 16. Away from home, they were once again invincible in ten of their last twelve tries and registered three or more goals in two of their last five attempts.
Moreover, they have been the undisputed champion of the Azerbaijan Premier League for the last many seasons and is much more experienced than their opposite number in these types of situations.
As such, expect the guests to take control of the proceedings this Wednesday. But do take into account the goal-scoring run that Irish are in. They scored two or more goals in 14 of their last 17 battles, and in nine of their last thirteen home ties. They also scored three or more goals in three of their last four appearances in front of the home crowd.
With these in mind, rely on the visitors to have it easy, but don’t count on a clean sheet though.
