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Steffen Schmidt - August 8, 2023
Struga vs Swift Hesperange
UEFA Conference League Qualification
Date: 10 August 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 16:00 UK / 17:00 CET
Venue: Trening centar Petar Milosevski (Skopje).
Struga host Swift Hesperange in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round on Thursday afternoon at the Petar Milosevski Training Center in Skopje.
Struga were founded in 2015 and they’ve managed to claim their inaugural top-flight title in North Macedonia last year, finishing the season ten points clear of runners-up Shkupi.
The team led by Albanian manager Shoetim Duro were eliminated by the likes of Zalgiris at the start of the UEFA Champions League qualifying campaign 1-2 on aggregate, following a 1-2 defeat in the reverse leg on the home patch.
They then bounced back by beating Montenegrin champions Buducnost Podgorica both home and away in the second qualifying round of the Conference League to book this tie against Luxembourg’s champions.
Swift Hesperange also claimed their inaugural domestic league title last year, ending the Luxembourg’s National Division seven points adrift of Progres Niederkorn.
They offered a strong resistance in the first qualifying round of the Champions League against Slovan Bratislava, playing a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the tie on the Slovakian soil.
Carlos Fangueiro’s men then also missed a penalty-kick at the start of the second leg on the home patch before conceding two goals to suffer elimination.
Swift earned this tie by eliminating Welsh champions TNS in the Conference League second qualifying round courtesy of a 3-2 win in the return leg on the home patch (after a 1-1 draw on the road).
Both teams are scoring goals for fun ahead of this tie. Struga notched six goals in the last two wins over Buducnost and Gostivari while Swift bagged eight goals in their back-to-back victories over TNS and UNA Strassen.
We will take the Both Teams To Score as the main bet at the 1.70 odds. As for the outcome, the value is with Swift to win at the 2.80 odds based on the performances both teams have shown so far in the competition.
