Differdange 03 vs Cliftonville Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Cliftonville get their season underway here but memories of a fairly awful end to the last campaign haven’t quite gone away. They lost 4 games in a row in April in the Northern Irish Premiership having only suffered 6 defeats all season prior to that. That included some heavy defeats against some of the better sides in the league and although they won their bad-tempered final match 3-2 against Glentoran, you’d be inclined to think they might struggle at this level. They’ve not played in the Europa League since exiting the competition at this stage 4 years ago.

Clearly Differdange 03 of Luxembourg are not a European powerhouse but they are very clear favourites for this tie and Luxembourg’s top flight is generally considered as being slightly stronger than the Northern Irish equivalent. You only have to look at some of Differdange’s recent results in Europe to see that. This is their 8th consecutive season in this competition so they clearly have more European experience than their opponents and they’ve progressed from the 1st Qualifying Round in 4 of the last 5 seasons. Last term they were 3-1 winners against Welsh side Bala Town and progressed despite losing the 2nd leg away and they gave Turkish side Trabzonspor a good game in the next round too.

Unlike their opponents they finished the last campaign strongly winning 5 of their last 6 matches to finish 3rd in their league. They’ve failed to win at home only once in the last 11 months and should be too strong for Cliftonville here. It’s also worth noting they’ve won 5 of their last 6 Europa League home matches which shows they don’t do just do it against weak sides from their own country and backing Differdange -1.0 Asian Handicap at 2.075 looks to offer value in this one.