Haugesund vs Cliftonville Predictions

Having lost in front of a home crowd without scoring, Cliftonville now have it all to do in Norway. Fortunately, as they lost by just a single goal, they’re still very much in the tie, though they’ll need to improve performance wise if they’re to turn things around. In contrast, Haugesund will be looking for more of the same after they got a pleasing victory at Solitude a week ago.

Cliftonville were beaten last week, but they’re far from out of it. Despite losing, the side from Northern Ireland were not outplayed. Their offensive efforts could certainly have been better, though the fact that they ended the game having fired off more shots than their opponents and the fact that they finished the match with an expected goal difference of only -0.19 suggests that they were involved.

The problem for Cliftonville on Thursday is likely to be the fact that they now must make something happen in the final third. Defensively, as they shipped only three shots on target and 0.75 expected goals, there was not too much wrong with what Paddy McLaughlin’s men did, though they struggled massively to impose themselves, which given that they were on home soil is worrying. If they can only muster a single shot on target and 0.56 expected goals for in 95 minutes of football at home, then it’s easy to envisage the Northern Irishmen coming up short at Haugesund Stadion on Thursday.

Make no mistake about it, Haugesund were far from great going forward last week, after all, they only registered three shots on target and clocked 0.75 expected goals for, but it is they that managed to score and thus it is they that goes into this game with something to protect, which based on Cliftonville’s weak attacking efforts a week ago, bodes well for the hosts.

In the betting, ‘Haugesund to Win & Under 2.5 Goals’ catches the eye. Neither side has much to offer going forward, though the first-leg efforts of suggest that the hosts have what it takes to see this one out. When we combine the fact that Cliftonville offered very little going forward at home a week ago with the fact that they’ve scored in just three of their eight away UEL qualifiers since 2010, backing a low-scoring home win looks like the best option.