Krasnodar vs Partizani Tirana Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

Krasnodar are fast becoming a strong force in Russian football seeing as they were only founded back in 2008. Just two years ago they were making their debut in the Europa League, making their way through to the group stages pooled alongside Wolfsburg, Everton, and Lille. Though the side couldn’t quite hack it in such a high quality group that time around, they were back at it again the very next year. Krasnodar made club history with their biggest achievement to date in Europe, topping their group with four wins, one draw, and one defeat. A feat made only more impressive considering their group contained German giants Borussia Dortmund, against whom they beat 1-0 at home. Krasnodar progresses to the round of 32, where they were knocked out to Czech side Sparta Prague, but this taste of success will only fuel the hosts to want more of the same this season.

Partizani Tirana, who finished 2nd in the Albanian Superliga, don’t have a comparable record in European competition. 2nd did qualify them for the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round for the first time, but after narrowly making it through to the third round on penalties, the Albanian side were easily seen off with a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg. Partizani also qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round last season, but switly exited the competition after being defeated 4-1 on aggregate by Norwegian side Stromsgodset.

In-form Russian side Krasnodar are huge favourites for this fixture, and the bookies price them at about 1/6 to win which, though probably fair, doesn’t seem too enticing. Krasnodar’s squad costs about ten times as much as the visitors and the fact that Partizani Tirani has to travel as a smaller club further adds to their disadvantage. Looking over recent trends, we find that Krasnodar are not having any problems scoring goals in both domestic and European competition. They have averaged three goals per game over their last seven matches, whereas Partizani Tirani, who have also played some competitive fixtures already this season, have managed under half a goal per game over their last five.

Considering this, the market for Krasnodar to win and keep a clean sheet seems extremely decent value and as such Krasnodar to win to nil at 8/11 and Krasnodar to win 2-0 at 5/1 are our choice bets for this match.