SK Brann vs Shamrock Rovers Predictions

Shamrock Rovers are flying high in their domestic division, but can that translate to European football? While they are on for a return to this competition next season, Rovers are far from European heavyweights. They’ve had major issues in the early stages of the Europa League in recent seasons, but can they turn things around by claiming a result when they visit Brann? The hosts have been priced up as heavy favourites, with the bookies expecting them to get out in front in this qualifying tie.

Brann are middling in the Eliteserien right now, but they are only a few points off the European spots as they look to get their Europa League campaign off to a winning start. Brann are back at this level for the first time since 2017, when they were dumped out in their first tie. However, this is a chance for them to turn things around in Europe, especially given that their opponents have had major issues in their previous Europa League runs.

Shamrock Rovers were dumped out by AIK in their only European tie last season. They were narrowly better in 2017, edging out Stjarnan before going home to Mlada Boleslav. Rovers do have one of the biggest achievements in Irish football behind them, as they made the group stage of this competition in 2011, the first Irish league club to make it that far in Europe. While they lost every game in a group which included Tottenham, that success was a major boost to Shamrock Rovers.

However, the Dublin side have struggled to match it since. In the five seasons, they’ve been in Europe since that run, they’ve won only two ties. The second round is as fas as they’ve gone, so we don’t expect a long run from them this time around. The only positive for them in that time has been some decent away form. They’ve kept things tight on the road, with their last four trips in this competition seeing under 2.5 goals scored, along with five of their last six.

Seven of the visitors’ last eight European games have seen fewer than three goals, as have six of Brann’s last seven. In the league this season, Brann have seen over 2.5 goals in just 25% of their home games, while Shamrock Rovers have moved into second place in the Irish Premier thanks to a great defensive record. We expect these two sides to produce another low scoring affair, so under 2.5 goals is our pick for this clash.