Skenderbeu vs Besiktas Betting Tips

The Albanians reached the final round of Champions League qualifying and briefly threatened to upset Dinamo Zagreb in the 1st Leg but ultimately were outclassed. The prize of Champions League football would have been absolutely enormous for the Albanians and although this is no small consolation, it may be hard for them to pick themselves up from that disappointment.

The problem is they will have to be at their very best to test a side like Besiktas given the visitors are an established European outfit with vast experience in the group stages of both this competition and the Champions League. They reached the last 16 of the Europa League last season under Slaven Bilić and with that sort of experience behind them it’s very hard to see them slipping up here.

However Skenderbeu won’t make it easy for them. They scored in both legs of their Champions League tie with Dinamo Zagreb and have won all 4 games since the 2nd leg of that tie, admittedly at a fairly low level in the Albanian league and cup.

They’ve not really got anything to lose here, so should have a go and it would be no surprise if they were to score at some point in the game. However their defensive naivety was all too apparent at times against the Croatians and therefore even if they do score, it might not be enough to secure even a point against a Besiktas side who have scored 12 goals in their 4 games so far this season.

Therefore backing Skederbeu to score but lose, which is what happened in both legs of their Champions League play-off, is surely worth backing at tempting odds of 5/2.

Away from home, in unfamiliar surroundings, it will still be a test for the visitors and there may be a few uncomfortable moments. It would be a surprise to see Besiktas run away with it but their quality should show eventually so consider backing a 2-1 away win at 15/2.