Skenderbeu vs Dinamo Zagreb Betting Tips

The Albanian champions have made a comfortable progression to this stage seeing off Crusaders of Northern Ireland before beating Moldovan side Milsami 4-0 on aggregate. Not the toughest draw perhaps but they did draw both legs of their qualifier with BATE Borisov last year and were unlucky to go out on away goals to the Belarusian side that went on to make the group stage.

They have won 5 of their last 6 Champions League home games and have only ever been beaten once at home in Europe. Although they haven’t ever made the group stage, they have played a few sides in recent seasons that could be classed as comparable in terms of quality as Dinamo Zagreb so there is plenty of sense in backing them to get at least a draw here at 4/5.

Skenderbeu have won the Albanian title in each of the last 5 seasons but were beaten on penalties in the Albanian Super Cup last Wednesday in their only domestic match so far. It is 16 months since they were beaten at Stadiumi Skënderbeu when their opponents where also Laci.

Dinamo Zagreb have certainly more European pedigree than the Albanians but there were stronger clubs in the draw and Skenderbeu are in with a shout at least of making the group stage for the first time.

Whoever wins this tie is likely to struggle badly against Europe’s elite in the group phase. The Croatians were in the Europa League group stage last season but lost 4 of their 6 games and all three away from home and so failed to advance.

Since then though Dinamo have been on a remarkable run and incredibly are unbeaten in 36 games since losing at Astra in the Europa League last November. They do draw a lot of matches though and 9 of their last 15 fixtures in all competitions have finished all square.

That includes both legs of their qualifier with Molde in the previous round. They were actually 3-0 up away from home in the 2nd leg but conceded three times and ended up hanging on to secure an away goals victory after a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

Dinamo Zagreb made the group stages in 2011 and 2012 but more often than not have gone out in the qualifying rounds. They will fancy their chances here over 2 legs but would probably settle for a 4th draw in 5 Champions League games this season and a 1-1 scoreline is perhaps most likely at 11/2.