Skendija Tetovo vs Red Bull Salzburg Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

No side has a bigger advantage than Red Bull Salzburg heading into this Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg matches. They travel to the Telekom Arena in the Macedonian capital with a healthy three goal advantage and it’s hard to see any way back for Shkendija. The victors will go on to play either Spartak Trnava or Red Star Belgrade in the next round and the Austrians will certainly fancy they can now go all the way to the group stage.

They were the firm favourites heading into this tie but Shkendija did themselves few favours in the 1st Leg. They conceded two penalties, both of which were converted as a brace from Moanes Dabour secured a 3-0 win for RB Salzburg and it’s virtually impossible to see any other outcome than the Austrian champions progressing now.

They’ve made an electric start to the new season overall. That match was their first European outing but they’ve also played three league games and won the lot, netting 8 goals and conceding just once. If you include pre-season games, they’ve reeled off 11 straight wins so far this term and will be hungry to keep the momentum going here.

Shkendija meanwhile have had to come through two rounds just to get to this point and there has been little to suggest they are really of the quality needed to make it past this stage. They nearly threw away a 5-0 advantage in their 1st Qualifying Round tie with a 4-0 2nd Leg defeat against Welsh club TNS. They edged past Sheriff of Moldova in the last round 1-0 on aggregate and you sense they will already be starting to think about the Europa League play-off round which they will drop into if they lose this tie.

KF Shkëndija have never previously played in the group stage of a European competition so it would still be a great achievement if they could make it there in the Europa League. In terms of this tie though, it’s hard to give them any chance here. They’ve had a fairly kind run up until this point but against opposition of a higher quality, they’ve predictably fallen short and home advantage is unlikely to be enough to prevent the gulf in class showing again.

RB Salzburg are a pretty serious team in Europe these days and could be dangerous opponents in the group stage of the Champions League, should they reach it. They did after all knock out the likes of Real Sociedad, Lazio and Borussia Dortmund on their way to the Europa League Semi-Finals last term, all whilst totally bossing the Austrian Bundesliga which they won by 13 points.

They are a class above Shkendija and there looks to be value in backing RB Salzburg -1.0 Asian Handicap here, particularly given the Austrian champions have won all of their five competitive games this term by at least two goals.

Read our Asian Handicap Betting Guide for more on this market.