Shamrock Rovers vs Santa Clara: Can Shamrock Rovers hold on to their narrow advantage?
In the second leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers, Shamrock Rovers will host Santa Clara on their home turf. The match is set for Thursday, August 28, kicking off at 21:00 Central European Time. Here’s my betting tip for this clash.
Shamrock Rovers vs Santa Clara: match preview
In the first leg in Portugal, Santa Clara entered as the bookmakers’ favorite, but the Irish side pulled off a stunning upset. Although the Portuguese opened the scoring in the 20th minute, Shamrock Rovers drew level before halftime. After the break, VAR intervened twice to disallow goals, but in the 66th minute, the Irish pushed ahead again and held on for a 2-1 victory.
Shamrock have now racked up three consecutive wins and remain unbeaten in their last four matches. In the qualifiers, they thrashed Balkani 4-1 in the third round, advanced to the Irish Cup quarterfinals, and now have a golden opportunity to reach the group stage of the UEFA Conference League. Domestically, the team is in top form—after 27 rounds, they sit atop the Irish Premier Division.
Santa Clara have just kicked off their new season in the Portuguese league, but the start has been disastrous—suffering defeats of 0-1 and 0-3. Moreover, they are winless in their last four outings, losing three and drawing once with Larne in the second leg of the previous Conference League qualifying round. Now, Santa Clara find themselves in a tough spot and must win if they want to keep their European campaign alive.
Match facts and H2H
- In the first leg, Shamrock Rovers beat Santa Clara 2-1.
- Shamrock have won their last three games and are unbeaten in four straight.
- Santa Clara have lost three of their last four matches and are winless in that stretch.
- This will be only the second ever head-to-head meeting between these teams.
Probable line-ups
- Shamrock Rovers: McGinty, Roberto Lopes, Honohan, Cleary, Grace, Nugent, Mandroiu, Watts, Healy, Grant, Gaffney.
- Santa Clara: Gabriel Batista, Luis Rocha, Diogo Kalila, Sidney Lima, Paulo Victor, MT, Serginho, Adriano, Vinicius Lopes, Joao Costa, Gabriel Silva.
Prediction
Shamrock Rovers produced a real shock in the first leg and will now look to protect their hard-earned advantage. Santa Clara have no room for error, but their recent form has been disappointing. My bet is that Shamrock Rovers will not lose this match.
