Sheriff Tiraspol take on the visitors Kukesi at “Stadionul Sheriff” in the first-leg match of the 1/4 stage of the Qualification to the UEFA Champions League 2017/2018. The game will be played in Tiraspol on Wednesday, July 12th.
In season 2016/17 Sheriff Tiraspol took the Moldovan Cup and the Divizia Nationala. To win the elite division Sheriff Tiraspol had to play an additional final match against Dacia Chisinau and after a draw in the regular time they got the trophy only by penalty shoot-out. After 30 rounds Sheriff Tiraspol had 69 points earned with 71-15 goal difference. This year the team got five victories and two draws in seven clashes at its own turf.
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In their turn, Kukesi picked up 75 points with 51-18 goal difference in 36 gameweeks last season and became the Albanian Super League champion being three points ahead of the closest chaser. This summer the Albanian side conducted three matches resulting in 1:0 triumph over FK Rostov and two losses: to Wolfsburg 0:7 and to Dynamo Moscow 0:6. In 2017 Kukesi recorded four victories, four draws and two defeats in 10 encounters on the road.
The teams have never met before. The home-field factor alongside with an inconsistent performance of the Albania’s champion in friendly clashes in this summer make the hosting side the favourite of the upcoming fight, especially bearing in mind that the team from Moldova has been losing in nine consecutive official games already since the 14th of April.
Prediction for the match: Sheriff Tiraspol to win with -1.5 Asian handicap.
