Linfield take on the visitors Zurich in the first leg of UEFA Europa League qualification semifinals. The match will be played on Thursday, August 4th at Windsor Park (Belfast).
Linfield lead the league in Northern Ireland football. Last season, she once again won the dispute for 1st place against Cliftonville, which allowed her to start again in the Champions League. There, the Blues even got past the first opponent, dramatically, in overtime at home, eliminating the New Saints. After the Welsh, the team ran into Bodo/Glimt, and it looked like a verdict. But no, they even managed to beat the Norwegians at home! Although the Scandinavians should have won the game, after those 1-0, it remained somehow to survive on the road. It didn’t work out completely. The "yellow horde" simply swept the opponent off the field. The first goal flew already in the 7th minute - Vetlesen scored. Over the next half of the half, they scored 3 more goals. And the final score reached a humiliating 8-0. However, "Linfield" fulfilled their tasks in the Champions League. And now they will try to show something in a simpler tournament.
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Zurich became an unexpected triumph last season in Switzerland. And suddenly the team, ahead of the favorites, broke out in the end to the 1st place! And, naturally, went to the Champions League qualification. Where, however, the Swiss did not linger. They came across a difficult and experienced opponent, Qarabag. The Azerbaijanis were able to win at home 3-2 due to Vaji's double. At home, Zurich was still able to transfer the meeting into overtime. After Medvedev's own goal, the visitors bounced back, but fell a little short of the final whistle - on the 95th Santini scored 2-1. That's just in extra time, the only goal was scored by Ovusu. The champion of Azerbaijan went further, and the wards of Franco Foda went to the more familiar Europa League. By the way, the German lost devastatingly in the Super Cup and had a weak start in the Super League. Obviously, the coach was not counting on such a debut, moving to Switzerland.
Linfield rarely stay in European competition. And Zurich doesn't play there very often. So it is not surprising that this will be the first meeting of the teams. Bookmakers do not believe in 1 more surprise from Linfield. But Zurich is not shining yet, so we take neutral “total under 3.0”.
Prediction for the match: Under 3.0 scored goals.
