Football Bet of the Day: Andorran angst on the cards

“This is new territory for Engordany, and they are coming up against a Folgore team that is solid defensively and that has built up recent European experience.”

Lay Engordany at [1.5]

Engordany v Folgore
Thursday 28 June, 19:00

I don’t wish to dwell too much on yesterday’s debacle in the Finnish Kakkonen. Let’s just say we won’t be tipping in that league for a while.

Moving swiftly on, and we’ll go south to Andorra. The Europa League is underway, and UN Engordany are in action against San Marino’s Folgore in the first leg of a qualifier.

Engordany finished second in the Andorran top flight, but they didn’t finish the season in great form. They only won one of their last five games, and blew any chance of winning the title by drawing their last two matches 0-0. At their ground in Santa Coloma, they have won just one of their last four games. That said, there is huge excitement at the club, as second was their best ever finish, and they have qualified for continental competition for the first time.

Folgore were in the mix for the title in San Marino last season, but eventually fell short as they lost to champions La Fiorita in the playoffs. They have a lot more European experience than Engordany, having been involved in the Europa League qualifiers in each of the last two seasons. Although they lost all four of those matches against AEK Larnaca and Valletta, they will have learned a fair bit from those experiences.

We don’t have many betting options here, but I expect this to be a tight game between two strong defences. Folgore kept clean sheets in nine of their last 12 matches of last season, while Engordany conceded just 17 goals in the whole of the league campaign.

On that basis, it’s definitely worth considering backing Under 2.5 Goals at [1.61], but for the purposes of this column, that price is a little short. Instead, I’ll lay the hosts at [1.5]. This is a new experience for them, they didn’t finish the season particularly well, and they are coming up against a solid defensive unit. At very least that bet may provide a good trading opportunity.