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Sheriff Tiraspol and BATE Borisov lock horns at the Bolshaya Sportivnaya Arena in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday.
The Moldovan outfit are currently on a run of three consecutive home wins across all competitions and will look to continue in the same vein.
Sheriff Tiraspol kicked off the new Moldovan Super Liga campaign last Sunday when they picked up a 1-0 victory over Petrocub Hincesti at the Stadionul Municipal Hincesti.
Prior to that, Roberto Bordin’s men were dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers courtesy of a 4-2 aggregate defeat against Maccabi Haifa.
After two successive games on the road, Sheriff now return home, where they are on a three-match winning streak, scoring eight goals and keeping three clean sheets since May’s goalless draw with Zimbru Chisinau.
Elsewhere, BATE Borisov’s dreams of securing Champions League football came to an end at the hands of Aris Limassol as they were thrashed 11-5 on aggregate by the Cyprus-based outfit.
Having suffered a humiliating 6-2 first-leg defeat in Cyprus on July 26, Kirill Alshevskiy’s men returned home one week later where they were beaten 5-3 in the return leg.
While BATE Borisov will be looking to kick off their Europa League qualifiers on the right foot, they have managed just one win in their last four matches while losing twice and claiming one draw in that time.
Sheriff Tiraspol vs BATE Borisov Head-To-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the third-ever meeting between Sheriff Tiraspol and BATE Borisov, with the Belarus side winning their previous two encounters.
- Alshevskiy’s side picked up a 1-0 victory when the sides met in Group E of the Europa League in October 2010, two weeks before claiming a more comfortable 3-1 victory over the Moldovan side.
- Sheriff Tiraspol have won their last three home matches and are unbeaten in 11 consecutive games on home turf, claiming nine wins and two draws since a 1-0 loss to OGC Nice on March 9.
- BATE Borisov are winless in three of their last four matches across all competitions, losing twice and claiming one draw since the second week of July.
Sheriff Tiraspol vs BATE Borisov Prediction
Sheriff and BATE Borisov head into Thursday’s clash in contrasting form, with the visitors losing their last two matches. We predict Bordin’s men will build on Sunday’s win over Petrocub and pick up a first-leg victory in front of their home supporters.
Prediction: Sheriff Tiraspol 1-0 BATE Borisov
Sheriff Tiraspol vs BATE Borisov Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Sheriff Tiraspol to win
Tip 2: Over 2.5 goals - No (There have been fewer than three goals scored in five of the hosts’ last six matches)
Tip 3: More than 4.5 cards - No (There have been fewer than five bookings in five of BATE Borisov’s last seven matches)
