St. Joseph's take on Cliftonville at the Europa Sports Complex on Tuesday for the first leg of their first qualifying round clash of the 2025-26 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Aiming for their first qualification to a major tournament, St. Joseph's are looking to banish memories of their eight failed attempts previously - since 2017, the Gibraltar side have endured one heartbreak after another in these qualifiers.
Abraham Paz's side will be hoping for a change this year, with the club making a strong finish to their regular season in May with four consecutive wins.
But standing in their way are another club who have experienced a horrific run in European qualifiers in more recent times, Cliftonville.
Having previously qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup (1979) and UEFA Intertoto Cup (1996 and 2007), the Northern Irish side have seen a dry spell lately.
In the Conference League alone, the Reds have come up short in the qualifiers twice before - losing out to Slovakia's Dunajska Streda in the first qualifier round of the 2022-23 season before losing to Latvian club Auda in the second round of the Conference League qualifiers, last year.
Could the side finally bag a place at the finals in their third crack of the whip?
St. Joseph's vs Cliftonville Head-To-Head and Key Numbers
- This marks the first official encounter between St. Joseph's and Cliftonville.
- St. Joseph's have faced a club from Northern Ireland once before: Larne FC in the first round of the 2022-23 Champions League qualifiers, drawing 0-0 at home before a 1-0 victory in the return.
- Cliftonville have lost each of their last six qualifier games, two each vs Haugesund, Dunajska Streda and Auda, while failing to score in three of them.
- In 16 games of the European qualifiers, St. Joseph's have won just twice: 2-0 vs Prishtina in 2019 and 1-0 vs Larne in 2022.
St. Joseph's vs Cliftonville Prediction
Cliftonville certainly have more experience here, but their results in these qualifiers have been atrocious lately.
St. Joseph's will be looking to pounce on their vulnerabilities here on their home turf, but we expect this to end all square.
Prediction: St. Joseph's 1-1 Cliftonville
St. Joseph's vs Cliftonville Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Draw
Tip 2 - Goals over/under 2.5: Under 2.5 Goals
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: Yes