Larne and Santa Clara will trade tackles in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League third round qualification tie on Thursday (August 7th). The game will be played at Ballymena Showgrounds.
The hosts are coming into the game on the back of a penalty shootout victory over Prishtina in the second leg of their second-round qualification tie last week. They went behind to Gjelbrim Taipi’s 10th-minute strike while Dan Bent equalized in the 56th minute. The tie went on to penalties, with Larne progressing with a 5-4 victory in the shootout.
Santa Clara, meanwhile, booked their spot at this stage of the qualifiers with a 3-2 aggregate win over Varazdin in the last round. They suffered a 2-1 defeat away from home in the first leg but claimed a 2-0 home win in the return leg, with Vinicius Lopes and Gabriel Silva scoring in either half.
The winner of this tie faces Ballkani or Shamrock Rovers in the playoffs, while the losers are eliminated from the continent.
Larne vs Santa Clara Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the first meeting between the two sides.
- Larne’s four games in the Conference League qualifiers this season have ended in stalemates.
- Four of Santa Clara’s last five games across competitions have seen both sides find the back of the net.
- Three of Santa Clara’s four historical away games in the Conference League have seen one side fail to find the back of the net.
- Santa Clara have never progressed to the main stage of a major European club competition.
Larne vs Santa Clara Prediction
Larne competed in the main stage of a European club competition for the first time in their history. However, their debut did not go according to plan as they lost five of six games.
Santa Clara, for their part, are returning to the Conference League for the first time since the maiden edition in the 2021-22 season. They were eliminated in the playoffs on that occasion, but will be aiming to go further this time around.
The Portuguese outfit are the favorites in this tie. We are backing the visitors to claim a narrow victory in addition to a clean sheet.
Prediction: Larne 0-1 Santa Clara
Larne vs Santa Clara Betting Tips
Tip 1 – Santa Clara to win
Tip 2 – Both teams to score: No
Tip 3 – Under 2.5 goals
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Edited by Peter P
