Santa Clara vs Shamrock Rovers Prediction: Rovers can keep hope alive for return leg

Shamrock Rovers continue their European campaign with a tough trip to Primeira Liga side Santa Clara in the Uefa Conference League play-off round on Thursday (20:00 BST).

Below are my Santa Clara vs Shamrock Rovers tips, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Rovers are going well this season and are 10 points clear at the top of the League of Ireland standings after suffering only four defeats in 27 league games.

Football Odds

The Portuguese season has only just begun, and Santa Clara are yet to get off the mark for the campaign after losing their first two league games, although they have progressed through two rounds of this competition, seeing off Northern Irish side Larne along the way

Team News

Defender Pedro Jose Pacheco is likely to be the only player ruled out by injury for the hosts. Recent signing Elias Manoel could be in contention to start.

Today's Football Fixtures

Aaron McEneff is expected to be available again for Rovers after injury, but Max Kovalevskis is likely to be out for the next four weeks after knee surgery.

Santa Clara vs Shamrock Rovers Odds

Santa Clara are strong 4/11 favourites at home in the Azores, with Shamrock Rovers the 8/1 underdogs and the draw priced at 16/5.

Over 2.5 goals is priced at 10/11, with under 2.5 at 4/5. It's 5/4 that both teams score in the match and 4/7 that one or both teams fail to get on the scoresheet.

Total Goals - Under 2.5 @ 8/11

Santa Clara finished in an impressive fifth place in Portugal last season with only big guns Sporting, Benfica, Porto and Braga ahead of them, so it's no surprise that they are strongly fancied to win their home leg against Shamrock Rovers.

The Azores-based team have eliminated NK Varazdin and Larne in the previous two rounds, although they lost the first leg of their tie against the Croatian side 2-1 in their first competitive match of the season before coming through 2-0 at home.

They didn't go goal-crazy against Larne either, winning 3-0 in Northern Ireland before a goalless second leg, and a narrow win for the home side looks a likely outcome.

With Rovers doing all they can to keep the tie alive for the second leg at Tallaght, the scene is set for a potentially low-scoring game, and under 2.5 goals appeals as a bet.

Santa Clara are yet to score in two league matches and, while the lower-level opposition should help them to nose in front, an avalanche of goals is not likely.

Rovers conceded only one goal over two games against Ballkani of Kosovo in the previous round and had kept two clean sheets against the Gibraltarian side St Joseph's before that.

First Goalscorer - Gabriel Silva Vieira (SAN) @ 6/1

With goals likely to be scarce, it makes sense to target a first goalscorer bet rather than a player to score at any time, and Santa Clara winger Gabriel Silva Vieira looks a likely candidate to open the scoring.

The 23-year-old has done well for the European team after starting his career with Palmeiras, and he has enjoyed playing in this competition, netting three goals so far, with the decisive strike in the second leg against Varazdin and a double within three minutes in the first leg of the tie against Larne. His talent could be difficult for the visitors to cope with.

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