Shelbourne vs Qarabag Prediction: Reds to come unstuck in Dublin

The Champions League qualifiers continue this midweek and Airtricity Premier Division champions Shelbourne are getting themselves braced for the visit of Qarabag to Dublin. The Azerbaijani side represents a step up in class after Shels proved too strong for Linfield over two legs in their opening assignment.

Joey O'Brien and his Shelbourne side must be on guard against a Qarabag side with lots of European experience as they go head-to-head at Tolka Park on Wednesday (KO 20:00, Premier Sports 1). Below are my Shelbourne vs Qarabag predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Shelbourne saw goalkeeper Conor Kearns go off against Linfield in Belfast with a hamstring problem and replacement Lorcan Healy could don the gloves from the start now.

John Martin earned a rare start and netted a hat-trick in the weekend's 4-0 FAI Cup win over non-league Fairview Rangers but is still likely to be on the bench.

Nariman Akhundzade was on target for Qarabag in their weekend 2-1 loss to Salzburg in a friendly and the 21-year-old should pose a threat to the home defence alongside creative spark Leandro Andrade, scorer of 15 league goals last season.

Shelbourne vs Qarabag Odds

Shelbourne have home advantage at Tolka Park but the Dubliners are 4/1 outsiders to land the win. Qarabag can be backed at 4/7, giving them an implied win probability of 63.6% while the draw trades at 11/4. Over 2.5 goals is a 4/6 chance, while both teams to score is priced at 8/11.

Qarabag to win & Under 2.5 Goals @ 3/1

Qarabag played in the Europa League's inaugural league phase last season. They finished bottom but were more competitive than one win from eight suggests and their success came away from home against eventual semi-finalists Bodo/Glimt.

They have much more experience in European football than Shelbourne, League of Ireland champions last season for the first time since 2006.

Damien Duff quit as manager last month and has been replaced by his assistant Joey O'Brien, with Shels unbeaten in five since that happened.

Prior to facing Linfield, Shelbourne had managed just one clean sheet in eight games and they may struggle to break down a Qarabag defence that conceded just 19 goals in 36 league games last season.

Despite their dominance in the tie overall, Shels found Linfield tough to break down and now come up against a much better side.

It could be low-scoring in Dublin, but the visitors have the quality to win the match.

Qarabag to win 1-0 @ 13/2

Shelbourne were comfortable against Linfield but decent chances were few and far between.

The home side will be wary of keeping the tie alive for next week's second leg and so goals could be hard to come by as Qarabag are only now returning to competitive action.

Nariman Akhundzade took his goal well in the friendly loss to Salzburg and playmaker Leandro Andrade has the tools to cause Shels problems. The visiting side may win by the minimum.

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