Shkendija vs Qarabag Prediction: European pedigree should help visitors

Shkendija have already caused one upset in qualifying for this season's UEFA Champions League and they will be keen to repeat the trick when they welcome Qarabag to the Tose Proeski Arena for the first leg of their third-round qualifying tie on Tuesday.

The North Macedonian champions defied the odds to dispense of FCSB in the previous round and they did so in style, winning both legs to come through 3-1 on aggregate.Qarabag's progress was a little more expected and serene, as they comfortably dispatched Shelbourne over two legs to set up this tie. Below you can find my Shkendija vs Qarabag predictions.

Team news

Shkendija will be boosted by the return of Albanian midfielder Kamer Qaka, who missed the second leg of the tie with FCSB through suspension, although given how they performed in Bucharest he may not be guaranteed to come straight back into the team.

After coming off the bench to score the winner in that game, Vane Krstevski is another pushing for a place in Jeton Bekjiri's starting XI.

Qarabag rotated for the second leg of their tie with Shels having already done the hard work in Dublin, with goalkeeper Fabijan Buntic among the players expected to reclaim their places for this one.

Right-back Dani Bolt remains an injury doubt for the Azerbaijani champions.

Shkendija vs Qarabag Odds

Given their greater European pedigree, it is no surprise to see Qarabag listed as the 4/6 favourites to leave Skopje with the victory, with a Shkendija win priced at 18/5 and the draw 5/2.

It is 5/6 for three or more goals to be netted in the contest, while both teams to score can be backed at 4/5.

Qarabag -1 handicap @ 15/8

Qarabag are regulars in UEFA Champions League qualifying and at this stage last season they claimed an emphatic 8-4 aggregate success over Ludogorets that included a 7-2 triumph in the away leg.

Gurban Gurbanov's side also won away to Lincoln Red Imps and eventual Europa League semi-finalists Bodo/Glimt in Europe last season and, after putting three past Shelbourne in the away leg of the previous round of qualifying, they will fancy their chances of taking a lead into next week's reverse clash in Baku.

This is only the second time Shkendija have reached this stage of UEFA Champions League qualifying and when they last did so in 2018, they were comfortably beaten home and away by FC Salzburg.

While they were impressive in seeing off FCBS, Shkendija did rather limp past The New Saints in the first qualifying round and, with Qarabag likely to mark a step up in quality on both those opponents, they may well come unstuck.

Half-Time/Full Time - Qarabag/Qarabag @ 8/5

With the new Azerbaijan Premier League season yet to get started, this will be just Qarabag's third match of the campaign, but in both previous games against Shelbourne they showed no signs of rust.

In the first leg of that tie in Dublin they were in front after just 12 minutes, while they took the lead during the first half of the return fixture back on home soil as well.

Gurbanov will be keen for his side to once again come out of the blocks firing on Tuesday and, if they do, Qarabag could be in front by half-time, which would make it a more than difficult road back for Shkendija.

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