Elfsborg vs Sheriff Tiraspol

Boras Arena is the venue as Elfsborg and Sheriff Tiraspol go head-to-head in the return leg of their closely-contested Europa League qualifying tie.

An 86th-minute penalty handed Elfsborg a crucial 1-0 first-leg win in Moldova, but it’s fair to admit the Swedish club duly deserved to take home a precious triumph. Perhaps tired from a long trip to Eastern Europe, Oscar Hiljemarkr’s charges succumbed to a frustrating 2-1 home league defeat to bitter rivals Djurgarden, relinquishing a superb six-game winning run at the start of 2023/24. Before that, the Yellow Ones had won three consecutive home outings across all competitions, netting precisely three goals on each occasion. Delivering action from the get-go, Elfsborg opened the scoring inside the first 30 minutes in three of those four matches, highlighting the potential for a quick-fire start. That would likely pave the way for another success, considering they won each of those three games via multiple-goal margins.

Only two years ago, Sherrif Tiraspol stunned Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League group stages, but they’ve since failed to qualify for Europe’s top-tier competition. However, they’ve since featured in the Europa League group stage phase in back-to-back seasons and must overturn a narrow first-leg deficit to maintain their dream of making it three in a row. Interestingly, the Moldovan side overcame Zira in the previous qualifying round despite losing the first leg at home, meaning they’re still very much in contention for the next stage. A 2-1 win away to Zira in regulation ended Sheriff’s abysmal three-game losing streak on the road. Therefore, the visitors can’t afford to take anything for granted, especially as they’ve never beaten Swedish opposition (D1, L2).