Sheriff Tiraspol vs Teuta Durres

Sheriff Tiraspol have put one foot in the next Champions League qualifying round following a 4-0 first-leg win against Teuta Durres, making the return leg at the Stadionul Sherif a mere formality.

A 4-0 first-leg thrashing puts Sheriff in the driving seat ahead of the rematch, but the hosts had failed to win four consecutive competitive matches beforehand (D1, L3). However, when Sheriff win, it tends to be with dignity, with each of their previous six competitive triumphs yielding a clean sheet and four producing a winning margin of 3+ goals. Still, the ‘Yellow-Blacks’ have endured a dip in home form ahead of the kick-off, going from four consecutive home victories to three straight matches without winning (D1, L2). Additionally, Yuriy Vernydub’s men have drawn a blank in back-to-back competitive home games after netting an average of 3.2 goals across their previous five outings on home turf. Encouragingly, going back to February 2020, they have not conceded over 1.5 goals in any of their 27 home games, friendlies included.

On the other hand, the visitors have gone from a three-game unbeaten streak (W2, D1) to back-to-back defeats, both of which saw them concede in both halves. Taking only competitive matches into account, they have failed to get on the scoresheet in three of their last four fixtures, albeit they’ve let in under 1.5 goals on three occasions too. Entertainment has been sparse in Teuta’s recent away fixtures as 11 of their last 12 road trips have featured under 2.5 goals, with eight of them seeing one goal or less. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the ‘Boys of the Sea’ scored under 1.5 goals in nine of their last 12 travels in all competitions.