Europa Conference League Odds: What Are Shamrock Rovers’ Chances?

Daire Walsh

After locking horns at the Aker Stadion in Norway last Thursday, Shamrock Rovers and Molde will enjoy a quick reunion in Group F of the UEFA Europa Conference League this week.

This will be the fourth game for both sides in the group and betting sites are offering their take on what might unfold at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday.

Both Teams In Different Directions After Last Week’s Result

Prior to last week’s action, these two teams were evenly matched in the group table with one point apiece from their opening two fixtures against Djurgardens and Gent.

That has since changed, however, as a consequence of Molde claiming a 3-0 victory at the expense of Rovers on their home patch.

Supplementing a brace of goals from Ola Brynhildsen, Etzaz Hussain also found the net to ensure the Scandinavians gave themselves a fighting chance of reaching the knockout stages of this third-tier European competition.

Conversely, Rovers are now rooted to the bottom of the table and will be desperate to get their campaign back on track as quickly as possible.

Stephen Bradley’s side are now one of two teams in the Conference League who are yet to score a group stage goal (Žalgiris of Lithuania are the other) and will at the very least be looking to alter this statistic in their second home game.

A scoreless draw with Djurgardens in Tallaght on September 8 was commendable, particularly when you consider the Swedes are currently sitting at the summit of the table courtesy of back-to-back successes over Molde and Gent.

Rovers Remain An Outside Bet For A Conference League Victory

This result also means that Rovers are currently unbeaten at home in Europe this year, having previously recorded four wins from four across their UEFA Champions League and Europa League qualifiers.

This included second leg victories over Ludogorets and Ferencvaros, who are proving themselves to be highly competitive in the Europa group stages at the moment.

That said, Molde are a club with a strong European pedigree themselves and the best football betting sites are once again making them strong favourites to secure victory.

Molde are 8/13 to come away with all three points and while these odds are longer than their first meeting with Rovers, the fact Erling Moe’s charges are on the road is being factored into the equation to some degree.

By extension, this means the odds are also shorter on Rovers claiming their first-ever European group stage win – albeit the Dublin-based side remain rank outsiders.

After being rated at 10/1 amongst some bookies last Thursday, the Hoops have come into 4/1 with Paddy Power to come out on the right side of the result.

Another Draw In Tallaght A Realistic Prospect

Punters might be enticed by the idea of this game being a draw and the odds of 11/4 with Ladbrokes for a stalemate look appealing.

William Hill are going slightly shorter on this potential result at 13/5, but their form to date on the continent certainly suggests that the Irish men are a tougher proposition on home soil.

Because Rovers had a crunch league game against Shelbourne last Sunday, the line-up team manager Bradley selected for last week’s duel with Molde had some notable absentees.

The likes of Jack Byrne, Graham Burke and Rory Gaffney are all regarded as first-choice players when fully fit, but all three were held in reserve for the visit to Norway.

In total, just five of the side that started in Molde were retained for their subsequent clash against Shelbourne.

This is a move that ultimately paid off for Bradley, with a dramatic 3-2 win over Shels leaving them five points clear at the summit of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division with just four games left to play.

While there is a league fixture against Drogheda United to consider this coming Sunday, it is unlikely the Rovers boss will be looking to hold back any of his star names in front of a partisan home crowd.

Molde Cruising Towards League Title In Norway

Molde don’t have to worry about striking the same kind of balance between their European and domestic duties as they only require a single point from their remaining five outings to be crowned Eliteserien champions for 2022.

Currently on a 20-game unbeaten run in the Norwegian league – 18 wins and two draws – they are 15 points clear of a Bodø/Glimt side that are set to welcome English Premier League leaders Arsenal to their home ground in the Europa League on Thursday.

Molde previously made the knockout stages of the Europa League in 2015/16 and 2020/21, and will arrive in Dublin knowing another win against Rovers would leave them in a strong position to reach the same phase of the Conference League – and betting apps are backing them to do just that.