Europa Conference League Odds: What Are Shamrock Rovers’ Chances?
Daire Walsh
Shamrock Rovers’ UEFA Europa Conference League campaign will come to an end at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm tomorrow evening and betting sites are offering their two cents on how the League of Ireland champions will fare.
After failing to score in their opening four games of Group F, Rovers finally opened their account at home to Gent in the Tallaght Stadium last Thursday.
The hard-working Rory Gaffney found the net with just three minutes gone on the clock and for a long time this looked like it might be enough for Stephen Bradley’s men to claim their first group stage win on the continent.
Rovers Close To Maximum Points The Last Time Out
Back in the 2011-12 season, Rovers competed in the regular phase of the UEFA Europa League and suffered six straight defeats.
The current crop earned a draw at home to Djurgardens on September 8, but were now hoping to go one better following their perfect start against the Belgians.
However, the Hoops lost teenage prodigy Justin Ferizaj to a second yellow card on 73 minutes and Hong Hyun-seok found their net moments later to ensure the two teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Still, a draw with Gent was a commendable result and it leaves the Belgians needing a win at home to Molde in order to remain in this season’s competition.
Neither Team Can Shift From Their Current Positions
On the face of it, Rovers’ renewal of acquaintances with Djurgardens on Thursday may seem like a dead rubber contest.
Whereas the Irish men are guaranteed to finish bottom of the table due to their inferior head-to-head with Gent, their Swedish counterparts are assured of top spot and a place in the last-16 of the Conference League.
Yet Rovers won’t see it that way, especially with their third consecutive SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title already wrapped up.
Bradley and his troops will be eager to finish a lengthy European campaign – that also saw them competing in the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers – on a high and will hope to take advantage of a potentially casual approach from their opponents.
Despite all this the question is, are the best football betting sites inclined to side with Rovers on this occasion?
Rovers Remain Outsiders For A Conference League Win
Having regarded them as underdogs thus far in the campaign, bookmakers are sticking to their guns for the sixth and final time by once again making the men from Tallaght outsiders and Ladbrokes have odds of 13/2 on a Rovers victory.
Those odds are no surprise really and their performances on the road in Europe this term – just one win from six – certainly suggests this could be another difficult encounter.
Rovers are the only side to take points off Djurgardens in Group F, but the lowest odds available on a stalemate is 7/2.
By contrast, William Hill are rating a home victory as a 2/5 possibility and it is abundantly clear what the expected result is from this final round showdown.
Djurgardens’ Domestic Challenge Falls Short
Like Rovers, Djurgardens have just one game left to play in their domestic league.
The big difference is, The Blue Stripes have been forced to settle for second spot in Allsvenskan with BK Hacken currently holding an unassailable six-point advantage over them.
While this secures the Swedes a Conference League qualification spot for next season, it still comes as something of a disappointment for a club that featured in Champions League qualifiers a little over two years ago.
Of course, winning the Conference League outright would see them moving up to the Europa League for 2023-24, but the odds of this happening are currently 50/1 with BetVictor.
Rovers Have Had A Memorable Year
Regardless of what transpires in Stockholm, 2022 will go down as a good year in the history of Shamrock Rovers.
Having earned back-to-back league crowns under former and possibly future Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill in 2010 and 2011, the Hoops have gone one better under the guidance of the aforementioned Bradley.
Although Derry City put up a good fight for several weeks, last Sunday’s 1-0 success over the same opposition leaves Rovers a full 10 points out in front going into their final game of the league season this coming weekend away to Dublin rivals UCD.
This guarantees them a qualification slot in the top-tier European competition next term and a potential path into either the Europa League or Conference League group stages if that doesn’t work out.
Before Bradley and his management team focus their attention on that, they will be looking to go out of Europe in style for the 2022-23 season.
Betting apps say they will be up against it, but this squad isn’t the kind to shy away from a challenge.