Crusaders v Rosenborg

Crusaders vs Rosenborg Preview

Crusaders will get first bite of the cherry in regards home advantage for this tough looking two-legged tie with Norwegian side, Rosenborg, when the two teams face off at Seaview but recent results should give the hosts a welcome boost ahead of this encounter on Thursday night.

Crusaders have lost just once in their last seven matches overall, that being a 3-1 loss at home to Rangers B in a club friendly but the encouraging results include beating Finnish outfit, Haka, in the previous round of this season's UEFA Conference League as well.

A creditable 2-2 draw away from home in Finland kept Crusaders in the tie and the Irish club duly responded on home soil with a 1-0 victory to send them into this 2nd Qualifying Round of this competition, while the hosts have also recorded four wins in their last seven games as well.

However, results at home have been a little hit or miss of late as Crusaders have won just three of their last seven home games at Seaview whilst also slipping to four defeats too, and losses to the likes of Larne, Glentoran, The New Saints and Rangers B do not bode well for this upcoming visit from Norwegian powerhouse, Rosenborg.

Rosenborg have had their fair share of problems lately as well though, as the visitors had managed to muster just a single win in their preceding seven matches which came in the form of a 4-0 home win against HamKam in the Norwegian Eliteserien but they'd also been handed five defeats within this poor period of results as well.

The tide may have turned though for the Norwegian side as Rosenborg have collected back-to-back wins against Tromso 2-1 at home and a 1-0 win away from home at Stromsgodset which will give Svein Maalen's side a welcome and timely boost ahead of the start of their Conference League campaign.

Rosenborg haven't enjoyed the best of times on their travels lately either as they have registered just one win from their last five outings but the visitors do possess a fair bit of experience at European club level and having won four of their last six games in the UEFA Conference League as well, the visitors perhaps look the more likely to take a 1st leg lead into next week's return leg.

Crusaders v Rosenborg Verdict

Although it's 10 years since these two teams last met in European competition, Rosenborg will have fond memories of their previous exchanges as the Norwegian outfit have won each of the previous four meetings on the trot and the visitors should gain the upper hand here as well.

Therefore, our main bet will be Rosenborg win @ 1.53

Other side bets worth considering:

Rosenborg win & Over 2.5 goals @ 2.37

Correct score: Rosenborg 2-1 @ 8.50