FCB Magpies v Dundalk

Magpies vs Dundalk Preview

The 1st legs of the 1st Qualifying Round of the Europa Conference League continue on Thursday evening and features this upcoming clash between Gibraltar outfit, Magpies, and Irish counterparts, Dundalk, at Victoria Stadium for the chance to progress into the next round of qualifiers of this competition.

A domestic cup win in the Gibraltan Rock Cup against highly fancied Lincoln Red Imps saw Magpies clinch a place in the qualifying stage of this season's Europa Conference League, winning 4-2 on penalties after the scores were level at 1-1 at the end of normal time.

Magpies will be keen to avoid suffering the same fate as last season though in this competition against Irish opposition as the Gibraltan hosts suffered a 4-3 defeat on aggregate to Crusaders, but they face a tough challenge in the shape of Dundalk on Thursday evening.

Indeed, having claimed just three wins out of their last 12 matches in all competitions along with being handed four defeats during this period, Magpies could have their work cut out if they're to stay in this two-legged tie at Victoria Stadium.

Dundalk clinched the last European spot in the Irish Premier Division at the end of last season's campaign as the visitors finished in third place in the table, edging out St Patrick's Athletic by a five-point margin but although the visitors were dealt a 3-2 loss away at Bohemians last time out, Dundalk will still fancy their chances of securing a positive result in this 1st leg tie.

Dundalk had previously put together a promising five-match unbeaten run in the Irish Premier Division, collecting four wins in the process with victories over UCD, Cork City, Drogheda United and most impressive of all, a 2-0 home win against the league leaders, Shamrock Rovers.

This latter result in particular will give Dundalk confidence ahead of this upcoming trip to Gibraltar along with the fact that the Irish visitors have lost just once in their previous six ties in the Europa Conference League as well.

Dundalk had progressed through the early stages of qualification in the inaugural Europa Conference League back in 2021 but they fell at the 3rd Qualifying Round stage to Dutch Eredivisie side, Vitesse, losing 4-3 but nevertheless giving a good account of themselves against their more illustrious opposition.

Magpies v Dundalk Verdict

Recent results on home soil have been fairly disappointing for Magpies as the Gibraltan outfit have managed to capture just two wins in their last six games, one of which went to a penalty shoot-out against Lincoln Red Imps, while Dundalk have won two of their last three away games, so it looks like being the visitors that will hold the upper hand in this 1st leg tie.

Therefore, our main bet will be Dundalk win @ 1.53

Other side bets worth considering:

Over 2.5 goals @ 1.95

Correct score: Dundalk 2-1 @ 9.00