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Aron Wright - July 17, 2018
Nordsjaelland vs Cliftonville
Europa League First qualifying round
Date: Thursday, 19 July 2018
Kick-Off at 18:30 UK/ 19:30 CET
Venue: Right to Dream Park (Farum).
Skov Olsen’s first half goal gives Nordsjaelland a slim 1-0 win against Cliftonville in the away leg.
The Norwegian club were win-less in 8 Europa League games until the scrappy win at Belfast last week, drew 2 and lost 6.
On the other hand, Cliftonville have a terrible record at the competition and haven’t won an away game in the period.
Nordsjaelland finished third in the Norwegian Eliteserien last season and they are side capable of scoring in plenty and thus remains a strong favorite to bag a convincing win in the return leg this mid-week.
Nordsjaelland can boast a solid spell of form and they have string together a five-game winning streak, as they beat Nykobing, Norrköping, PAOK, Beerschot-Wilrijk, and Ajax.
Still, the Wild Tigers been conceding goals on the regular intervals. But, their firepower upfront will be too hot to handle of the Northern Irish side.
The 1-0 win from the first leg is a decent platform to build up to a solid display at their own backyard on Thursday evening.
Cliftonville have ended their campaign on a high note and made their way to the Europa League Qualifiers through Premiership play-offs and a 3-2 win over Glentoran.
However, they have failed to build on the success through their pre-season and suffered quite a convincing 1-4 loss to Derry City and only held Shelburne to a 1-1 draw in early July.
These are worrying signs for the Northern Irish semi-professional club, down by a goal against a far superior built Scandinavian opponent away from home.
The first leg clash ended in a 1-0 win for Nordsjaelland is their lone meeting with Cliftonville.
