Thursday's Europa League and Europa Conference League qualifying predictions and free football tips

When to bet

Kick-offs from 4pm Thursday

Best bets

Molde to beat Cercle Brugge
6pm Thursday
2pts 10-11 Coral, Ladbrokes

Olimpija Ljubljana to beat Sheriff Tiraspol
6pm Thursday
2pts 4-5 Coral, Ladbrokes

Thursday's Europa League and Conference League qualifying predictions

There are 11 Europa League qualifiers to look forward to on Thursday, headlined by League of Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers who face a tough trip to Slovenia as they tackle Celje.

It looks a daunting task for Stephen Bradley’s side, who crashed out of Champions League qualification following a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Sparta Prague, and there are stronger betting propositions across the card.

Molde, having edged past Silkeborg in the previous qualifying round, could represent value to claim a first-leg lead at home to Cercle Brugge.

The Norwegian side won their home leg against Silkeborg 3-1 and they made the group phase of the competition last season, finishing third in a section featuring Bayer Leverkusen, Hacken and Qarabag before being jettisoned to the Conference League.

At home, Molde defeated Hacken 5-1, drew 2-2 with Qarabag and were edged out only 2-1 by Europa League runners-up Bayer Leverkusen, whose only defeat across their whole campaign came in the final against Atalanta.

Molde ended up losing in the last 16 of the Conference League to Club Brugge but they won the home leg 2-1 and Cercle Brugge are slightly inferior to those opponents domestically in Belgium.

The visitors made hard work of coming past Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock 2-1 in the previous round, having shared the spoils at Rugby Park, and they are hard to fancy at the Aker Stadion.

There are also 25 Europa Conference League qualifiers on the menu, featuring a host of British interest as Kilmarnock, fellow Scots St Mirren, Northern Irish side Larne and League of Ireland outfit St Patricks all take to the field.

Killie and St Mirren are hosting Norwegian opponents in Tromso and Brann respectively while St Pats entertain Azerbaijan’s Sabah Baku and Larne head to Kosovo to face Ballkani.

However, neither of those make much of a punting appeal and instead bettors should side with Olimpija Ljubljana to record a home victory over Sheriff Tiraspol.

The Slovenian hosts have won all five of their competitive matches so far this season, conceding only once, and that includes a 2-0 victory at home to Ukraine’s Polissya Zhytomyr in the previous round.

Sheriff, meanwhile, limped out of Europa League qualifying with a 3-0 aggregate loss to Swedish side Elfsborg and they’ve lost four of their last five away matches.

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