Does the Sheriff fairytale start 2.0?
The Sheriff is back! After Moldovan champions FC Sheriff Tiraspol made a big splash in the top flight in the pre-season and were even able to dream of a place in the last 16, the international adventure now begins anew for the surprise team of the previous season.
In the first qualifying round, the team of new coach Stjepan Tomas is challenged in Bosnia. Ahead of the first leg between Zrinjski Mostar and Sheriff Tiraspol, the odds are swinging in the direction of the visitors, who are also clear favourites to progress to the second qualifying round.
Nevertheless, the mistake should not be made in the run-up to this encounter of overestimating FC Sheriff on the basis of the last match year. A number of players have left the club and the interim momentum is also unlikely to be present in this form. In purely qualitative terms and given the experience advantage at the highest level, it is nevertheless understandable that between Zrinjski Mostar and Sheriff Tiraspol, a prediction on the visiting team is considered more likely.
Zrinjski Mostar – Statistics & current form
It is probably only the absolute football experts who are really familiar with the club Zrinjski Mostar. The Bosnian club has never reached the main draw of an international competition. In the UEFA Europa League, they have reached the third qualifying round three times, but each time it was the end of the line. For the first time since 2018/19, the Red and Whites are now back in the top flight.
The oldest club from Bosnia & Herzegovina still in existence today earned this respectable success by winning the championship in the past season. With a whopping 27-point lead and only one defeat after 33 match days, Mostar dominated the national scene at will and are now looking forward to the challenge of the Champions League, although they are not naïve enough to believe that they can survive four qualifying rounds to book their ticket to the group stage.
Mostar want and need to make an impact at home
Despite this, coach Sergej Jakirovic’s team naturally has its sights set high. Especially in front of their home crowd, the aim is to build on the quite acceptable international performances of the last few years. None of the last seven European Cup home games was lost. Since 2018/19, there have been three wins and four draws at home. Most of the time, therefore, it was the games away from home that prevented them from progressing.
The fact that the Bosnian league starts in mid-July, two weeks before the Moldovan league, is also a source of confidence. In terms of preparation, the outsiders should therefore be a little further ahead. The numerous new arrivals and loan players from Croatia, among others from the youth team of Dinamo Zagreb, also stand for a certain quality, but have a clear disadvantage in terms of experience compared to the upcoming opponents. Between Zrinjski Mostar and Sheriff Tiraspol, betting on a home win is therefore not an option for us.
Predicted line-up of Zrinjski Mostar:
Soldo; Corluka, Jakovljevic, Barisic, Bekic; Malekinusic, Savic, Zlomislic, Cuze; Mandic, Bilbija
Last matches played by Zrinjski Mostar:
Premier League
28/05/2022 – Rudar Prijedor 0 – 2 Zrinjski Mostar
21/05/2022 – Zrinjski Mostar 1 – 0 FK Leotar
15/05/2022 – Posusje 2 – 2 Zrinjski Mostar
11/05/2022 – Zrinjski Mostar 1 – 1 FK Velez Mostar
06/05/2022 – Sloboda Tuzla 0 – 2 Zrinjski Mostar
Sheriff Tiraspol – Statistics & current form
It would definitely go beyond the scope to go into detail about the last season of FC Sheriff. However, in view of the incredible dimension that the Champions League season had for the small club from the footballing dwarf state of Moldova, we cannot avoid a brief review.
The fairytale Cinderella story of the underdog already began in the qualifiers. Teuta Durres, Alashkert, Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb were eliminated one after the other. Tiraspol thus became the first Moldovan team in the club’s history to reach the group stage, where they even managed to beat Real Madrid, who went on to win the title. In the end, however, an impressive seven points after six match days were not enough to see them through to the European Cup.
Tiraspol reminisce
Some key performers, however, left the club in the summer to take up more lucrative offers. Sebastien Thill, who scored the winning goal against the Galactics, joined Hansa Rostock in the 2nd Bundesliga, for example. Winger Traoré also turned his back on Transnistria and moved to Hungary to join Ferencvaros. Coach Yuriy Vernydub is also no longer on board and has been replaced by Croatian Stjepan Tomas.
For the new coach, it is also the first competitive match with the new club. The league season does not start until the end of July, but the preparation was of course primarily focused on the international matches, which is why we invalidate the previously implied advantage of fitness ourselves. In view of the experience gained last season and the individual quality, especially in the offensive area, we like the odds on the away team in the duel Zrinjski Mostar versus Sheriff Tiraspol much better.
Predicted line-up of Sheriff Tiraspol:
Abalora; Evangelou, Radeljic, Kiki, Julien; Badolo, Kyabou, Lushkja; Pernambuco, Yansane, Atiemwen
Last matches played by Sheriff Tiraspol:
Cup
21/05/2022 – FC Sfintul Gheorghe 0 – 1 FC Sheriff
National Division
14/05/2022 – FC Sfintul Gheorghe 0 – 2 FC Sheriff
07/05/2022 – FC Milsami Orhei 1 – 1 FC Sheriff
29/04/2022 – Dinamo-Auto 0 – 3 FC Sheriff
21/04/2022 – FC Sheriff 3 – 0 FC Floresti
Zrinjski Mostar – Sheriff Tiraspol Direct comparison / H2H-balance
For the first time, the national champions from Bosnia and Moldova will face each other in a competitive match. The return match will take place next Tuesday in Tiraspol.
Zrinjski Mostar – Sheriff Tiraspol Tip
Many exotics determine the field of the first qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League. Until last season, FC Sheriff from Tiraspol in Transnistria was also an unknown football dwarf.
But all that is now a thing of the past, because in the current season Sheriff will have to qualify anew for Europe’s most important club competition. At least in round one, the Tomas eleven is considered the favourite. This is underlined by the betting odds on the three-way market in the duel between Zrinjski Mostar and Sheriff Tiraspol.
We agree with the bookmakers’ assessment, especially as the visitors naturally have more experience at this level and also have a squad that is almost twice as expensive. For both teams, this encounter falls in the middle of preparation, so no clear fitness advantages can be named. Only the fact that the Bosnian champions have not lost any of their last seven European Cup home games makes us sit up and take notice.
Our first choice is therefore to place a bet between Zrinjski Mostar and Sheriff Tiraspol, at fair odds, on the X2 & Under 3.5. We therefore do not believe in a home win for the underdogs and at the same time are convinced that a maximum of three goals will be scored in the course of the match.
