Shelbourne VS Shamrock Rovers

Shelbourne hosts Shamrock Rovers at Tolka Park in the capital of Ireland, Dublin, for this Irish Premier Division round 9 clash. This a pretty low-level league by European standards and there are no particularly skilled individuals playing in the Premier Division. Not a great match to watch but a lucrative one to bet on! Talented young players usually leave the country at young age to play in the UK or elsewhere in Europe. The clubs’ players’ total market values are even lower than here in my country's Finland's top domestic league – The Finnish Veikkausliiga which also is not a very high-level one to be honest.. Most teams play physical, rather defensive football in Ireland – also in the 2nd tier. The goal expectancy is low here as well -  mostly because the hosts are somewhat limited offensively. They were promoted the Premier Division for this season and seem to find it hard to create enough scoring chances in a lot faster tempo and against clearly better defenders than in the 1. Division. They do not have many well-known players – even in Ireland – and are once again under-rated by the betting market. However, we must realize that their defense is more solid than I would have thought before the season started, and they seem to be improving overall as team as too! They have allowed just 9 goals so far. In addition, the visitors have not been great offensively away from home scoring more than 1 goal in just 1 one the latest 5 away games in this league. I would not be surprised if the hosts were able to grab a draw here. The bet, +1.5 goals handicap, on them seems to be a very solid one for my fans and myself as it would win even if Shelbourne were lose by one goal’s difference. The chance of winning is 74%.

The hosts are definitely the clearly better team here by raw class and are 54% favorites to win even away from home. However, Shelbourne have lost just one of their latest matches by more than 1 goal’s difference.. Shamrock have played well this season but this has eventually lead to over-valuation in the betting market. We must also remember that they were a bit lucky for example against Bohemians on the 11th of March winning 1-0 at home despite the visitors having more ball possession and attacks.. Shamrock were clear favorites in this match.. Shelbourne, on the other hand, took a fine win 3-0 away from home in their most recent match over Sligo Rovers as heavy underdogs in a pretty balanced match! A fine performance as a whole! This must be a huge boost for their self-confidence coming into this challenging battle. Sligo are currently in 4th place with 12 points and are a pretty good team, so the host can be very pleased by taking all 3 points.