Football Park's Best Bets | Midweek European ACCA

While all eyes may have been on the FIFA Club World Cup over the last month or so, the battle to reach some of Europe's elite club competitions is truly underway. The Europa League and Europa Conferance League qualifiers began last week with second leg ties to come this week.

🎯 ACCA Suggestion

St. Patrick's Athletic Draw No Bet @ 1.77
Cliftonville win @ 2.2
Shelbourne Draw No Bet @ 2.1

📈 Combined Odds & Rationale

St. Pats vs Hegelmann - St. Pats Draw No Bet @ 1.77

St. Patrick's Athletic dominated their Lithuanian opponents Hegelmann in the first-leg last week but inefficiency in front of goal was again a problem for the goal shy Saints. Touted as title favourites in Ireland this year, St. Pat's have failed to live up to the hype but their manager Stephen Kenny is famed for his European runs with Irish sides.

Kenny, the previous Ireland manager, guided St. Pat's all the way to the Conference League play-off round last summer, where they were eventually beaten by Istanbul Başakşehir. In 2016, Kenny led Dundalk to the Champions League play-off round were they pushed Polish giants Legia Warsaw close before dropping into the Europa League group stages.

Hegelmann looked rather limited last week and may struggle to recover the lost ground from last week (St. Pat's lead 1-0 on aggregate).

Cliftonville vs St. Joseph's - Cliftonville to Win @ 2.2

Cliftonville, who play in the Northern Irish League, drew 2-2 away to St. Joseph's of Gibraltar last week. While that may not seem like an excellent result, Gibraltan teams are on the rise in Europe so a home second leg leaves the Belfast club in a good position.

Joseph's gave Shelbourne a tricky time of things on the rock last season, while Bruno's Magpies dumped Derry City out of Europe last year. Two Andorran teams won on the same night in Europe for the first time ever last week, so the minnow nations are on the up and can't be taken lightly. However, home advantage should see Cliftonville through.

Shelbourne vs Linfield - Shelbourne Draw No Bet @ 2.1

Shelbourne lead 1-0 against Linfield after dominating the first-leg of this All-Ireland tie last week. However, the Reds should have won by more but showed a lack of killer instinct in front of goal, something that has been an issue in the league for them this year.

Linfield are out of season and looked rustier than an old gate last week, but even with that excuse in mind, they look incredibly average.

The Northern Irish champions have lost their top scorer from last season and the League of Ireland is a far stronger league than the league Linfield play in. A hostile home support makes this a tricky assignment for Shelbourne but they should advance to the second round.