Klaksvik (Fai) vs Molde (Nor) prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-08-07 18:45.
In the hardworking Faroe Islands fishing town of Klaksvík, a group of history makers prepare to take the field again. Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag have already secured their place as the first Faroese club side to reach a major European group stage after eliminating the Swedish and Hungarian champions, Ferencváros and Häcken in the previous rounds. Even if they fail here, they’ll at the very least feature in this season’s UEFA Europa Conference League group stage.
Whilst Klaksvík enjoy a handsome lead at the peak of the Faroe Islands Premier League table, the minute size of the town cannot be understated, with their stadium Við Djúpumýrar able to hold 2,500 fans, over half of the town’s population! That venue doesn’t quite meet UEFA’s standards for the third round, so instead the entire township of around 5,000 could perceivably make the short trip to the 6,500 capacity national stadium, Tórsvøllur!
Making the trip to Tórshavn are Klaksvík’s Nordic neighbours, Molde. The forlorn Norwegian Eliteserien title chasers managed to overturn a 1-0 deficit to eliminate HJK in the previous round, so they’ll hope to avoid a similarly slow start as they enter this as almost identically warm favourites. With just one defeat across their last ten games (W8, D1), Molde should realistically feel confident against a side who feature a large contingent of part-time players.
These sides actually met in the Europa League qualification final in 2003/04, a 6-0 aggregate success for the Norwegians, which was the only previous meeting between Molde and a Faroese team. Despite their apparent superiority in stature, Molde cannot afford to be complacent as they’ve won just three of their last 12 away Champions League qualifiers (D6, L3), and never by more than a single-goal margin.
Players to watch: Manager of a food import company outside of his attacking role with Klaksvík, Árni Frederiksberg certainly brought home the bacon with his four goals in as many qualifiers serving to make national history. Not to be confused with the Manchester United man, Molde midfielder Kristian Eriksen has directly contributed to at least one goal in six of their last eight games (G3, A4).
Hot stat: Molde have held a half-time lead in seven of their last ten matches (HT: W7, D2, L1).