Sheriff Tiraspol – Viktoria Plzen: Preview and betting tips

Viktoria Plzeň made it through to the second round of the Champions League by knocking out HJK Helsinki. In the next round they will face a tougher opponent. Sheriff Tiraspol reached the Champions League group stage last year, where they beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Plzeň has already won the crucial double-header against HJK, and thanks to the promotion they have already secured at least the Conference League group stage. They can play more or less relaxed against Sheriff, as their goal for the autumn has been met.

But Viktoria will surely want even more, ideally to qualify for the Champions League. And there is no unrealistic lottery ticket.

Sheriff did qualify for the Champions League last year, where they won seven points in a tough competition with Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk, and advanced to the Europa League from third place, but that’s in the past.

The Moldovan club has completely rebuilt the team, leaving practically no stone unturned. In the second round of the Champions League against Maribor, not a single player who experienced the famous win last September at the Santiago Bernabéu was in the starting line-up.

Even so, Sheriff cannot be underestimated, they are still a strong and dangerous team. Slavia could tell their story, it was after falling out with the team from Tiraspol in 2009 that started the downfall of the Seychelles club.

Viktoria spared three players who started against HJK in Teplice at the weekend and they are expected to start against Sheriff as well. Only Radim Řezník, Luděk Pernica and Jhon Mosquera remained on the bench for the league match.

Sheriff have been playing very cautiously in the Champions League preliminaries this season and have not scored once yet. In the first round at Zrinjski they won a goalless draw and advanced after a 1:0 home win. The second preliminary round against Maribor had the exact same scenario, when Sheriff followed up a 0:0 away draw with a 1:0 home win and advanced.

Therefore, it can be expected that in the third preliminary round the Moldovan team will again rely on a rigid defensive. And it is quite likely that they will not score again in the home game.

Source: UEFA, FC Viktoria Plzen