Partizani Tirana and Bate Borisov trade tackles in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifying tie on Tuesday (July 11).
The hosts booked their spot in this stage of the qualifiers by virtue of their status as Albanian champions. Bate, meanwhile, qualified as Belarusian champions and are the seeded team in the tie.
Partizani are coming off a 1-0 win over Struga in a friendly a fortnight ago. Their last competitive game came at the end of May when they wrapped up their league campaign with a routine 2-0 home win over Teuta.
Bate, meanwhile, dispatched Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2-0 in the Vysshaya Liga on Thursday. Denis Laptev opened the scoring in the fifth minute, while Valeriy Gromyko made sure of the result from the spot in the sixth minute of injury time.
The Yellow-Blues now turn their attention to continental action as they seek qualification for the Champions League group stage. The winner of the tie will face either The New Saints or BK Hacken in the second round of qualifiers.
Partizani and Bate will fancy their chances of qualifying to the next round. There's little to choose between the two sides, but Bate have a much higher pedigree in the continent.
The Belarusian side also have an advantage of having been in competitive action in the last few months, while Partizani are on a summer break. However, the Albanian side have a strong home record, which could be crucial to getting a positive first-leg result.
Although either side could nick a win, the spoils could be shared in a low-scoring draw.
Prediction: Partizani 1-1 Bate
Tip 1 - Result: Draw
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Under 2.5 goals
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