ST MIRREN will look to seal their place in the third round of the Conference League as they welcome Icelandic side Valur to Paisley in the second leg of their second-round qualifier.
St Mirren travelled to Reykjavík last Thursday embarking on their first European clash in 37 years.
On a night I was confident we’d see goals, these two sides played out a goalless draw despite it being an open game with both teams squandering plenty of chances, meaning it’s still all to play for in Paisley in the second leg.
The Buddies begin their Scottish Premiership campaign on Sunday when they play host to Hibs, a fixture they hope to head into off the back of a positive result.
Valur’s title hopes took a real bashing on Sunday, as they were beaten 4-1 away at Fram, leaving them I’m in third position, eight points behind leaders Víkingur – albeit with a game in hand.
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St Mirren have been priced up as favourites here, with a home win priced at Evens by BetVictor. A victory for the visitors is priced at 11/4 at Skybet, while PaddyPower are offering odds of 5/2 for the match to end in a stalemate and go to extra time.
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Unsurprisingly, last week was the first time these two sides have faced off, with it finishing 0-0 in Reykjavík.
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Mikael Mandron was The Buddies leading scorer last season, and the Frenchman may be St Mirren’s leading contender for a goal.
Valur’s leading scorer is Patrick Pedersen, with The Dane scoring an impressive 13 goals across his 18 appearances in the league and in Europe this season, including in their 4-1 defeat at Fram at the weekend.
Probable line-ups
Caolan Boyd-Munce was forced off with an injury after just 15 minutes in the Icelandic capital, so manager Stephen Robinson will be forced into at least one alteration.
Valur will be without be without both Aron Jóhannsson (suspended) and Ex-Swansea City and Everton midfield Gylfi Sigurðsson (not travelled).
St Mirren: Balcombe, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Bwomono, Smyth, Adenrian, O’Hara, Brown, Olusanya, Mandron
Valur: Schram, Sævarsson, Pálsson, Helgason, Gunnarsson, K. Sigurðsson, Haraldsson, Jónsson, Antonsson, Lárusson, Pedersen
Anything else catch the eye?
Domestically, Valur have been leaking goals on their travels as they are without a clean sheet and have conceded 15 goals across their previous seven road trips – shipping multiple goals in four of their last six – and I’m backing The Buddies to have too much firepower in front of a near sold-out crowd.
Over 3.5 Goals has now landed in 12 of Valur’s previous 14 matches in all competitions, and surely we won’t be in for another goalless draw between these two in Paisley.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between St Mirren and Valur will be played on Aug 1, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best St Mirren vs Valur prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
