Shamrock Rovers VS Shelbourne

Shamrock Rovers host Shelbourne for this Irish Premier Division round 10 battle at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin early Saturday morning Beijing time. This league is of pretty low-level by European standards – even lower than my home country’s Finland’s first tier, Veikkausliiga. The differences between the best clubs and worst clubs are substantial. I have spotted yet another interesting match to bet on this league that the bookies do not seem to know vey well. I do not often recommend a bet on a heavy favorite at relatively low odds but will make an exception here. The hosts have a clear edge over the visitors in all areas of the game. As my fans know I will never let the standings fool me – especially early season. Shamrock are the reigning Irish champions and are expected to have another strong season! Indeed, they grabbed a whopping 79 points last season and had a terrific score difference of 61:22. Derry City, who finished in second place, managed to grab only 66 points. It is true that that Shamrock will most probably be a little worse this season but especially home they are very clear favorites against a mediocre team like Shelbourne. The biggest, often pretty sharp bookies who accept the biggest bets offer the hosts odds of around 1.50 to send the visitors home empty-handed and we must take advantage of these odds

The visitors were promoted to this level for last season and played a positive season finishing in 7th place. However, I would not be at all surprised if they in were to finish 8th – or even 9th this season. They are a small team by players total market value according to a well-respected and famous German website, Transfermarkt.com. Indeed, their squad is valued at only 1.58 million euros – small number even by Irish Premier Division standards! The visitors’ squad have a total market just shy of four million which is probably a little too low in my opinion. Let’s not forget that they have played in the UEFA Conference League this season. They faced teams of totally different caliber and failed to win any games in the group stage. Even so, they took a point at home against pretty good Swedish team, Djurgården (0-0) and a very strong Belgian team, Gent. 1-1 was the final score at Tallaght Stadium. This Thursday (Belgium time) Gent played 1-1 draw in the Conference League at home against West Ham – and could even have won the game! Shamrock had a slow start to the season but have now won three games in a row. In their most recent game they crushed UC Dublin 3-0 at home and recorded 25 goal attempts and eight shots on goals. Before this they beat Bohemians, who currently top the standings, 2-0 away from home after a fine performance. Furthermore, on the 31st of March they crushed a dangerous team, Dundalk, 4-0 away from home. Shelbourne, on the other hand, were lucky to Beat Sligo Rovers, a pretty lowly team, 2-1 at home four days ago as clear favorites on the betting market.