Lincoln Red Imps vs Hamrun Spartans prediction 16.07.2024 | Champions League

• Competition: Champions League Qualifiers, 1st Round, 2nd Leg
• Date: Tuesday, 16th July, 2024
• Kickoff: 17:00 UTC +1 / 18:00 CEST
• Venue: Europa point stadium (Gibraltar)

After a 1:0 win for Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg, the Gibraltar champions will face off against Maltese champions Hamrun in the second leg in Gibraltar. The match will occur at Evropa Point Stadium since Lincoln's Victoria Stadium doesn't fulfill the requirements for the Champions League Qualifiers.

Lincoln Red Imps are the greatest club in Gibraltar, with 28 league titles. They are a team that holds the record for Europe's longest unbeaten league run, which stretched over 1959 days - from May 2009 to September 2014. That, on its own, says a lot about just how dominant they are. Last year, they managed to win the title in a thrilling end of the season where they secured a draw against St. Josephs in the 90th minute, eventually leaving 2nd-placed St. Josephs two points behind. In European Qualifiers, they haven't had too much success but managed to reach the Group phase of the Conference League in 2021/22, which is by far their biggest success. These Qualifiers started great for them as they have a 1:0 lead after the first game in Malta.

Hamrun have been the best team in Malta in recent years, winning back-to-back titles and three of the last four. However, when it comes to European Qualifiers, Hamrun have had very little success, as they never reached the Group phase of any European competition. Their best chance of reaching it was back in the 2022/23 season when they reached the Playoffs in the Europa Conference League but lost to Partizan Belgrade on a 7:4 aggregate. Before this duel against Lincoln Red Imps, Hamrun were the favorite by the bookies to reach the next round, but after losing the first game, that has changed. Right now, the odds of them securing the next round are around 3.2.

Lincoln Red Imps vs Hamrun pick: Under 2.5 goals

The first game ended 1:0 for Lincoln Red Imps. The only goal came after Ethan Brito's individual action. Besides that goal, we haven't seen much offensively from either team, and most of both teams' chances were shots from long-range, which weren't a threat.

In domestic leagues, these teams are dominant and score a lot, but that isn't the situation in Europe. In the previous two seasons (in Europe), Lincoln Red Imps scored only four goals in eight games (0.5 goals per game), while Hamrun scored 20 goals in 14 games (1.43 goals per game).

We do not have much data for these teams, but after the first leg game and considering their poor performances in Europe, we believe that an under 2.5 goals bet should be the safest option for this tie.