Rosenborg vs Crusaders FC Prediction (03.08.2023)

In one of the more eventful Europa Conference League games last week, Crusaders drew 2-2 at home against Rosenborg. The pair are back for more this week, this time in Norway, and with the tie finally balanced, both sides will be hopeful of progressing into the next round, but only one of them can.

Rosenborg haven't been going too well in Norway so far this season, playing a little below expectations, and that is certainly what gave Crusaders some hope going into this tie. At their best, Rosenborg should be too good and win this tie, but they've not been at their best for a while now.

Rosenborg come here on the back of a 3-2 victory over Odd at the weekend. That's nine goals in their last two games, after the 2-2 first leg draw here, showing that this team is improving when it comes to scoring, but still having problems when it comes to keeping clean sheets.

In normal circumstances, Crusaders would have gone into the first leg last week knowing they needed a win to really have any chance of qualifying from this tie, but maybe that's not the case now. They performed well and held Rosenborg to a draw, this tie is certainly not over, and although now away in Norway, they will fancy their chances of an upset.

Crusaders were beaten 1-0 at the weekend, a game they will want to quickly get over. If it's any help to them, in the first round of this qualifying phase they knocked out another Scandinavian team, getting a good 2-2 draw in Finland against Haka, before winning 1-0 at home.

Picking out a winner here will not be easy, but what I do like the look of is goals. Crusaders won't hold back, they're the underdogs and can play without fear, while Rosenborg have been in some high scoring games recently. Put those together and I like both teams to score in Thursday's game.