Partizani Tirana vs Erzeni Shijak prediction 24.12.2023

• Competition: Superliga
• Date: Sunday, 24th December 2023
• Kickoff: 16:00 UTC / 17:00 CET
• Venue: Arena e Demave (Tirana)

The last season's champs, Partizani, will welcome one of the weakest teams this season, Erzeni Shijak, in the 18th round of the Albanian Superliga.

Partizani are one of the biggest clubs in Albania, but last season, they were super lucky to win the title as they finished the season on level points with KF Tirana, but luckily had a better h2h score. This season, they were really close to reaching the Europa Conference League Group phase, which would be a massive success for the club, but they lost 2:1 on aggregate in the last round vs Astana. In the Superliga, Partizani are doing OK as they are 2nd with 32 points after 17 rounds. They are five points behind the 1st-placed Egnatia, but considering that the 3rd-placed KF Tirana are nine points behind them, it seems we will have a two-team race for the title in Albania. Also, with a 1:0 win in the last game over Egnatia after extra time, Partizani won the Super Cup. 

Erzeni Shijak came from the second tier of Albanian football in the 2021/22 season, and last season was close to being relegated, as they finished 8th and had to go through the relegation playout. However, they managed to win against Kotsni Peshkobi and secured at least another year in the Superliga. This season, Erzeni Shijak are once again among the relegation candidates since they are currently 9th, just two points away from the last-placed Teuta.

Partizani Tirana vs Erzeni Shijak pick: Under 2.5 goals

Partizani have the best defensive record in the league with only 14 allowed goals in 17 rounds. Primarily because of their good defense, Partizani were under 2.5 goals in 12 of 17 league games - 71%. In recent games, their offense wasn't great, as they failed to score over one goal in the previous seven games. 

Erzeni Shijak are in poor from. They won just once in the last nine games, but their goalscoring form is really something to worry about because they scored just three goals in those nine matches - 0.33 per game. On the other hand, we saw major improvements on the defensive end, considering they kept a clean sheet in the previous two games vs Teuta and Kukesi. For this game against one of the strongest teams in the league, we expect them to play in a very defensive 5-3-2 formation. 

Partizani are the better team overall, no doubt about it. Still, considering everything above, we believe the under 2.5 goals bet is the safest option for this tie.