Hungarian side Paksi couldn’t create an advantage in the first leg, having earned a 1:1 draw after coming from a goal behind, meaning their chances of going through are pretty slim. Tromso have been in very good form lately and after outplaying their opponents in the first leg they should be able to do the same on their home ground.

Fighting for the title

Tromso have established themselves as one of the top Norwegian teams and following the third-place finish last season, the team are now very much involved in the title race. Coach Per Hogmo managed to find good replacements for defenders Tom Hogli and Tore Reginiussen, who left the club, and everybody is surprised to see Tromso playing so well this season. While the team play pretty well on the travels, they are a real force to be reckoned with at home, where they have just beaten 4:1 arguably the strongest side in Norway, Valrenga. Having won 9 of 11 home games this season, Tromso have got to be considered favourites in this clash. The Norwegians managed to outplay their opponents in Hungary despite the very hot weather that they were clearly not used to, so it is their opponents who should now have problems with the weather and the artificial pitch.

Keeper Marcus Sahlmann could return to the side after recovering from injury, but Miika Koppinen and Sigurd Rushfeld remain injury doubts.

Paksi on the rise

Paksi needed more than 50 years to make it to Hungarian elite division, but once they got there in 2006, they showed real determination to stay in the top flight for as long as possible. The team not only finished the last league campaign in 2nd place, but they also won the Hungarian League Cup, making sure not to miss out on the first ever European qualification in history. Paksi had no problems eliminating weak Santa Coloma, after winning 5:0 on aggregate, but the lack of international experience was more than evident in the first leg against very good Tromso side. Even with the home field advantage and favourable weather conditions, Paksi couldn’t match the Norwegian team, so there are no doubts that the Hungarians will have big problems in Tromso, especially as the game will be played on artificial pitch.

The squad entirely consists of domestic players, most of whom have absolutely no European experience.

Verdict

Tromso are currently one of the best teams in Norway’s elite division and they are pretty relentless at home this season. Paksi, on the other hand, are a very inexperienced side as well as inferior in quality to Norwegians and I really don’t see how they will get something from this match.

Verdict: Tromso with -1 European handicap

Odds: 2.38 (11/8)

Bookmaker: Paddy Power