Ballymena United FC vs Linfield FC Prediction: Linfield will start the new season with a confident victory

Ballymena Showgrounds will host the Ballymena United league opener against Linfield FC on Saturday. Linfield had an amazing run in the NIFL Premiership last season as they finished 2nd placed while Ballymena United had to fight for their spot in the relegation playoffs. Linfield is the favorite for the win here and we will be banking on them in our betting choices. Please see the carefully prepared tips.

Ballymena United had a very tough campaign in the NIFL last season as they finished 11th place in the league, second-bottom to relegated Newry City. Ballymena United only secured their qualification to the NIFL league this season privy to a 2-1 aggregate win over Institute in the Premiership qualification round. Ballymena United will be hoping to have a good run in the league this season and it all starts with their league opener on Saturday. 

Linfield had an amazing run in the league last season as they finished second place with just 2 points behind league champions Larne. They had 25 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses from a total of 33 league games. Their European dreams came to an end as they failed to get past the Uefa Conference qualifiers after they were knocked out by Stjarnan with a 4-3 aggregate. Linfield is overly prepared to challenge Larne for the title this season as they’ve signed new players to complement their already amazing squad. 

Linfield has always gotten the better of Ballymena United as their last 20 encounters produced a whopping 18 victories for Linfield and a meager 2 victories for Ballymena United.

First and foremost, it is important to note that Linfield has not lost to Ballymena United in their last 10 encounters and Linfield has consistently won 10 of their last encounters. It’s the beginning of a new dawn and we do not expect a different outcome here, therefore our prediction is a win and a total of over 1.5 goals for Linfield at 1.63 odds. 

Ballymena United is also without a clean sheet in their last 10 encounters which further proves that Linfield will get goals in this game. Our prediction is a minimum of two goals for Linfield.

• Linfield has not conceded a goal in their last 10 meetings
• Linfield has scored first in their last 10 meetings
• Linfield has won the first half in 7 of their last 9 meetings
• Ballymena United has been without a clean sheet in their last 20 meetings