Cliftonville FC vs Portadown FC Prediction: Solitude will erupt in victory to the hosts

Cliftonville will take on Portadown at the Solitude Arena in their NIFL league opener on Sunday. Cliftonville finished third in the Northern Ireland Premier League last season while Portadown is newly promoted to the Premier League and is hoping to make a name for itself in the Premier League this season. We back the obvious choice which Is Cliftonville for the win but we are eager to witness how the game turns out. Please see the carefully prepared tips.

Cliftonville had an amazing run in the Northern Ireland league last season as they finished third place in the league with a total of 22 wins, 4 draws, and 7 losses from 33 games played. Unfortunately, their dream of playing in Europe next season met its end at the hands of Auda in the Conference League qualifiers. Ahead of the new season, Cliftonville has signed new players to the squad and they are ready to kick off the new season.

Portadown are deserving of their place in the Northern Ireland Premiership because they fought hard and had an amazing run in the NIFL Championship last season. Portadown finished second place in the regular season with just a point behind league champions Dundela. They finally secured their promotion in the Promotion round where they came out on top and got a direct qualification to the NIFL Premiership. Portadown now have a big task ahead of them in the NIFL Premiership and they are equal to the task as they have added a few players to fortify the squad ahead of the new season. 

In their last 20 encounters, it is pertinent to note that Cliftonville has won 18 of those games with two ending in a draw. More so, Portadown have not won a game against Cliftonville in their last 20 encounters. 

Cliftonville has the historical advantage against Portadown, but it’s a new dawn for Portadown and we cannot underestimate them. Cliftonville is our favorite for the win here and we bank on a win or draw and a total of over 1.5 goals for Cliftonville. Cliftonville have scored first in 4 of their last 5 encounters and we also expect them to draw the first blood here. We can go for Cliftonville to score first or a first-half win for Cliftonville.