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Celtic vs AIK Prediction & Betting tips
In its hunt for participation in the Europa League, Scottish champion Celtic takes on Thursday-evening in-house against Swedish AIK. A resounding victory in the first leg is necessary to be able to travel to Sweden with a good feeling next week.
Celtic:
Celtic had of course set its sights on the Champions League, but the Scots saw that dream go up in smoke last week by losing in a blistering spectacle with 3-4 from the Romanian CFR Cluj. However, The Hoops does not have time to get lost. After all, the green and white are obliged by their stand to qualify for the Europa League, because a season without European football would be disastrous in both sporting and financial terms.
It will be quite a job for trainer Neil Lennon to mentally recharge his team for the diptych against AIK, because Celtic also failed to convince last weekend in the cup match against Dunfermline Athletic (2-1 win after extension). The main problem is the imbalance within the team. With players like Leigh Griffiths, Odsonne Edouard, James Forrest, and Ryan Christie, Celtic has plenty of scoring power, but the Scottish defense gets too many goals. Eight goals in the last four official duels is of course unacceptable for a team like Celtic.
AIK:
The Swedish AIK, too, saw its Champions League aspirations fail early. In the second qualifying round the Slovenian Maribor turned out to be just a size too big, so now the team from Solna has to hope to participate in the Europa League. In the previous round, Moldavian Sheriff was set aside quite simply, but the Swedes are the obvious underdog against Celtic. “It will be tough against Celtic, but these are the matches you play for as a player,” said attacker Tarik Elyounoussi.
Elyounoussi, however, has an easy talk, because with three European cards in his pocket, the club top scorer has to miss out on the first match of Thursday evening. Trainer Rikard Norling will have to call on players like Nabil Behoui and Enoch Kofi Adu in Glasgow and Henok Goitom, who all got a rest last weekend. That decision cost him dearly, as AIK lost 1-2 at home last weekend against low-flyer Kalmar, which means that it has to drop out in the Swedish title fight.