Celtic V AIK Stockholm
Thursday 22nd August 2019 – 19:45 Kick-Off
UEFA Europa League
Pick: Celtic to WIN & Over 2.5 Goals
Odds: 29/20
Bookmaker: Ladbrokes
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9/20 | 31/10 | 117/20 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 20th August 2019 at 11:20)
Preview: The Europa League group stage beckons for one of these teams, with the winner of this tie progressing on to the competition proper whereas the loser will be eliminated from European competition altogether for 2019/20. The stakes are high, therefore, for this opening contest between Celtic and AIK Stockholm at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland.
UEFA Europa League Betting with 22Bet.
Celtic Preview – Scottish champions seeking redemption after Champions League debacle?
The only positive to come out of Celtic’s shock 5-4 aggregate defeat to Romanian side CFR Cluj in the third round of qualifying for the Champions League was that their adventure in Europe wasn’t quite ended there and then. Although if you asked enough fans, they might well argue that it sure feels that way. The Bhoys, though, are not in any sort of position to be turning their noses up at this competition.
Playing in Europe is essential for Celtic, not least because of the financial incentives involved but also the potential to further enhance their profile and reputation in front of a global audience. The fact they are having to settle to some degree, by doing all that in Europe’s second tier competition, will naturally hurt. That pain is unlikely to have dissipated even still, despite over a week having passed since their exit from the Champions League at the hands of Cluj.
Prior to that aforementioned loss, Celtic had looked primed for a decent campaign. Their league form had been imperious, winning the opening two league games whilst scoring a wealth of goals (12 in two games in heavy wins over St Johnstone and Motherwell). In Europe, meanwhile, Neil Lennon’s side were involved very early into proceedings, needing to overcome Bosnia’s Sarajevo in the second round (winning 5-2 on aggregate) before thrashing Estonia’s Nomme Kalju 7-0 over the two legs.
Best Celtic Bet – Over 1.5 Celtic Goals @ 4/6 Bet365? This will be the Scottish side’s fourth home match in Europe already this season, with the previous three all seeing Celtic net at least two goals against Sarajevo, Nomme Kalju and CFR Cluj.
AIK Stockholm Preview – Swedes to demonstrate their travelling capabilities once again?
Swedish champions AIK have also been busy amassing some air miles in Europe this season, featuring as early as the very first round in the Champions League where they edged out Armenian side Ararat-Armenia 4-3 on aggregate. Unfortunately that was as good as it got, as in the following round the club from Stockholm fell to what must have felt like an agonising defeat to Slovenia’s Maribor, exiting on the away goals rule despite the tie finishing level at 4-4.
That AIK managed to remain competitive against Maribor, who are a side with a couple of recent group stage appearances in the Champions League under their belts, possibly means we shouldn’t be too dismissive about their chances here. A concern, though, has to be the performance away from home in that particular tie; the final score showed a 2-1 defeat for the Swedes but the match statistics suggested a more one-sided affair in favour of the hosts.
It was a similar story next time out, only this time in the Europa League away to Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol. AIK somehow came away with a 2-1 victory despite only managing one effort on target the whole game, benefiting from an own goal early into proceedings before doubling their advantage through Kolbienn Sigthorsson. Those goals also maintained their record for having scored at least one goal in every away game in Europe this season.
Best AIK Bet – AIK Exactly One Goal @ 8/5 Bet365? As already highlighted, AIK have managed to breach the opponents goal in all three of their away encounters in Europe this season. They netted one against both Ararat-Armenia and Maribor, and while the scoreline shows they scored twice away to Sheriff Tiraspol one of those did come in fortuitous circumstances.
Celtic V AIK Key Facts:
- All three of Celtic‘s European games this season as the home side have produced a minimum of three goals in the match.
- This will be AIK‘s fourth away encounter in Europe; the previous three all featured both teams scoring.
- Celtic were eliminated from the Champions League third round by CFR Cluj last time out, losing 4-3 at home. AIK overcame Sheriff Tiraspol in the last round of this competition, winning 2-1 away.
Betting Summary
For Celtic to exit the Champions League before reaching the lucrative group stage is a huge blow and will likely have had a demoralising effect on the players, which might explain why they only laboured to an extra-time win against Dunfermline in the League Cup at the weekend. That below par display only compounds what was a disjointed performance against CFR Cluj the time before, which is very worrying.
Not since the 2012-13 season have AIK successfully qualified for a group stage of a European competition, coming up short in the qualifying rounds of this competition in each of the past five campaigns. The Swedes have made it this far mainly due to a superb 2-1 win away to Sheriff Tiraspol in the previous round. They’ve also scored at least once on all three occasions they have been the visiting side in Europe this season.
The favourites are understandably Celtic; their pedigree in Europe is streets ahead of the opposition while the cost to assemble the squad towers over that of AIK. This wasn’t exactly in evidence against Romania’s CFR Cluj last time out in Europe, losing 4-3 at Celtic Park. Nevertheless, Neil Lennon should have learnt from his mistakes in that nightmare of a game and the SPL champions are a fair price to win another entertaining contest.
