Celtic v AEK Athens Betting Preview – UEFA Champions League 8th August 7.45pm
Celtic are just two steps from reaching the main draw of the UEFA Champions League. After starting in the first qualifying round, they now take on Greek Super League Champions AEK Athens in this third qualifying round tie. There will be pressure on Celtic to deliver a positive result at home in the first leg. The Greeks are entering qualification at this stage.
Celtic News and Form
It has all been tidy enough from Celtic so far this season after starting in the first qualifying round off the UEFA Champions League. They beat Alashkert 6-0 on aggregate to open with them and collected a 3-1 aggregate success over Rosenborg in the last round. They started their title defence in the Scottish Premiership on the weekend as well with a win over Livingston and it means that in their three home games, they have scored exactly three in each of them. It is probably worth having a punt under 2.5 goals at bet365 for 3/5 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from August 5th, 2018 at 11:02 p.m.) though for this game as Athens will be the toughest opponent they have faced so far.
The Greeks have not been scoring well in pre-season. But the thing is, Celtic can make life easy for themselves in the tie if they come out and push hard to make the most of home advantage. Ousmane Edouard seems to have settled well at the club with three goals in his last two appearances at Celtic Park and as he is going to be a decent option in the anytime goalscorer market. Celtic are targeting their third straight appearance in the group stage of the Champions League.
AEK Athens News and Form
The Greek champions are starting fresh in this game then, as this is their first competitive game of the new season. So advantage in terms of match sharpness should be with Celtic. They have of course been going through the regular pre-season fare but have posted just a W1 D2 L1 record from their four games and they failed to score in three of those. Their last competitive game was back in May when they lost to Panathinaikos in the Greek Super Cup Final.
Last season the Greeks entered at the third qualifying round stage of the Champions League where they lost out to CSKA Moscow and then dropped to the playoff round of the Europa League. They beat Club Brugge to make it to the group stage of the competition and qualified from their group too before getting knocked out in the round of 32. AEK Athens failed to score in seven of their twelve European games last season. Both teams not to score at bet365 is at 4/6 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from August 5th, 2018 at 11:02 p.m.). AEK Athens have won just one of their last eight European away games (D5 L2) and have failed to score in six of their last seven.
Celtic v AEK Athens Head to Head
This will be the first competitive meeting between Celtic and AEK Athens.
Celtic v AEK Athens Betting Odds*
Celtic 4/5
Draw 23/10
AEK Athens 15/4
* (Betting Odds were taken from August 5th, 2018 at 11:02 p.m.)
Celtic v AEK Athens Predictions
This will be a test for Celtic but they are pretty reliable on home soil and have looked to be shaping up well enough this season. We are backing the Scottish Champions to go and get a win and it worth pushing for it to be to nil as well.
