Neil Lennon’s Celtic were eliminated from the Champions League qualifying rounds by Romania’s Cluj. Now, Celtic must get past Sweden’s AIK to resurrect their European dreams this season.
Celtic won’t have an easy round to reach the Europa League group stage. They must get past last season’s Allsvenskan champions. AIK are two-thirds of the way through their domestic season in Sweden. They currently sit in third place and four points behind league leaders Djurgarden.
Rikard Norling’s team go into Thursday night’s fixture following a 2-1 home loss to Kalmar. It was their first loss in six Allsvenskan matches.
Celtic played in the Scottish League Cup over the weekend. They defeated Dunfermline Athletic 2-1 in extra-time. Although they were victorious, Lennon will be frustrated the match went 120 minutes. Fatigue could be a factor despite Celtic having four days to prepare.
Lennon is likely to be without four players on Thursday night. Scott Bain, Karamoko Dembele, Tomas Rogic, and Jack Hendry are expected to miss the fixture due to injuries.
Celtic midfielder James Forrest is in fantastic form. He scored at the weekend against Dunfermline Athletic and has four goals in all competitions. Midfielder Ryan Christie has tallied eight goals in all competitions.
AIK forward Tarik Elyounoussi has scored 12 times this season in 30 matches. However, he hasn’t found the same form in Europe as in the Allsvenskan. AIK need Elyounoussi to take advantage of Celtic’s defence and challenge their centre-backs.
Norling has three injury issues to worry about. Chinedu Obasi and Joel Ekstrand are unlikely to return in time for the trip to Glasgow. Jesper Nyholm is back in training and could feature.
The Swedish team played in the first and second qualifying rounds of the Champions League. They were eliminated on aggregate by Maribor. All four Champions League qualifying matches ended with over 2.5 goals scored.
Their Europa League third qualifying round series saw them overcome Sherriff Tiraspol 3-2 on aggregate. Both matches saw both teams score. AIK are likely to concede goals to Celtic when the two meet.
Fantastiska nyheter! AIK Fotbolls officiella streamingtjänst @FollowUsAIK sänder årtiondets bortamatch, Celtic - AIK på torsdag! Matchen sänds bara på FollowUs AIK. Om du inte redan har tjänsten registrerar du dig här, fritt i 30 dagar för nya användare: https://t.co/wMbC9mKQvJ pic.twitter.com/JB8sDe3IfT— AIK Fotboll (@aikfotboll) August 20, 2019
Fantastiska nyheter! AIK Fotbolls officiella streamingtjänst @FollowUsAIK sänder årtiondets bortamatch, Celtic - AIK på torsdag! Matchen sänds bara på FollowUs AIK. Om du inte redan har tjänsten registrerar du dig här, fritt i 30 dagar för nya användare: https://t.co/wMbC9mKQvJ pic.twitter.com/JB8sDe3IfT
Celtic’s attack has been stellar this season. In six matches in Champions League qualifying, Celtic scored a combined 16 goals for an average of 2.7 goals per match.
The Hoops’ attack should be able to take advantage of AIK’s defence. The Swedes have conceded an average of 1.2 goals per match in European play.
Celtic should be able to transfer their domestic form over to the Europa League playoff round. The Hoops will pick up a victory in a close match. Expect under 2.5 goals as the champions of Scotland and Sweden battle it out.