Chikhura vs Aberdeen
Europa League Qualification
Date: Thursday 25 July 2019
Kick-off at 17:45 UK/ 18:45 CET
Venue: Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena (Tbilisi).
PREVIEW
After seeing Kilmarnock stumble at the first hurdle in the Europa League, it is still very clear that Scottish Football can struggle to make a real impact at a level like this. Both Celtic and Rangers will look for ways to change the narrative about the League with their performances in entering the Champions League Group Round and the European League in recent seasons, but Aberdeen have become a team that is familiar with the way out of Qualification.
It might be a little unfair to label a club like that because they tend to beat the team that should be and then rise when they enter the final stage of Qualification. Last season was Burnley from the English Premier League who got the better of Aberdeen, but they were a significant favorite in this Second Qualifying Round match which was underlined by the fact that they might win in Georgia.
This is the fourth consecutive season that Chikhura made it into the European League Qualifiers and they have now qualified for the First Qualifying Round in previous seasons. A 4-2 win over Fola Esch made Chikhura win both legs, while they are also unbeaten in 3 home matches in the Europa League.
Chikhura have lost 1 of their last 12 home matches in all competitions, but they will know this is a serious test for them against a team that has been experienced in European Football in recent years. Having something to play in Scotland next week will be a bonus for Chikhura, but his hope is that Aberdeen will have enough advantage to bring home the lead.
The Don have only lost 2 of their last 15 away matches in all competitions and they have come in the hearts and guards. They only failed to score in 2 of the matches in that run, while Aberdeen came from behind to beat RoPS 1-2 in the First Qualifying Round to continue with a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Aberdeen have played 13 Qualifying away matches in the European League since 2014 and a win over RoPS means they have won almost half of those matches with 6 wins. It should be noted that Aberdeen have lost 5 of their last 8 away matches in the European League.
This was the first time Chikhura and Aberdeen had met in a competitive match.
Chikhura vs Aberdeen prediction
Chikhura has not won in six of their last nine matches, and in 11 of their last 16 matches too. They also have five winless matches recently, where four lost. At home, they won in five of their last eight matches and failed to score in two of their last five matches.
Aberdeen, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last seven matches, and five of them are victories. They have also scored two or more goals in five of these seven attempts. On the road, their record is even more impressive. The team appear unbeaten in 15 of their last 17 matches on the road and have seven wins in the middle.
In addition, they found the back of the goal in 11 of their last 16 away games and scored twice or more in their last two European matches.
Finally, taking into account the quality of each league as well, relying on Aberdeen to make it easier this Thursday.
BETTING CHIKHURA TIPS SACHKHERE VS ABERDEEN TIPS
After getting better than opposition from Luxembourg in the previous round, winning two goals for one home and away, Chikhura, who is from the Georgian capital Tbilisi, will be looking to expand their trip to continental football. Many of the same things can be said for Scottish outfit Aberdeen, who came through the previous round thanks to a 2-1 successive win over RoPS from Finland.
Chikura is unknown, even among fans of Europa League qualification, even though they did a good job during the last round, especially in their own patch. In the face of opposition from Luxembourg, Georgia gave a respectable performance at Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, posting the expected 1.31 goals for and conceding 0.97. The fact that they registered Fola's shots doubled, and tripled the shots on target, was fun. That said, Aberdeen is far better than Fola, so hosts may be asked to improve their play.
Apart from what appeared to be two narrow victories, Aberdeen impressed against RoPS, because they dominated both at home and outside. The fact that they won with only two goals to one on the road did not indicate that there was not much between the two, despite the fact that the Scottish team recorded the expected 2.55 goals and conceded only 0.57 telling us they were comfortable winners.
In betting, 'Aberdeen to Win & Under 3.5 Goals' looks like a viable option. The way in which Aberdeen beat RoPS on the road in the last round shows that they can get better than the host, even though we shouldn't expect visitors to run riots.
Chikhura, as we saw when they created 1.31 simple expected goals to be at home during the previous round, offered limited threats going forward, but they were no stranger to keeping the respectable score line on their own patch. Since 2017, Georgia have conceded just two goals in four UEL home qualifiers. Add to the fact that Aberdeen have not scored more than twice on the road in UEL qualifiers since 2017 and the low score away win is most interesting.
