Scottish outfit Aberdeen renew hostilities with Swedish side Hacken at Pittodrie in the second leg of their Europa League playoff tie on Thursday night.
With a place in the Europa League group stage up for grabs, the tie is nicely poised after the two teams played out a 2-2 draw in Gothenburg last week.
Match preview
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Aberdeen's hopes of securing Europa League group-stage football for the first time in their history remain in the balance after coming from two goals down the admirably rescue a share of the spoils against Hacken last week.
Goals either side of half time from Amor Layouni and Ibrahim Sadiq had put the Swedish hosts 2-0 up heading into the final 20 minutes, but two quickfire strikes in the space of four minutes from Bojan Miovski and Nicky Devlin restored parity for the Dons to keep the tie finely poised ahead of Thursday's reverse fixture in Scotland.
Barry Robson is now welcoming the return to home soil as his side have played four of their opening five competitive fixtures on the road this term, including last Sunday's 2-2 draw with St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.
Aberdeen snatched a point in the 100th minute when Miovski converted from the penalty spot, albeit in unorthodox fashion as he slipped and appeared to strike the ball twice before making the net ripple, with VAR allowing the goal to stand.
Despite an underwhelming performance in Paisley, Robson took positives from his side's fighting spirit to claim a point, but they will need to up their game if they wish to secure the victory that they need in front of the Pittodrie faithful to edge past Hacken on aggregate.
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Hacken boss Per-Mathias Hogmo warned Aberdeen before their first-leg draw that they would face a stronger team than the one the Dons beat 5-3 on aggregate in Europa Conference League qualifying two years ago, and they certainly showed that during the first 70 minutes in last week's opening encounter.
However, Hogmo has been left with plenty to ponder after his side squandered a two-goal lead on home soil, and that disappointment was followed by a 4-2 derby defeat away against IFK Goteborg in the Allsvenskan on Sunday.
The Wasps found themselves 4-0 down inside the first 52 minutes before pulling two goals back through Amane Romeo and Ali Youssef, but both strikes ultimately proved inconsequential and they have now slipped four points behind league leaders Elfsborg with nine games remaining.
Hacken can ill-afford for this brief wobble in form to continue as they enter a crucial stage in their campaign, seeking to qualify for the Europa League group stage for the very first time and win their second successive Swedish top-flight title.
Hogmo's side have experienced a mixed run of form on the road in recent weeks, winning four, drawing three and losing three of their last 10 away matches in all competitions, while they suffered a heavy 5-1 loss to Aberdeen the last time then visited Pittodrie.
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Team News
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Aberdeen are still having to cope without Liverpool loanee Rhys Williams, who is nursing a back injury, while Angus MacDonald has featured in the last three games since recovering from a knee problem, although the defender could be replaced in Thursday's XI by Shayden Morris.
The inclusion of Morris could therefore see Nicky Devlin move from right wing-back to the right side of a back three alongside Slobodan Rubezic and Jack McKenzie, while Johnny Hayes – who scored against St Mirren last weekend – and Ryan Duncan will battle for a spot at left wing-back.
Miovski has reportedly attracted interest from Southampton, but Robson is confident that the Dons can keep hold of the striker, who is poised to retain his place in the first XI alongside Duk.
As for Hacken, Johan Hammar is suspended after being sent off in the dying embers of last week's first leg, so either Simon Sandberg or Franklin Tebo Uchenna are set to start at centre-back alongside Even Hovland.
Simon Gustafson recovered from a thigh injury to make the matchday squad last week and the midfielder could be in contention to play on Thursday along with twin brother Samuel Gustafson, Mikkel Rygaard and Romeo.
With Benie Traore having joined Sheffield United earlier this summer, Sadiq is Hacken's top scorer with 12 goals in the current first-team squad, and the winger is expected to continue on the right flank, joining Layouni and Srdjan Hrstic in attack.
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Devlin, Rubezic, McKenzie; Morris, Clarkson, Shinnie, Hayes; Polvara; Miovski, Duk
Hacken possible starting lineup:
Abrahamsson; Fridriksson, Sandberg, Hovland, Laursen; Rygaard, Sa. Gustafson, Romeo; Sadiq, Hrstic, Layouni
We say: Aberdeen 2-2 Hacken (Aberdeen to win on penalties after 4-4 draw on aggregate)
The managers of both Aberdeen and Hacken will be keen to see a response from their players on Thursday following their under-par performances on the domestic front over the weekend.
Another closely-fought contest could be on the cards in the reverse fixture, one that could go beyond 90 minutes, but with Aberdeen playing in front of a fired-up Pittodrie crowd, we believe that they will do enough to progress to the group stage.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
