This Europa League qualifier sees Scottish runners-up Aberdeen host Bosnian Cup winners Siroki Brijeg.
Aberdeen will no doubt be pleased with this draw with many saying that it is pretty much a bye to the next round. However, they will want to ensure they do not face the same embarrassment that domestic rivals Rangers had after their loss to Luxembourg side Progres Niederkorn – which many have called ‘the most embarrassing result in British football history’.
The Dons were excellent in both boxes last season and had the second-best record in both the Goals For and Goals Against departments with 74 goals scored and just 35 conceded in 38 games. However, there have been a lot of departures from Aberdeen this summer and so it will be interesting to see how they cope with this squad. Having said that, they will still feel this squad should do a professional job on Siroki.
Derek McInnes’ men had a bit of a nightmare at home towards the back end of the last season, losing three consecutive matches at Pittodrie Stadium. However, they did have the second-best home Goals Against record in the last campaign with just 16 conceded in 19 matches on home turf. Furthermore, they have not lost a Europa League home tie on their own patch since August 2014.
Siroki actually finished seventh in the Bosnian league last term and are in by virtue of winning the domestic cup. In fact, they were far closer to the relegation zone (five points) than they were to the title (27 points) and so it is no wonder people expect Aberdeen to wipe the floor with them. However, they will take confidence from Progres Niderkorn’s result against Rangers.
Goran Sablic’s side had a real problem finding the back of the net last season and had the lowest Goals For total in the top eight of the Premijer Liga. Furthermore, they only scored one goal in their final seven league games. However, they do have a good defensive record in Europe this season with no goals conceded in their two qualifying matches.
Plavi have had a big problem on their travels in the last few months and, outside of their domestic cup run last season, they have failed to win an away match since October 2016. Additionally, they have won just one away tie in the Europa League since 1st July 2010.
It is no surprise that Aberdeen are the favourites here and I expect them to cruise to a fairly easy victory here. However, I am not expecting a thrashing as it is likely that Siroki will sit deep and look to limit the damage. 2-3 Goals Total seems a good bet here at 11/10.