Well the Fans will be enjoying this European adventure but i bet their bank balance wont be. For the 3rd time in a month Motherwell travel to a part of Scandinavia , this time Denmark as they try and make it to the Europa League group stages. So far Craig Brown and Archie Knox have done an amazing job leading Motherwell through 2 rounds and winning 3 out of 4 matches against Breidablik of Iceland and Aalesunds of Norway. Tonight they will face their toughest test vs Danish League runners-up Odense BK in a match that can lead to massive paydays if Brown and Co can come up with a plan to defeat their opponents.
Motherwell have now been playing competitively for a month now , Odense have also been playing for around the same time so at least Motherwell wont have the disadvantage of the last 2 round playing against teams who were half way through their season. The Steelmen started their SPL season on Sunday live on ESPN and were very unlucky to be beaten 3-2 by Hibs. Too many missed chances especially in the 1st half put paid to Motherwell getting of to a good start to match their European exploits. Again Motherwell will be looking to top European scorer Jamie Murphy to do the damage in Denmark having scored in the 2 previous rounds and also vs Hibs at the weekend. John Sutton has also started scoring so that again will be a help especially as the Fir Park side will at least want an away goal in Denmark. The money made so far from this European run will be a great help to Craig Brown's plans for the SPL season , if Motherwell actually do make it through then its a wonderful achievement and surely will allow Brown to buy another 2-3 players they need.
The Danish side Odense BK are enjoying a bright period in their history , two successive 2nd place finishes have given Odense manger Niels Thorborg a chance to make it through to the group stages proper after being beaten by Italian side Genoa 4-2 on aggregate last season. So far this season the Danish runners up have already saw of Bosnian side Zrinjski 5-3 on aggregate , all goals coming in the 1st leg in Odense BK's stadium Tre-For Park. Motherwell fans will no doubt recognise some of the Odense stars , former Man Utd stars Roy Carroll and Eric Djemba-Djemba are joined by Danish legend Thomas Helveg as Odense try and go one better and win the Danish Superliga from FC Copenhagen.
Prediction - with Motherwell being tight defensively so far in Europe and Odense conceding 3 vs Zrinjski , i think Motherwell will score across in Denmark. My problem is that the step up in class especially in the away game might be a step too far for Craig Brown's men. Odense aren't world beaters and who knows what will happen when they visit Fir Park next week but I'm going for a 2-1 win for Odense , saying that though who would be surprised if Motherwell came away with a result?? , 1-1 or a narrow win is not out of the question . Hopefully my prediction is wrong as id love to see Motherwell make it to the group stages.
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