This is it , who will make it through to the Europa League Group stages and who wont ??. If you are looking at the 1st leg results then it looks like Celtic will make it , Dundee Utd are already out and Motherwell have a real chance of going through.
We start with the biggest match , Motherwell go into their game with Odense BK high on confidence after a 1-0 win away to Killie at the weekend. Manager Craig Brown made changes with this game in mind and still carved out a victory thanks to a Nick Blackman goal. Motherwell need to beware though , Odense BK went away to Brondby on Sunday and came away with a 2-2 draw , to put this result into perspective , Brondby went away to Sporting in the Europa League and won 2-0. Motherwell just need to win 1-0 in this tie to progress , it would be a massive achievement for the team , manager and fans if the "well" do it. Craig Brown will be boosted by the return of John Sutton who missed the Killie game with a virus , he will start up front with Top scorer Jamie Murphy. Stevie Jennings misses out due to his red card in Denmark.
Prediction - Motherwell to win the game 2-1 and hopefully go through in extra time or on penalty's.
Dundee Utd travel to Greece with the match nearly being postponed due to floods at AEK stadium and rivals Panionios fans ripping up their own pitch as they don't want AEK playing there. The match will now take place at Olympiakos Karaiskakis Stadium. There wont be any AEK fans there which is a bonus for Utd , the Greek Authorities deem it to be a safety hazard if the AEK fans are allowed into the stadium. There will be about 600 Utd fans allowed into the game. Utd will be chasing a 1-0 deficit as AEK outclassed the Scottish side at Tannadice last Thursday. Peter Houston's men will need to do a hell of a lot better than they did on Sunday as they were beaten 4-0 at home by 1st Division champions Inverness. John Daly and David Goodwillie will lead the attack as if Utd have any chance they need to score 1st and put a bit of pressure on the Greeks.
Prediction - AEK beat Utd in front of their own fans , so beating them in front of no AEK fans wont be a problem. I think Utd will score but will again get beat 2-1 , maybe 3-1 , AEK are just the Better team.
Finally Celtic travel to Holland to take on Dutch side FC Utrecht. Celtic were well the better team in Glasgow last Thursday as they ran out 2-0 winners after a slow start. Neil Lennon knows that it Celtic get 1 goal then the tie is all but over. Celtic's strikers had enough practice at the weekend as they beat relegation struggles St Mirren 4-0. Utrecht though should not be discounted as they produced an excellent performance at the weekend beating Willem ll 3-0 , a result that would send the Dutch team through tonight. Both teams have defensive frailties but recently Celtic seemed to have shored up their defence as they have not conceded a goal for 3 games. Celtic will be boosted by the return of Cha Du-Ri and Glen Loovens , Joe Ledley might need to play at left back again as Charlie Mulgrew is still injured.
Prediction - I see this being an entertaining game with a few goals , Utrecht might sneak a victory but their defence isn't good enough to keep Celtic out. I go for a 2-2 draw and Celtic progressing to the group stages.
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