AIK Stockholm Tries To Defend Their Home Field In Champions League Clash Against Maribor

Soccer can be a very counterintuitive sport sometimes–this is particularly true when considering scenarios in large, complex tournaments such as the Champions League qualifier. This matchup is a case in point. In the first leg of this second round clash Maribor beat AIK Stockholm on their home pitch 2-1. Yet Maribor was disappointed with the result and AIK pleased since the Swedish side picked up an all important ‘Away Goal’. Now AIK has to feel like they’re in control as they get ready to play the second leg of the set on Wednesday despite the fact that they lost the first leg.

Maribor is defending champions and generally the historic powerhouse of the 1.SNL, the top level of football in Slovenia. Maribor has won 7 of the last 9 titles and have either finished first or second in the 1.SNL for 11 straight seasons. In the first round of the competition they faced Icelandic side Knattspyrnufélagið Valur (thankfully almost always shortened to ‘Valur) who play in the Pepsi-deild karla, the top level of football in the country. Maribor had no trouble at all with the Icelandic champions, winning 5-0 on the aggregate. They haven’t started particularly well in Slovenian league play and are currently in 9th place with a 0-2-1 record. They’re 2-2-1 in their last five in all competitions with the two victories coming in the second leg against Valur and the first against AIK.

The feeling among the Maribor side is that they blew a golden opportunity in this competition by not winning the first leg played at their home stadium Ljudski vrt by a wider margin. Furthermore, they allowed AIK to score an ‘Away Goal’ and that puts the defending Swedish Allsvenskan champions in great shape to advance. They’ve won 4 of their last 5 in all competitions with the only loss coming to Maribor in the first leg. They’ve looked strong all season in league play are are currently in a first place tie with a record of 11-4-3. In league play, they’re on a six game unbeaten streak with four straight wins–all with a clean sheet.

One component to this game might end up being fitness and rhythm. As noted above, Maribor is only three games into their league season while AIK has played 18 in league action. That could mean that AIK has superior ‘game tested’ fitness than their Slovenian rivals. More importantly, they will definitely have more of the ‘rhythm’ that can only be gained by actual live game play. With Maribor struggling in league play they may shake up the lineup here and that might hurt their ‘continuity’ all the more. Despite losing the first leg, AIK is holding all of the cards here and we’ll lay the handicap on the Champions League soccer lines.

BET AIK STOCKHOLM -1/2 +109 OVER MARIBOR

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