Celtic – AEK Athens FC Prediction & Picks (08.08.2018)

Celtic and AEK Athens meet at Celtic Park, in a match for this phase of the UEFA Champions League (3rd Qualifying Round). This will be the first direct confrontation between these two teams, as they have never faced each other before. the AEK Athens presents considerable differences in their results at home and as a visitor, so in this game the home factor may be decisive.

Celtic:

Until reaching this stage of the UEFA Champions League (3rd Qualifying Round), the home team eliminated: Rosenborg BK and Alashkert. This is a team that usually maintains its competitive levels in home and away matches, since in the last 30 matches they register 9 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses in away matches, with 26 goals scored and 15 conceded; against 10 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses at their stadium, with 31 goals scored and 5 suffered. In the last match they played, for the Premier League, they beat Livingston at home by (3-1). Celtic has won 7, tied 1 and lost 2 of the last 10 home matches.

For this competition, he does not lose 4 games. The defense has been strong and has only had goals in 1 of the last 4 matches, and their offense has scored frequently, since they have scored goals in 3 of the last 4 matches for this competition.

Celtic is a club that has already won the Champions League in its history, a title conquered in the 1966/67 season. Last season, the team won the Premier League (Scottish Championship) for the 49th time in its history and thus guaranteed the presence in this previous round of the Champions League. In the last five games that Celtic played in their stadium, if we take into account official and friendly matches, in addition to not having been defeated, scored more than 1.5 goals in four of those games. We believe that in this match Celtic will be able to overcome his opponent during most of the game, mainly by playing in his stadium and with the support of his followers, against a theoretically weaker opponent.

AEK Athens:

The visiting team plays their first match in this edition of the UEFA Champions League with the intention of winning a positive result as a visitor. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 6 wins, 7 draws and 2 losses in away matches, with 17 goals scored and 6 conceded; against 11 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss at their stadium, with 24 goals scored and 7 conceded. In the last match they played, for the Friendlies, they beat Galatasaray at home (3-2). In the last 10 away matches AEK Athens has won 4, tied 4 and lost 2. The defense has been strong and only suffered goals in 3 of the last 10 matches. In their home matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 14 of the last 27 matches have ended with Under 1,5 goals and 19 out of 27 have ended with Under 2,5 goals.

The AEK is a Greek club that has twelve Super League titles. The last of these titles was conquered last season and earned him the presence in this previous round of the 2018/19 Champions League. The club also won fifteen Greek Cups and has a good record at the national level, making it one of the great Greek teams. In fact, in the last season of 2017/18 he was beaten finalist of the Greek Cup. In the games played as a visitor during the 2017/18 campaign of the Greek Super League, the AEK was very good and scored goals in almost every game, so we believe that the AEK has conditions to score goals in this match against Celtic.