Aberdeen vs Qarabag prediction, preview, team news and more | UEFA Europa Conference League playoffs 2021-22
Aberdeen host Qarabag at Pittodrie Stadium on Thursday for the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League playoffs, looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
The Scottish team were defeated in Baku in the first leg after Jaime Romero scored the only goal of the match after 30 minutes.
They followed that up with a draw in the league at the weekend. Stephen Glass' side are now winless in three games - not the ideal situation to be in when you have a decisive game coming up next.
Qarabag will be looking to capitalize on Aberdeen's poor morale and get into the hat for the competition's first-ever draw, as a stalemate would be enough for them to advance.
Qualifying would mark the ninth consecutive European campaign for the Horsemen.
Aberdeen vs Qarabag Head-To-Head
The first-leg clash between the sides was their first-ever meeting in history.
Qarabag, as mentioned earlier, drew first blood with a 1-0 victory, leaving Aberdeen with a deficit to overturn in Thursday's decisive leg.
Aberdeen Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-L-L-D
Qarabag Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-D-W-W
Aberdeen vs Qarabag Team News
Aberdeen
Head coach Stephen Glass is likely to make a change after Connor McLennan was forced off with a niggle before halftime at the weekend. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas will be his most likely replacement.
Jonny Hayes was also subbed off at the break, although it could've been a tactical switch as there have been no reports of his injury yet.
Ryan Hedges is also set to miss out while Andrew Considine suffered a serious knee injury in the first leg and will be sidelined for a few months.
Injured: Connor McLennan, Ryan Hedges and Andrew Considine
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Qarabag
Comparatively, the Baku outfit have a clean bill of health and manager Gurban Gurbanov might field the same line-up which won the first leg.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Aberdeen vs Qarabag Predicted XI
Aberdeen (4-2-3-1): Joe Lewis; Calvin Ramsay, Declan Gallagher, Ross McCrorie, Jonny Hayes; Scott Brown, Lewis Ferguson; Funso Ojo, Teddy Jenks, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas; Christian Ramirez.
Qarabag (4-2-3-1): Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev; Abbas Huseynov, Maksim Medvedev, Kevin Medina, Tural Byramov; Gara Garayev, Patrick Andrade; Jaime Romero, Kady, Abdellah Zoubir; Ramil Sheydayev.
Aberdeen vs Qarabag Prediction
Aberdeen enter the match trailing 1-0, so they might come flying out of the blocks to push Qarabag on the back foot.
However, we don't expect many goals in the match, with the side from Baku capable of doing enough to progress on aggregate thanks to a stalemate.
Prediction: Aberdeen 1-1 Qarabag
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