Aberdeen vs HNK Rijeka Predictions

Aberdeen have work to do in this Europa League second leg clash, which comes in a tough week for the Dons. The hosts have lost back to back games going into this vital meeting with Rijeka, but can they produce a response here? The visitors won’t just be coming here looking to maintain their lead, they’ll be out to extend the aggregate score and book their place in the final round of qualifying. Can the Croatian outfit pull off a result and end Aberdeen’s long-running unbeaten run at Pittodrie?

Aberdeen haven’t lost at home in this competition since 2014, so they will be aiming to level the score in this second leg. However, its tough to see how the hosts can overturn their 2-0 loss in Croatia, especially after another weekend loss. They went down 1-0 at St Mirren in the shock of the weekend in the Scottish Premiership, with those two results evidence of the growing gap between the Dons and the Old Firm sides, both domestically and in Europe. A run to the group stage would be a turning point for the Dons in their push to match Celtic and Rangers, but its tough to see them pulling it off.

The visitors are boosted by their fine form coming into this clash, as they’ve won four of their last five matches. However, like Aberdeen, the visitors had a domestic setback at the weekend as they lost at Gorica. Their defeat could open the door to the Dons, especially with Rijeka coming into this clash having failed to win eight of their previous nine trips in the Europa League. They’ve kept just a single clean sheet in that time, which could open things up for the hosts to return to the score-sheet.

After missing the target of late we expect Aberdeen to be back to their best going forward now that they need goals. The hosts do have a long-running record of scoring at their own ground, having found the net in their previous 10 home ties in the Europa League, a run which kicked off with a 2-2 draw with Rijeka. We see the hosts continuing that run in this latest meeting with the Croatian side.

The visitors come here having seen both teams score in five of their last six Europa League trips and in their last four overall. They drew 1-1 at Sarpsborg in the competition last year, while they have seen both teams find the net in seven of their last 10 matches in this competition. With five of Aberdeen’s last six home games seeing both teams score, we think there’s decent value in backing both teams to score here.