AEK Athens vs Shamrock Rovers Predictions

• AEK Athens have won seven of their last eight home games
• Shamrock Rovers have lost five of their last six matches
• AEK Athens have kept clean sheets in six of their last eight home games

Rovers have lost their way

AEK Athens are not in great form, but they should be able to take a valuable three points in the Conference League against a woefully out-of-sorts Shamrock Rovers on Thursday.

The Greek side have won three and lost two of their last five games and, by most accounts, have not been playing very well. But they did somehow smash Aberdeen 6-0 in this competition last month, which should serve as a warning to the League of Ireland champions.

Rovers fell over the line to win the title after a major late-season wobble that saw them lose four of their last five league games. Thankfully, a point was all they needed after a pretty impressive campaign up until October.

Rota’s turn to score? 

However, they were outclassed by Celje and Sparta Prague in the first two league phase matches in this competiton and look unlikely to take anything from the trip to Greece. AEK have won seven of their last eight home games and kept clean sheets in six.

Backing them to win to nil has merit, but Shamrock Rovers did score in a 4-1 defeat in Prague and may actually be a bit more cohesive in attack than Aberdeen. Still, AEK to win the match with fewer than 3.5 goals in the game should cover the sort of expected scorelines here with a 2-0 home win preferred in correct score markets.

Right-back Lazaros Rota, who set up the Athens club’s stoppage-time winner at the weekend, is as good a shout as any for an anytime goalscorer as he is one of the few AEK players currently in good form.