Aberdeen vs Chikhura Sachkhere Predictions

Will Aberdeen get themselves into the third round of the Europa League qualifiers? The Scottish side are level pegging with Chikhura going into the clash between the pair at Pittodrie on Thursday night. Following a 1-1 draw in Georgia, the Dons have work to do in order to get themselves through this tie. However, with some decent preseason form behind them, Aberdeen will be chasing a result to stretch their European run into mid-August.

The hosts have already found their way past RoPS in this season’s competition, but they won both legs of that clash. They come into this meeting with Georgian opposition with the benefit of an away goal, but that requires the Dons to keep a clean sheet. They’ve not had great runs in Europe over the years, crashing out of the Europa League at this stage to Burnley last season. However, can the Dons edge a much more evenly matched tie, or will they be left with another early exit to deal with?

The visitors are seen as the outsiders here, but they will come to Aberdeen in search of a vital away goal. They have struggled for runs in this competition in the past, but a decent away record is likely to make them a tough nut for the Dons to crack. The visitors have lost just one of their last eight trips in the Europa League, which could see them hold on and drag this clash to extra time.

The hosts know a clean sheet would book their place in the next round, but can they really pull that off? Recent matches in Europe have seen the Dons struggle at the back, as they are currently seven games without a clean sheet in the Europa League. All of their last five games in this competition have seen both teams find the net, while Aberdeen have managed just one shutout in their last 11 matches in the Europa League.

That should suit a Chikhura side who come here needing to score. the visitors have found the net in four of their last five trips in this competition, while they have scored in all of their Europa League games this season. However, Chikhura have also conceded in all of those Europa League games, so we’re backing them to struggle. We are going with both teams to score ahead of Thursday’s second leg.