AEK Athens v Antwerp

AEK Athens vs Antwerp Preview

AEK Athens will be hoping to turn this Champions League play-off tie with Antwerp on its head when they play host to the Belgian visitors at their OPAP Arena on Wednesday night with the Greek hosts looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit following last week's defeat in the 1st leg at the Bosuilstadion.

Following a previous five-match winning streak which largely consisted of pre-season friendlies and strangely, a 3-0 win for AEK away from home at Antwerp in one of these pre-season games, AEK Athens have subsequently failed to win any of their three games afterwards in all competitions.

The Greek side did register what proved to be an important 2-1 win away at Dinamo Zagreb in the previous round of the Champions League qualifiers but a 2-2 draw at home with Dinamo Zagreb and a 1-1 draw at home with Panserraikos have been in between last week's 1-0 defeat at Antwerp.

Nevertheless, AEK Athens now return to their OPAP Arena for this return leg of this play-off tie where the hosts have suffered just the two defeats out of their last 26 home games and this should at least give AEK confidence ahead of this 2nd leg tie.

Antwerp know they are just 90 minutes away from securing a place in the group stage of the Champions League for the very first time in their footballing history following last week's narrow 1-0 win at their Bosuilstadion, and the visitors have made a reasonable start to their domestic First Division A campaign in Belgium as well.

Two wins, a draw and one defeat have seen Antwerp collect seven points from their opening four games of the Belgian top flight season which includes wins against Cercle Brugge and Kortrijk while claiming a point in a draw away at OH Leuven as well.

Earlier, Antwerp edged a penalty shoot-out against Mechelen to win the Belgian Super Cup and the visitors have now lost just once in their last seven matches in all competitions which will also see the visitors in confident mood ahead of this crucial 2nd leg at the OPAP Arena.

Antwerp have also lost just two of their previous 12 outings on the road in all competitions with 11 of these 12 away games resulting in Under 2.5 goals so goals could be in short supply in this return leg in Athens.

AEK Athens v Antwerp Verdict

The previous two meetings between AEK Athens and Antwerp have resulted in one win apiece for both clubs and another tight battle should unfold again here at the OPAP Arena with neither side in particularly sparkling form right now, so another low-scoring affair could play out here in what could be a tense finish.

Therefore, our main bet will be Under 2.5 goals @ 1.85

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.50

Correct score: 1-1 @ 7.00