First round of the Danish Superliga Championship playoffs meets Aalborg BK and the title pretenders Brondby who are set for a Monday night clash at the “Aalborg Portland Park”. AaB ended up fifth, on a point over sixth-placed Horsens, in the regular season (26 games) and will have difficult times to replace FCK from the fourth position, which can conceivably lead to a Europa League qualification. The gap between Aalborg and FCK (4th) is eight points so AaB has a better chance to claim European football next season through the DBU Pokalen (Danish Cup), where they’ll meet Fredericia (second division opposition) in the quarter-finals next Wednesday.
Situation in Brondby is much different as Alexander Zorniger’s men have a fine opportunity to win the Superliga for the first time since 2005. The Boys from the Western outskirts finished on top of the table after 26 rounds in regular Superliga season, having the same number of points next to the other Superliga pretender FC Midtjylland – both have won 60 points. This makes the upcoming weeks really fascinating, especially when we consider that both sides are still committed with the Danish Cup so they have a realistic chance to claim a double when FCK is ruled out of contention. That happened when Brondby eliminated FCK in the Danish Cup Round of 16 earlier this year.
Find out the possible starting lineups of Aalborg BK and Brondby, as well as our betting prediction with the highest betting odds available on the selected market.
Superliga: AaB vs Brondby – Prediction and Betting Tips
Brondby earned a dramatic win right prior the international break when substitution Jan Kliment has scored a late winner for the 2-1 win over Hobro. Unfortunately the game has been marked with the yellow card shown to key defender Benedikt Röcker, meaning that he’ll miss the game on Monday night. Thus Paulus Arajuuri and Hjörtur Hermannsson must build up the Brondby centre-back duo.
AaB’s coach Morten Wieghorst has his own concerns as well since the former Brondby midfielder, who won the league with Brondby in 2005, won’t be able to rely on a key midfielder and captain Rasmus Würtz. He picked up a yellow card in last round’s 0-0 draw in Arhus (vs AGF), so he will miss out due to yellow card accumulation. That’s a huge blow to the home side, who are unbeaten in six consecutive games this year (2 wins, 4 draws), but they fail to impress as well. The two wins were over teams from second half of the standings (Randers and SønderjyskE), while one of the draws came against Brondby at home – 1-1 in mid-February. However, we should keep in mind that Brondby played with 10 men in most of the time since the Iceland defender Hjörtur Hermannsson was sent-off in the 30th minute and Brondby still managed to earn a point.
Brondby are our favourites to scoop the whole set of points, although AaB have the home advantage on their side. Brondby have won 14 of their last 17 Superliga fixtures (rest are draws) and the gained momentum makes them favourites to win the trophy, especially after their 1-0 victory over FC Midtjylland in Herning one month ago. Our experts recommend betting on the away side – Brondby to win in Aalborg: 1X2 Betting.
Possible Starting Lineups of Aalborg BK and Bröndby IF
Venue: “Aalborg Portland Park”, Aalborg.
Referee: Michael Tykgaard.
Aalborg BK: Jacob Rinne – Patrick Kristensen, Kasper Pedersen, Jores Okore, Jakob Ahlmann – Kasper Kusk, Magnus Christensen, Kasper Risgård, Edison Flores – Yann Rolim – Jannik Pohl. (4-4-1-1)
Missing players – Rasmus Würtz is suspended.
Bröndby IF: Frederik Rönnow – Johan Larsson, Hjörtur Hermannsson, Paulus Arajuuri, Anthony Jung – Kasper Fisker, Lasse Vigen, Christian Nørgaard – Hany Mukhtar – Kamil Wilczek, Teemu Pukki. (4-3-1-2)
Missing players – Benedikt Röcker is suspended.