Shkendija finished previous season as the third placed team in their domestic league and as usually, got the ticket for the European competitions. This time they didn’t have actual chances to get the title, as they had in the end ten points less than champions from Vardar and seven points less than second placed Rabotnicki. On the other side, fourth placed Renova had eleven points then them, so the third position was a fair outcome for them in previous season.

The team is having quite good run in the domestic competitions, but are failing to make something more positive in Europe and this season it will probably be the same. They did sign some of the players which should improve the situation in the club, such as midfielder Ferhan Hasani who previously played for Brondby and Wolfsburg and Besart Ibraimi who comes from Cypriot side Ermis, but previously being a part of Schalke as well. No doubt that their target here is to stay undefeated and even a goalless draw might represent a positive result for them. They will be playing in Skopje due to renovations of their home stadium. OUt of more known players they have forwards Bojan Vrucina and Hristijan Kirovski, as well as Brazilian Stenio Junior who spent some time at Litex Lovech.


Aberdeen, on the other side, is making some progress in the Scottish football in recent years, but they are still very far away from getting into the real title race. They ended up the season having seventeen points less than champions from Celtic, but also ten points more than Inverness, so similar to their tonight’s opponent – their position at the table was more than deserved.

The team actually played quite well during the first part of the season, had some fatigue problems near the end, but overall – their position was more than deserved. They had two test matches before the first official game, as the team comfortably won Brechin with a impressive 8:2 result and also won narrowly over St Johnstone last Saturday evening 1:0. Midfielder Kenny McLean is major injury worry for the visitors, as he got a knee injury during their pre-season friendly against Brechin.

Overall, Scottish sides are not performing that well early in the season in European Cups. On the other side, Shkendija is used on playing their European matches in Skopje. Visitors are favorites, especially to progress here in two matches, however I can’t see them being such a big favorites when playing so far away from home and when surely they would be satisfied with a draw as well.
Bet: Shkendija +1.5 Asian handicap @ 1.73