Preview: Sabah vs Aarhus - prediction, team news, lineups

A week after both sides played out a tight affair in Randers, Sabah welcome Aarhus to Masazir on Tuesday for the second leg of their Champions League third qualifying round.

Even though the Azerbaijani champions fell to their first defeat in the preliminary stages of Europe's premier club competition, a 2-1 loss is far from unassailable in the impending return fixture at Bank Respublika Arena.

Match preview

Sabah were unblemished in Europe before heading to the defending Danish champions last week, only to suffer a first defeat, albeit a narrow one.

The cup is either half-full or half-empty depending on who you ask, but anyone of the Owls' persuasion would likely have been pleased with a chance of possibly needing to reverse a one-goal deficit on their turf to advance to the playoff round.

Valdas Dambrauskas's troops have Veljko Simic to thank for that chance, with the forward halving the deficit in the 67th minute after his side had fallen 2-0 behind following a James Bogere brace.

It marked Simic's fourth goal in Champions League qualifying, more than any teammate, and the home side's prospects could hinge on the wide attacker's decisive execution on Tuesday.

They would need it, too, if an already satisfying debut in the Champions League preliminary stages takes them into the final qualifying round in the playoff stage, where Hapoel Beer Sheva or Crvena Zvezda await.

If last week's affair is an indicator of anything, then Jakob Poulsen's team would have witnessed the Students' battling qualities first-hand in Randers, where what could have been a comfortable advantage somewhat went awry after Sabah's goal.

The Jutland-based club — forced to play their home matches at Cepheus Park and not their usual Ceres Park due to renovations at the latter — may have won the title for a sixth time in May, ending a 40-year wait, but they will relish the opportunity of playing in Europe's premier club competition's group stage or league phase for the first time.

Those prospects may be uncertain, though, if Poulsen's men remain leaky defensively, with last week's concession marking the fifth consecutive competitive match in which AGF have contrived to let their opponents in.

Having already overturned a 4-1 thrashing by Lech Poznan in the first leg of their second qualifying round, the Danish side will back themselves in any game state, considering the adversity they have overcome to get this far.

Like their opponents on Tuesday, victory will leave the travelling supporters elated if their side end the evening knowing that Simic's 67th-minute goal for Sabah to keep the tie close was ultimately not costly.

Sabah Champions League form:

Aarhus Champions League form:

Aarhus form (all competitions):

Team News

Khayal Aliyev has not played for Sabah this season — an upshot of an injury sustained playing for Azerbaijan against Malta in June — and the forward is seemingly the home side's only injury absence heading into the second leg of the third qualifying round.

While Simic is Sabah's leading scorer in Champions League qualifying, Joy-Lance Mickels's game-deciding qualities cannot be underestimated.

Mickels scored in the second legs of the first and second qualifying rounds against The New Saints and KuPS respectively, and he aims to continue that pattern against AGF.

Frederik Tingager was withdrawn after 29 minutes in the first leg with a suspected foot injury, raising serious doubts about the centre-back's availability with Kevin Yakob and Richmond Gyamfi already on the treatment table.

Colin Rosler was also replaced with a suspected injury in the match, albeit what may have been precautionary rather than anything major.

While Tobias Bech and Kristian Arnstad — scorers of 12 and nine league goals respectively in the title-winning campaign — neither scored nor assisted last week, with Bogere coming up trumps instead, the former duo hope to be decisive on Tuesday.

Sabah possible starting lineup:

Pokatilov; Zedadka, Solvet, Dashdamirov, Puchacz; Rakhmonaliyev, Lepinjica; Parris, Isayev, Simic; Mickels

Aarhus possible starting lineup:

Hedenstad; Rosler, Storch, Kahl; Anderson, Knudsen, Jonsson, Emmery; Bech, Bogere, Arnstad

We say: Sabah 2-0 Aarhus (Sabah win 3-2 on aggregate)

Sabah's defence may have conceded two low-percentage goals last time out, but Simic's goal leaves Tuesday's encounter on a knife-edge.

Given the Azerbaijani outfit's prior defensive resoluteness and AGF's injury uncertainty in defence, the hosts are backed to secure a victory to advance to the playoff round.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.