This mid-week Aab won 1-0 at home against 2nd placed OB which moved them up to 3rd position in the league. Esbjerg on the other hand lost 3-2 at FC Copenhagen and their hopes of defending the 3rd place that they started the 2nd half of the season on seems to crumble away.

Aab
League standings: 4th on 43 points
Ruled out: Squad not revealed yet
Home game record: 7-3-3

Aab started this round on 3rd position but with FC Midtjylland getting an inury time win yesterday against FC Copenhagen, they have overtaken the 3rd position by one point before this game. The battle for 3rd position is close, with 5 teams being within 5 points. Looking at the recent form however it becomes evident that Aab is going to be a serious contender to take it as they haven’t lost in their last 7 games. As stipulated in the mid-week analysis against OB they are a strong organised team that gives away very little to the opponents. This was proved in that game, where OB was dominated throughout the game and never really managed to break through Aab’s organisation. Judging from the performance in the mid-week there are no injuries to my knowledge but the squad has not yet been revealed. For further information on Aab, go through the mid-week analysis Aab vs. OB – less than 2.5 goals, which by the way was spot on..

Esbjerg
League standings: 5th on 41 points
Ruled out: Squad not revealed yet
Away game record: 4-5-5

Esbjerg started the 2nd half of the season in 3rd place but hasn’t been able to find their game so far. They have only won against relegated HB Køge and FC Midtjylland but given the lead they had from the beginning, they can still finish in 3rd position which will be a major achievement for the club. Esbjerg went down 3-2 to FC Copenhagen in the mid-week game. After trailing 3-0 they managed to come back and actually had a few chances to get away with a draw. Esbjerg’s biggest problem has been their organisation. They are having difficulties in controlling the ball and creating chances. In the 1st half they played fluent offensive football but with the temperatures in Denmark being around 0 degrees and the pitches being in a dismal state, their passing game has suffered tremendously and they have not been able to adjust to that yet. Top Scorer Tim Jannsen has been one big excuse for himself playing terrible and World Cup contender Soren Rieks has also struggled to show the form that has put him in the spot light of several European clubs.

Conclusion
On paper it looks to be a close game but it is 2 teams in different forms and with different confidence that will meet for this game. Aab knowing that they have performed excellent whereas Esbjerg will know that they have led a 3rd place finish slip away. With the current shape of Esbjergs offence and defence for that matter, I can not see them breaking through Aab’s organisation and recommend betting on Aab to win. Their first head-to head this season at Esbjerg ended 1-1 but that was in the 1st half of the season when Esbjerg was at the top of their game.