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AIK are on a 7-game winning run home

AIK haven't been doing brilliantly lately what with all the reshuffling in the team, but the fact they are doing good in Solna remains

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AIK managed to reach their goal in Astana - they didn't get defeated, which was the main task coach Alm gave the team. They scored the game opener early on, but the team from Kazakhstan managed to score an equalizer later on. The Croatian referee Vucemilov awarded 8 yellow cards in the game. None of them turned into red card, even though they could have. Following that match, AIK had a tricky away game against IFK Goteborg, and managed to keep up with the championship leader Malmo. It seems like AIK are finally having a quiet period, after all the uncertainty surrounding the club as a result of transfers. The home turf in Solna will be their great advantage today - they recorded wins in the last 7 consecutive home games. 

Coach Alm expects a close match:

- I'm sure the match will be tough. The first leg game made it clear that the opponent are a strong, well organized team. We do realize that the goal we scored away is an advantage for us, but it doesn't have to mean anything. Astana are very dangerous when it comes to counter-attacks. We do expect a tough game, but we believe in ourselves, and plan to do good in the second leg game.

Alm has 20 players at his disposal for this game. The injured Vaisanen, Dimitriadis, Bangure, Maripu, and Bahoui (scored in the first leg game) aren't among them. Their top player Borges should be in the game since he still hasn't signed for any other club. 

In the battle for the champion in Kazakhstan, Astana dropped two very important point on Sunday. The reshuffled line up didn't manage to do more than a goalless draw against the average Zhetyus. The good news is, among the six players who joined the line up on Sunday were center back Anicic, and forward Kurdov, who were injured for a while. In normal circumstances, they're good candidates for the starting line-up. 

Unfortunately for Astana, they won't be able to count on midfielder Canas, who is suspended. One of the candidates of his replacement is the young Zhukov:

- This is one of the most importation games of the season for us. Result from the first leg games means we have to start attacking from the start, we have to try and take initiative to score as early on as possible. We have to be careful about their counter-attacks, that's by far their most dangerous weapon. 

Home team's defense is not as convincing, which is what Astana see their chance:

-  AIK are not that good in defense, we managed to create quite a few attempts last week, and we'll managed to do the same today I hope. Some of those will result in goals I hope. With a bit of luck, we can reach the next round.