PAOK vs FCSB Prediction & Betting Tips (3 October)

Quarter-finalist in the Conference League last year, PAOK also performed well on the national scene by winning the title. This allowed it to play in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League at the start of the season but a setback against Malmö put the club back in the Europa League. The Thessaloniki-based team then booked their ticket to the league stage by dismissing Shamrock Rovers 6-0 at the end of the two-legged matches. To start its C3 campaign, PAOK suffered the law of Galatasaray which displays a very good face at the start of the season 3-1. In the championship, the Greeks now occupy 3rd place in the standings, one point behind the leader. Undefeated during the first 5 days, 4 wins and 1 draw, they suffered their first setback last weekend, at home against Aris Salonika 0-1. Also present in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League, Steaua was eliminated by Sparta Prague. Subsequently, FCSB defeated LASK Linz to enter the league stage of the Europa League 2-1 after the two-legged matches.

Spared for its entry into the competition, the Bucharest-based team easily took over the Latvians of RFS at home last week 4-1. On the national scene, the reigning Romanian champion is having a sluggish start to the championship. Elias Charalambous' men are currently only 10th out of 16 teams with 13 points taken in 10 games. More consistent for some time, they avoided defeat during the last 4 days. Steaua Bucharest shared the points with Cluj 2-2 and Petrolul 1-1 but also won against UTA Arad 2-0 and Sepsi Sf. Gheorghe last weekend 0-1.

PAOK must deal with the withdrawals of replacement goalkeeper Tsiftsis and the interesting Spanish striker Thomas (7 goals and 4 assists in the league last year). Starting last week against Galatasaray but absent last weekend, central defender Omar Colley is not guaranteed to be able to hold his place this Thursday. To occupy the forefront of the attack, summer recruits Chalov (1 goal in the league) and Tissoudali (1 goal in the league) are in the balance. Former Shakhtar winger Taison (36 years old, 1 goal in the league) is available as is former Monegasque Tiémoué Bakayoko. Like the first day, the important South African defender Ngezana is unavailable for this meeting , hurt.

Both scorers against RFS, attacking midfielder Olaru (3 goals in the league, 2 goals in C3) and recent recruit Birligea (2 goals and 3 assists in the league with Cluj, 1 goal in C3) should start again. Winger Stefanescu also scored on the opening day of the Europa League. In the central hinge, takes place the experienced Chiriches (ex-Tottenham, Naples and Sassuolo).