Greece vs Kazakhstan Predictions

• Both teams have scored in three of Greece’s last five competitive (non-friendly) home games
• Both teams have scored in Kazakhstan’s last three away qualifying matches
• Greece have lost only two home games in the last five years (to Spain and the Netherlands) winning 66% of the time

Greece can scrape past Kazakhstan

Greece may scrape into the Euro 2024 qualifying play-off final by beating Kazakhstan in Athens on Thursday, but it will probably not be a comfortable evening for Gustavo Poyet’s men.

Ethniki are unused to losing at home as their record of 14 wins, five draws and only two defeats in the last five years indicates. But Kazakhstan have proven themselves to be very hard to crack on the road in the last couple of qualifying campaigns and can get on the scoresheet at OPAP Arena.

Magomed Adiyev’s side finished fourth in Group H on the same number of points as Finland, but they beat the Finns in Helsinki and Northern Ireland in Belfast too. Greece’s home record suggests this is a step up, but the Hawks gave Denmark a good game in a 3-1 away defeat and were four minutes away from earning a 1-1 draw with Slovenia.

Both teams to score in Athens

Both of those nations are ranked much higher than Kazakhstan, whose top club side have a better Uefa coefficient than all but two of Greece’s top-flight clubs. The standard of football in the gas and oil-rich nation has come on so much over the last few years that they may soon be regarded as favorites for a game against Greece, who have flatlined in football terms over the past few years.

Greece, however, will probably get the result they need because they have a couple of in-form goalscorers — Fotis Ioannidis and Giorgios Giakoumakis. Ioannidis, who notched in November’s 2-2 home draw with France, has scored five in his last three appearances for Panathinaikos while Giakoumakis has struck four times in his last two games for Atlanta United.

Both teams to score looks a solid recommendation given it has landed in three of Greece’s last five competitive (non-friendly) home games and Kazakhstan’s last three away qualifying matches.