PAOK Thessaloniki vs Vidi Predictions

PAOK take on Vidi at the Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki on Thursday hoping to cement their position in second spot in Europa League Group L.

Group L is likely to be won at a canter by Premier League side Chelsea, though second position is very much up for grabs. PAOK are currently locked on three points with BATE Borisov, but with the Belarusians almost certain to lose in London to Chelsea this week, PAOK can open up a buffer between second and third with a win against Vidi.

PAOK could hardly be in better shape ahead of Thursday’s contest. The Northern Birch have won their last four matches on the spin and their only defeat in nine came against Group L rivals Chelsea at the end of last month.

The Greeks produced a fabulous performance last time out in the UEL, beating BATE 4-1 in Belarus. Serbian striker Aleksandar Prijovic scored the first goal that night and the 28-year old hit the net twice again at the weekend against Aris to take his total to five goals in five appearances for PAOK.

Scoring four goals against BATE was equally impressive and exceptional for PAOK. Generally, the Greeks post modest goal scoring numbers – in fact their four-goal haul in Belarus was only the second time they had scored more than twice in a game in thirteen fixtures.

Vidi shouldn’t expect to be trampled over on Thursday, though they will have their work cut out to take anything from their trip to Greece. The Hungarians have lost two out of two in Europa League Group L so far.

They were beaten 2-0 at home by BATE on match day one and 1-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks later. Domestically, things have been also been patchy for Vidi – Marko Nikolić’s men have only won 50% of their first ten matches of the 2018/19 Hungarian top flight.

Vidi have yet to break their duck in Group L and goalscoring is likely to continue to be a problem for them as long as they are competing on the continent. During their unsuccessful Champions League qualification campaign in the early throes of the season, Vidi scored just seven times in eight matches.

But while they aren’t exactly a potent attacking force, their robust defensive displays can sometimes help to compensate. In those same eight Champions League qualifiers, Vidi conceded just six goals and in their UEL Group L matches to date, they have shipped just three goals in two outings.

With PAOK’s goal getting problems already established and Vidi’s own blunt attack thrown in for good measure, Thursday’s clash looks certain to be a low scoring affair. We’re tipping PAOK to win, but we recommend coupling the outright result selection with an under 2.5 goal one. Our correct score prediction forecasts a narrow 1-0 win for the Greeks.