PSV vs Apollon Limassol Predictions

PSV struggled through the last round against Haugesund despite not conceding a single goal, as they went through 1-0 on aggregate, While Apollon won home and away against Austria Wien to claim their place in the next round 5-2 on aggregate.

When you look at these two teams on paper, their form, and performances over the last weeks then PSV are the obvious choice to win on Thursday but there are unlikely to be many goals in the game and the hosts are in with a great chance of keeping a clean sheet. The hosts are undefeated in their last five matches, picking up wins against Heracles, Den Haag, and Haugesund, whilst drawing against Twente and their 2nd leg against Haugesund.

PSV have kept three clean sheets in their last four matches against the likes of Heracles in the Eredivisie last time out and in both legs against Haugesund, while Apollon have conceded in each of their last four matches, all of which were in the Europa League qualifiers. One of those qualifying matches away at Shamrock Rovers ended in a shock 2-1 defeat for Apollon but they recovered in the 2nd leg and fared much better in the next round against Austria Wien.

The defensive records of both clubs could have a major impact on the final result of Thursday’s 1st leg and provide the main reason as to why we’re backing PSV to win to nil. Apollon haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last four Europa League qualifying matches, home and away against Austria Wien and Shamrock Rovers, while PSV didn’t concede a single goal in the last qualifying round against Haugesund but only won 1-0 on aggregate.

We’re confident that PSV will win to nil on Thursday and have predicted a final scoreline of 1-0. The hosts are unbeaten in their last five matches but haven’t been scoring a lot of goals during that period. However, PSV have a strong defensive record which has seen them shut out three of their last four opponents. Apollon can score goals but haven’t faced as tough of a side as PSV for a long time and have conceded goals in each of their last four Europa League qualifiers, which is why we’re backing a win to nil for the Dutch hosts on Thursday.