Schalke vs PAOK Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

The first leg of this tie couldn’t have gone much worse for PAOK. The visiting Schalke side dominated possession and held a 1-0 lead for the majority of the match, which in itself wouldn’t have been too much of a disaster for PAOK. However, two goals in the final eight minutes of play put Schalke 3-0 up and with the home leg still to come, effectively ending the tie at half-time.

Schalke followed this midweek success with a 1-1 draw at Cologne to make it five matches unbeaten in all competitions, but they remain in a tough position in the Bundesliga with just 26 points from their 21 games so far, leaving them 10th in the table.

At home they do tend to pick up more points and have won ten of their last 13 matches in all competitions, but it’s not been enough to compensate for their poor away performances in the league.

In the Europa League it has been a different story though. They won five of their six group matches to finish top of their group by an eight point margin and resumed that campaign with the confident win at PAOK last week.

The visitors bounced back from that midweek disappointment with a 4-0 thrashing of Veria in the Greek Super League, leaving them 3rd in the table and just two points adrift of 2nd placed Panionios. They are, however, 12 points adrift of leaders Olympiakos, so that ship looks to have sailed.

Overall they are in decent form at the moment, and even away from home they have won eight of their last nine matches. Schalke are on another level in terms of quality though, so I can’t see any way back into this tie for PAOK. The visitors will be hindered by the loss of defenders  Leo Matos, Marin Leovac, and Fernando Varela through suspension as well.

On the balance of things I’m expecting another decent victory for Schalke here. The visitors will have lost a lot of confidence after last week’s defeat and Schalke won all three of their home group games by at least a two goal margin. In all competitions they have won eight of their last 13 matches at home by more than a single goal, so odds of 1.675 for a Schalke -1.0 Asian Handicap Win look good value for money. I’m also backing another 3-0 correct score predictions at 17/2.