Standard Liege vs Panathinaikos Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Standard Liege are performing as you would expect from them so far this season, with an inconsistent run of results putting them 7th in the Belgian First Division, which happens to be the position they finished in last term.

Their Europa League campaign has seen them pick up a point at home to surprise additions Celta Vigo and lose 1-0 at Dutch giants Ajax, so there isn’t really anything surprising about the Belgian’s season up to this point.

Their form has taken quite a dip over the last month or so though. They ended a five match unbeaten streak with a 2-1 loss to Geel in the Belgian Cup, and despite bouncing back with a First Division win they followed that with a loss to Ajax. Since then they have lost one match and drawn another.

At home Standard Liege are performing quite well, with a recent defeat to Anderlecht being their only loss so far of the season. Prior to that they had won three and drawn two on home soil. In terms of standout performers, they don’t really have any, with their top scorer this season having just three goals to his name. This inability to rely on someone to get them goals is their main reason for struggling, especially.way from home. They only have one player who has scored more than one goal on the road this season.

Panathinaikos do have a star player to call upon though. Sweden striker Marcus Berg has netted seven goals in all competitions for them this season, including four in the Europa League. Unfortunately for them, only one of these goals has come away from home, and as such they are really struggling on the road.

Away from home Panathinaikos have only won two of their eight games in all competitions, losing two and drawing four of them. They have scored just over a goal per game on average, which isn’t really good enough in the relatively weak Greek Super League.

In the Europa League they have lost 2-0 away to Celta de Vigo and 2-1 at home to Ajax, reinforcing the notion that their attacking play just isn’t strong enough to make an impact in Europe. Five of their seven competitive away days have resulted in fewer than three goals, whilst five of Standard Liege’s six at home have also been low scoring affairs. This makes odds of 4/6 for Under 2.5 Goals look a reasonably good value backing, so I’m going for that along with a 1-0 win for Standard Liege at 6/1.