Vidi vs PAOK Thessaloniki Predictions

Prior to match-day three, MOL Vidi were on zero points and struggling, though they’ve now got a fighting chance of progressing to the knockout rounds having beaten PAOK away from home in the reverse fixture. With that confidence-boosting win under their belts, the Hungarians should fancy themselves to get the better of the Greeks now back in front of their own fans.

In each of their first two matches in this group, Vidi struggled to get going; they weren’t terrible against BATE on match-day one, while they probably didn’t deserve to lose, though they created little going forward. On match-day two, they were easily beaten by Chelsea. However, on match-day three, the Hungarians got their act together when beating Thursday’s opponents in Greece.

When facing PAOK a fortnight ago, Marko Nikolić’s men delivered an efficient performance. They weren’t overly flashy from an offensive point of view, but they created enough to find the net, while they also prevented PAOK from doing much at the other end, and it was the way in which they nullified the Greeks that was the catalyst for success.

In truth, having seen how tame PAOK were on match-day three, it really is difficult to fancy the visitors on this occasion. Since the start of the competition, the Greek side have looked very poor going forward, as the facts that they’ve scored just one goal and are averaging just 0.78 expected goals for, suggest their defensive efforts haven’t exactly been impressive either.

Not only did PAOK fold tamely on their own patch against Vidi a fortnight ago, but they also conceded four goals in their only previous away match in this group. On that occasion, they were better than the score-line suggested, though the fact that their defensive issues came to the fore even when they played reasonably well going the other way is a worry.

Given how the reverse fixture panned out, it looks as though the early market has underestimated the hosts a tad. Mol Vidi are far from the best team in this competition, but their performances against both BATE and PAOK were quietly impressive. Moreover, the visitors looked poor on their own patch two weeks ago, so it’s easy to envisage them struggling in this match. A replication of the performance delivered in Greece on match-day three would likely see the hosts come out and top and they’re backed to do just that.