Conference League: Slovan Bratislava vs PAOK Preview

Conference League: Slovan Bratislava vs PAOK Preview

By Michael Vissini



European football returns for PAOK with Matchday 5 of the Conference League set to premiere Thursday night, with PAOK on the road to Slovakia to face Slovan Bratislava, further classified as a “final”

Lucescu’s men have completed their preparations for the upcoming clash with the focus on refining set pieces during training, but the Romanian will be without Douglas Augusto and Vieirinha due to injuries and Giannis Michailidis suspended for three European games.


It is simple to understand the scenario in order for PAOK to qualify for the Round of 32; a win against Slovan, it is practically automatic qualification given the final fixture is at Toumba against minnow side Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.


Heading into this encounter, Slovan are the in-form side with the Slovakians 12 games unbeaten since 26th September (11 wins, 1 draw), whereas PAOK on the other hand have been inconsistent but problems lie deeper given the mixed run of results, with the latest losing 2-0 to Atromitos - a result PAOK quickly want to forget.


Lucescu has changed the defensive line 13 times and it is cleas as day that there is no rhythm, as opposed to the offense which is PAOK’s main strength but often at times have been wasting countless opportunities.

In comparison to Slovan, the advantage for PAOK is this match is behind closed doors due to astronomical surge in COVID-19 cases in Slovakia and is in lockdown. Moreover, PAOK have won their last three away games in Europe; their longest winning sequence on the road in all European competitions and have scored exactly two goals in those games.


However, PAOK must keep an eye on Andre Green with the 23 year old former Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday winger the joint top-scorer of the Conference League with 4 goals, and also has 1 assist to his name. Given PAOK’s fragile defence, the Englishman will be extremely difficult to silence with Lucas Taylor handed yet again a heavy task. The Brazilian right-back is Lucescu’s go-to-man contributing great in the offense but his defensive duties are non-existent.


If you recall the reverse fixture, Slovan’s equaliser came from Taylor’s side who was largely to blame for ball watching and was completely unaware of Andre Green running up behind him to net the ball past Paschalakis. With Michailidis ruled out due to suspension, his ball playing ability out from the back will be sorely missed, so the responsibility falls into the hands of the old guard of Varela and Crespo to keep things steady.

Final note to take, PAOK’s offense has been their strong forte but, as previously pointed out, having been wasteful at times which proved costly in the reverse fixture against Slovan finishing 1-1, as well as the previous fixture against Copenhagen losing 1-2.


Unexpected stat to note, PAOK has the highest expected goals rate of 9.3 in the Conference League currently, but have only put the ball in the net six times, which brings it down by -3.3 (6.3), the largest of any team in the competition.

 

The squad selected by Lucescu is as follows:


Paschalakis, Z. Zivkovic, Talichmanidis, Taylor, Lyratzis, Varela, Crespo, Mihaj, Sidcley, Tsingaras, Esiti, El Kaddouri, Kurtic, Schwab, Biseswar, Murg, Mitrita, A. Zivkovic, Swiderski, Akpom, Koutsias

 

With the match just one day away, a win here would not only prove crucial to PAOK’s European qualification hopes but also contribute 500 points towards Greece’s coefficient ranking. Slovan proved in the reverse fixture that the group is not a two-way fight but a triple-threat, so in that instance, they are undeniably no pushovers.


The Slovakian side may be welcoming PAOK into their backyard - on the other hand - fans are unable to get behind them since the match is behind closed doors which could benefit PAOK. However, Slovan are the in-form team with an unbeaten streak of 12 games but then again PAOK hold the better away record in Europe despite their inconsistent form all over, so this might pan out to be an open game.

 

Prediction: Slovan 1-2 PAOK


Hellas Football 


Follow @michael_vissini

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