PAOK Salonika, a regular contender in European competitions, had hoped to progress past the group stage in this season’s Europa League. However, the Greek team currently sits in 27th place in the standings, putting their chances of qualifying for the next round at risk.
Their campaign started poorly, with three losses in their first four matches, including defeats to Galatasaray (3-1), FCSB (0-1), and Viktoria Plzen (2-2), along with a 2-0 loss to Manchester United.
PAOK did manage a slight recovery, securing a 0-2 win over Rigas FC in their most recent match. Domestically, they are performing much better, sitting in the top three of the Greek league and looking to close the gap with the leaders as they face Panserraikos next weekend.
Ferencvaros also had a challenging start to their European campaign, losing to Anderlecht (2-1) and Tottenham (1-2) in their opening matches. However, they bounced back with three consecutive victories, defeating Nice (1-0), Dynamo Kyiv (0-4), and Malmo (4-1), which has lifted them to 11th place in the standings, just one point behind 6th place.
The Hungarian team is also in second place in their domestic league, trailing Puskas FC by a small margin. After two consecutive draws, Ferencvaros will be looking to return to winning ways against Debrecen.
PAOK will be missing several key players for this match. Backup goalkeeper Pavlenka and central defender Lovren, who joined from Lyon recently, are not included in the squad for the competition. Midfielders Schwab and Murg, along with forward Taison, are sidelined due to injuries, and Bakayoko will also be absent.
In attack, PAOK will rely on Bulgarian forward Despodov (2 goals in the league, 1 in the Europa League), Serbian winger Zivkovic (2 goals), Moroccan forward Tissoudali (2 goals in the league, 1 in the Europa League), and promising 21-year-old Greek international Konstantelias.
Ferencvaros will be without senior defender Raul Gustavo due to injury, but there are no other major absences. The team has been boosted by the excellent form of Hungarian international Varga, who has scored three league goals and six Europa League goals, including two doubles in recent matches.
Winger Kady Borges, with two league goals and three assists in the competition, will also play a key role. Forward Saldanha (5 league goals, 1 in the Europa League) and Traoré (3 league goals, 1 in the Europa League) will also be available for this fixture.
Prediction
PAOK has been involved in high-scoring games in recent Europa League matches, consistently finding the back of the net. With only one of Ferencvaros’ last 16 Europa League matches ending in a draw, a goalless draw in this game seems unlikely.
Prediction: PAOK 2 : 2 Ferencvaros
