HJK vs PAOK prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-09-20 16:45.
The 32-time Finnish Veikkausliiga champions HJK kept their hopes for a fourth successive domestic crown alive and kicking with a 2-0 win over Inter Turku this past weekend. The final four games of their domestic season will be at the forefront of their minds, but HJK could make a start on a piece of club history with a positive result here as they’ve never progressed from a major European group stage in four previous attempts.
Despite their experience on the European stage, this is HJK’s first-ever encounter with Greek opposition. The hosts won’t pay their outsider status much attention given that they’ve scored at least twice in four of their last five home games (W3, D1, L1), although it is largely accepted that the quality of opposition in their native country is of a lower standard than this, backed up by the fact Greece sits 18 places above Finland in the UEFA coefficient rankings.
Looking to justify that ranking is the 2020/21 UECL quarter-finalists, PAOK, who failed to qualify for the competition in 2022/23 but bounced back in some style when eliminating Hajduk Split and Hearts in their last two qualifying rounds. The Greeks remain unbeaten on their European travels this season (W2, D1), and having curiously scored in the 12th minute in two of those games, they have a knack of starting fast.
The weekend’s result wasn’t quite as spectacular for PAOK, who drew 0-0 against Aris in the Greek Super League, a disappointing result that followed a 1-0 loss against OFI Crete in their only away league outing of the season so far. Despite that blip, the Black-White’s performances on the road in UECL action have been largely positive (W6, D2, L4), with the victories therein seeing them score the match opener five times and at least twice in all six.
Players to watch: It was HJK’s Bojan Radulović who secured their place in the UECL group stage with a pair of goals in their final qualifier, which marked the beginning of a three-game run of competitive scoring appearances. Trying to outdo him will be PAOK and Serbian international star Andrija Živković, who is averaging one goal contribution per game across his last five European club appearances (G3, A2), with each one contributing to victories.
Hot streak: PAOK are currently enjoying their longest-ever unbeaten run of UECL games (W4, D3), keeping five clean sheets in the process.