Panathinaikos vs Sturm Graz prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – League phase betting tips on match 2025-11-26 20:00.
[p]Sturm Graz are looking to inject some life into their flagging UEFA Europa League (UEL) campaign when they travel to face a Panathinaikos side sitting inside the top-24 pre-round.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Panathinaikos’ UEL campaign has been inconsistent so far (W2, L2), but they come into matchday five buoyed by winning five of their last six fixtures across all competitions (L1) since appointing Rafa BenĂtez as manager. That came on the back of a defeat to Feyenoord in this competition but was followed by a 1-0 victory over Malmö on matchday four, keeping the Greens well placed to progress. Maintaining that push will be challenging if they fail to improve on a dreadful run of eight defeats from their last ten UEL proper home games (W1, D1), with five of those losses coming by a 2-1 scoreline.[/p]
[p]Sturm Graz travel south searching for any sort of form having won just one of their last seven games (D2, L4), and even that victory came on penalties in the Austrian Cup. After losing on matchday one to Midtjylland, Sturm returned mixed results across their next three European fixtures, all against sides from the United Kingdom (W1, D1, L1). Travelling form remains a concern for Jürgen Säumel’s side as they’ve won just one of their last 13 UEL group/league phase away fixtures (D2, L10), and are on a club-record run of seven consecutive European away defeats including qualifiers![/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]The H2H stakes are level at two wins apiece, with three of those four fixtures seeing only one side on the scoresheet. [/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]None of Panathinaikos’ last seven matches witnessed scoring inside the opening 15 minutes.[/p]
[p]Five of Panathinaikos’ last seven UEL main draw home games produced exactly three goals.[/p]
[p]Seven of Sturm’s last eight fixtures saw both teams on the scoresheet.[/p]
[p]There was scoring after the 70th minute in five of Sturm’s last six away games.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Tin Jedvaj has netted the second goal of the game in both of Panathinaikos’ last two fixtures, and each of his last three club strikes came in games that produced exactly three goals. Sturm’s Leon Grgić scored three times for Croatia U21s during the recent international break, and six of his eight career goals for his club arrived after the 65th minute.[/p]
[p]Panathinaikos appear to have several players unavailable including Facundo Pellistri and Renato Sanches, while Sturm seem to have no fresh injury concerns.[/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]With neither side performing consistently in Europe this term, our tip is to back the draw as both could struggle to land a telling blow.[/p]
[p][i]Author: John Pennington[/i][/p]