PAOK Thessaloniki vs Chelsea Prediction & Betting Tips - Europa League

Prediction published on 17/09/2018, 06:13  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/09/2018 at 07:13 in Europa League Predictions

Chelsea return to the Europa League this season after finishing outside of the top four in the English Premier League last season. They won this trophy in 2013, the last time they played in the competition and winning it again this time around would confirm a place in the Champions League next season. They might not need that though as the Londoners currently sit top of the table after winning their first five league games of the season. Eden Hazard is in top form having scored a hat-trick against Cardiff City at the weekend. It'll be interesting to see how strong a side they play in this game with a Premier League fixture at West Ham at the weekend and a Carabao Cup game with Liverpool on the 26th. They should have a strong enough squad to do well in this competition considering their bench at the weekend had Morata, Willian, Drinkwater and Barkley sitting on it with Loftus-Cheek not even getting a seat there. Chelsea have scored at least twice in all their league games this season and have won five of their last six games in this competition.

PAOK are third in their league unbeaten with seven points from their first three games of the season. They started off in the Champions League this season beating Spartak Moscow but then losing in the play-off round to Benfica. They were ahead on aggregate in the second leg of that tie but eventually lost 5-2 so were transferred into the Europa League. The Greek side haven't had that much success in the Europa League and lost in the play-off round last season. They have reached the last 32 on a few occasions but the tip here is for them to face an uphill battle to qualify because Chelsea can win this match.