Schalke vs PAOK Salonika Match Preview: Champions League

PAOK Salonika face Schalke this Wednesday evening at the VELTINS-Arena in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier (round 4).

PAOK Salonika effectively received a free pass to this stage of the tournament after the team they lost 3:1 on aggregate to, Metalist Kharkiv were thrown out of the competition over alleged match-fixing.

Both sides have started their domestic seasons – Schalke managed to draw 3:3 with Hamburg in their opening game and followed that with a 4:0 defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg.

PAOK Salonika have had just one match in the Greece Super League and they won that match comfortably 3:0 against Xanthi Skoda.

Recent form:

Schalke – L D W W W W D

PAOK Salonika – W L D L W W W

Schalke have lost just 1 in 7 while PAOK have lost 2 in 7.

Head-to-head

These two sides have not met in recent years so there is no history to go on.

Bookmakers side strongly with Schalke in this tie.

Current betting odds: Schalke (2/5) Draw (7/2) PAOK Salonika (7/1)

Gamingtips Prediction –  Schalke 2:1 PAOK Salonika

PAOK finished 2nd in the Greece Super League last season and had a very impressive defensive record (conceded 19 in 30).

Schalke finished 4th in the Bundesliga last season scoring 58 goals in 34 matches and conceding 50.

PAOK do have a very good defensive record in Greece however this game represents a much tougher task compared to what they are used to in the Greece Super League and Schalke are expected to win comfortably over two legs.

PAOK thought they were out of the tournament two weeks ago after losing to Metalist Kharkiv in round 3 and this makes them a dangerous side if they can play with a carefree attitude.

If PAOK are able to defend as well as they do domestically and snatch an away goal, they could cause yet another upset in the Champions League.

From a betting perspective over 2.5 goals at 8/11 appears to be a reasonable bet with Schalke scoring and conceding more than 1 goal per game on average.

Other matches taking place on Wednesday evening include Dinamo Zagreb vs Austria Vienna, Fenerbahce vs Arsenal, Ludogorets Razgrad vs Basel and Steau Bucharest vs Legia Warsaw

This game gets underway at 19:45 GMT+1