Chelsea FC and PAOK Salonika will meet for the first time ever in UEFA competition tomorrow night, as the two sides will clash in a Europa League group stage fixture. The Blues begin their European campaign in Greece, with the Group L opener against a PAOK side that won both of their previous meetings against an English team.
The Greek side beat Arsenal 1-0 in 1997 and Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in 2011. On the other side, Chelsea are undefeated all time against clubs from Greece, so something has got to give in this one. Someone’s streak it set to end, and the bookmakers believe ti will be PAOK who gets vanquished here.
The two sides will approach this clash in completely different ways. PAOK manager Razvan Lucescu will field the strongest side possible in an attempt to secure a favorable result while Blues boss Maurizio Sarri will rotate his squad, in order to keep them fresh for the London derby against West Ham United this weekend.
We already know that superstar Eden Hazard will not be involved in this one. That said, Sarri is a fiery competitor and one should not expect his team to lie down on Thursday night.
Chelsea starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kick-off: 6 pm (BST), Thursday 20 Sept
Odds via Sky Bet: Chelsea 1/6, PAOK 4/7
Prediction: Chelsea FC 2, PAOK 0
Feel free to post your own Chelsea and/or PAOK starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be. Enjoy the match everybody!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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