Panathinaikos vs Botev Plovdiv Prediction and Betting Tips | July 25th 2024

Panathinaikos kickoff their Europa League qualification campaign when they play host to Botev Plovdiv at the Athens Olympic Stadium on Thursday. The Bulgarian outfit will be looking to continue from where they left off in the first round and secure a vital first-leg advantage on the road.

Daniel Mancini grabbed the headlines for Panathinaikos as he scored the only goal of the game to hand them a 1-0 victory over Israeli side Maccabi Netanya in their final friendly matchup last Thursday.

This saw Diego Alonso’s men finish pre-season unbeaten in four of their five warm-up games, claiming one win and three draws, including a 14-0 hammering of SV Union Haus on June 29.

Panathinaikos will be looking to build on their performance from last season, where they finished fourth in the Greek Super League Championship Round and clinched the Greek Cup title.

Elsewhere, Botev Plovdiv kicked off the new Bulgarian top-flight campaign in style as they secured a 3-1 victory over Botev Vratsa at the Hristo Botev Stadium on Sunday.

Dušan Kerkez’s side now turn their attention to the Europa League qualifiers, where they secured a 4-3 aggregate victory over Slovenian outfit Maribor in the first qualifying round.

Botev Plovdiv head into Thursday’s game unbeaten in their last five matches, claiming four wins and one draw since the start of pre-season.

Panathinaikos vs Botev Plovdiv Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

This will be the first meeting between Panathinaikos and Botev Plovdiv, and both sides will head into the tie looking to begin their head-to-head record on a positive note.
Panathinaikos are unbeaten in six of their last seven matches across all competitions, picking up four wins and two draws since mid May.
Botev Plovdiv have won just one of their last four away matches since May while losing twice and claiming one draw in that time.
Panathinaikos are unbeaten in four of their last five competitive home games, claiming three wins and one draw since the start of April.

Panathinaikos vs Botev Plovdiv Prediction

Off the back of a solid run of results in pre-season, Panathinaikos will head into Thursday’s clash with confidence. While we expect Botev to put up a fight, we are backing Alonso’s side to come away with the desired result in front of their home supporters.

Prediction: Panathinaikos 2-1 Botev Plovdiv

Panathinaikos vs Botev Plovdiv Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Panathinaikos to win

Tip 2: First to score - Panathinaikos (The hosts have opened the scoring in five of their last seven matches)

Tip 3: Over 4.5 cards - No (There have also been fewer than five bookings in four of Panathinaikos’ last five games)