Olimpik Donetsk take on the visitors PAOK at “Stadion Valerija Lobanovskoho” in the first-leg match of the Qualification semi-final of the UEFA Europa League. The game will be played in Kiev on Thursday, July 27th.
Olimpik Donetsk will debut on European stage. However, even this fact didn’t influence on the team last season’s key players having left the squad which due to the war in Donetsk is forced to play out of its home field. The club rents young players or signs free agents instead. As a result, the side has lost both friendly clashes this summer: 0:1 to Kolos Kovalyovka and 1:3 to Mariupol. Nevertheless, the team entered the new season of the Ukrainian Premiere League with 2:0 victory over Oleksanriya on the road. In other words, it is difficult to predict what to expect from Roman Sanzhar’s side in the forthcoming European battle.
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While the Ukrainian club has become weaker comparing to the last season, the Greek side, on the contrary, has enforced its roster with few strong players: Robert Mak and Rodrigo Rey joined Vladimir Ivic’s side. The Greek haven’t played yet any official clashes in the new season, having conducted five friendly games this summer resulting in three triumphs and two defeats.
It is obvious that the teams have never met before. The Greeks are the favourite in this pair and bookmakers give them advantage even in the fight at away ground. However, I don’t believe that Olimpik Donetsk having promoted to the UEFA Europa League, would disgracefully perform there even despite lack of strong performers as the side from Donetsk has already demonstrated in the first round of the Ukrainian Premiere League that it is quite able to play football, showing rock-solid defense while PAOK will not put all their strength to win by any means on the road.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.0 scored goals.
