Preview:Panathinaikos vs. Go Ahead Eagles - prediction, team news, lineups

Early Europa League pacesetters Panathinaikos host Go Ahead Eagles in Thursday's matchday two clash, aiming to secure a victory at the Athens Olympic Stadium.

An Anass Zaroury hat-trick helped the Greek side to achieve a 4-1 triumph against Young Boys in Bern, and Christos Kontis’s team hope for another positive outcome against Dutch opponents, whose debut in the competition proper ended in defeat to FCSB.

Match preview

It took until the round of 16 of last season’s Europa League for the competition to witness its first hat-trick, but Zaroury’s heroics in Switzerland meant this year’s tournament did not wait so long for a treble of goals.

That victory means the Athens-based club enter matchday two as the leaders of the 36-team league phase, and they aim to secure consecutive wins to maintain their position.

Confidence should also be high for Shamrock, considering their current four-match unbeaten streak, which has included three victories.

While their lack of clean sheets in three consecutive matches across all competitions might undermine their chances of success, Kontis will hope his team's knack for finding the back of the net — Panathinaikos have scored in six successive matches across all competitions — works in their favour on Thursday.

Nevertheless, that goalscoring ability guarantees nothing for the Greek giants, who enter this week's fixture winless in their past three encounters against teams from the Netherlands.

Adding to doubts are Prassinoi’s results in their own backyard in this competition, with a 2-0 victory over Villarreal in September 2023 being the Athens club's only win in nine home matches, drawing one and losing seven.

Hoping to capitalise on Panathinaikos’ underwhelming results in Greece, Melvin Boel’s Go Ahead Eagles must shake off the disappointment of their defeat on matchday one — a 1-0 loss to FSCB — upon their return to major European competition.

The Deventer-based club outplayed their opponents from Bucharest, only to be undone by poor finishing, underlined by their failure to convert three clear-cut chances.

Still yet to score a goal in the main stages of European competition, the visitors travel to Greece in their first away game in Europe since October 1965, when they lost 1-0 against Celtic.

That trip marked one of Deventer’s scoreless European games, a tally of three, and they hope to avoid firing blanks in a fourth.

Boel's team do not enter matchday two in confident spirits, having suffered a domestic defeat to promoted Telstar at the weekend, losing 4-2 to the Eredivisie newcomers, and face the risk of losing three games across all competitions this week.

Panathinaikos Europa League form:

Panathinaikos form (all competitions):

Go Ahead Eagles Europa League form:

Go Ahead Eagles form (all competitions):

Team News

After only coming off the bench in Panathinaikos' league victory at Panetolikos on Sunday, Zaraoury is expected to return to the XI on Thursday, aiming to carry on from where he left off in matchday one.

Expected to reprise their starting places are Tete, Karol Swiderski and Renato Sanches, who either scored, assisted or created chances in the 4-1 win in Bern.

Possible absentees due to injury include Bartlomiej Dragowski, Cyriel Dessers and Facundo Pellistri, who are dealing with knee, ankle and hamstring issues, respectively.

Milan Smit and Victor Edvardsen have both recorded three goal involvements each in the Eredivisie, though Edvardsen has provided two assists, while Smit has scored a couple of goals, and both players hope to end the Dutch side's wait for a European goal.

For the Go Ahead Eagles, Pim Saathof, Soren Tengstedt and Oskar Sivertsen are sidelined, although Saathof and Tengstedt were never involved in the first place due to the nature of their injuries.

Panathinaikos possible starting lineup:

Lafont; Kotsiras, Ingason, Touba, Mladenovic; Bakasetas, Siopis, Sanches; Tete, Swiderski, Zaroury

Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:

De Busser; Deijl, Nauber, Kramer, James; Meulensteen, Linthorst; Goudmijn, Smit, Suray; Edvardsen

We say: Panathinaikos 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles

Go Ahead Eagles’ creation of numerous goalscoring opportunities in their matchday one defeat was encouraging, despite the loss, and Panathinaikos’ ongoing streak without clean sheets might allow the Dutch club to score on Thursday.

However, their lack of European experience and their Greek opponent’s unbeaten run suggest a home victory in Athens.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.