Preview:PAOK vs HNK Rijeka - prediction, team news, lineups

PAOK will look to salvage their Europa League campaign when they welcome HNK Rijeka to Thessaloniki in the second leg of their Playoff on Thursday.

Rijeka were surprise 1-0 winners in the first leg, with Luka Melano bagging the only goal for Radomir Dalovic’s men in Croatia.

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Match preview

Rustiness has certainly been present so far across PAOK’s European campaign, as they have stumbled through qualifying so far.

Razvan Lucescu’s side needed extra time to beat Wolfsberger in the previous round, with Mady Camara scoring the only goal in the tie on 115 minutes to send them through to the playoffs, where they are now facing a battle to ensure a Europa League spot.

The hosts will hope that getting their league campaign underway at the weekend, with a 1-0 win over Larissa, will help kickstart their season, but it is a surprise that last season’s top scorers in Greece have only scored two goals in their first four games.

PAOK are regulars in Europe, so remain favourites to progress, and they will hope to seal their spot in the UEL league phase for the second season running, after getting through to the knockouts a year ago.

It is just four years since the Greek club beat Rijeka in a playoff for a Conference League spot, winning 3-1 on aggregate, and continuing a fine run against Croatian clubs in Europe.

PAOK beat Dinamo Zagreb home and away in the group stage of this competition in 2010, before knocking out Lokomotiva Zagreb in 2015, while they eliminated two Croatian clubs in 2023-24, getting the better of Dinamo and Hajduk Split.

Rijeka’s win last week was their first against a Greek club in their history at the seventh attempt, after losing four of the first six.

The visitors are much deeper into their league season compared to PAOK, but they have hit a worrying run of form recently, especially after losing 2-1 at home to Varazdin on Sunday.

After starting with a 2-0 win over Slaven Belupo and a draw at Osijek, two defeats have followed, but even in Europe, Dalovic’s men had been far from scintillating.

Rijeka were knocked out of the Champions League by Ludogorets, and they lost at home to European minnows Shelbourne in the previous round of this competition, before rallying to win 3-1 away in Ireland.

The Croatian side have reached the Europa League four times, all since 2013, but they have not got that far in any competition since 2020, losing at this stage of Conference League qualifying in three of the last four seasons.

There are no concerns about falling out of Europe altogether here, as a Conference League spot is already assured, but financially, reaching the Europa League would be huge for a Croatian club not named Dinamo Zagreb.

PAOK Europa League form:

D D L

PAOK form (all competitions):

D D L W

HNK Rijeka Europa League form:

L W W

HNK Rijeka form (all competitions):

L D W L W L

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Team News

PAOK are at full strength ahead of this one, so Lucescu has some decisions to make after a poor first leg, and some inspired substitutions at the weekend.

Kiril Despodov scored just one minute after coming off the bench in the win over Larissa, so could replace Fedor Chalov, who has offered little so far this season, up front.

Giorgos Giakoumakis has added further firepower though, and is one of two notable loanees brought in this summer, along with Luka Ivanusec from Feyenoord, and both could start.

Rijeka only rested four of the XI who started last week’s first leg at the weekend, despite losing 2-1 to Varazdin, but the same team that started in Croatia could be selected here.

The visitors are without two players for this trip to Greece, as defender Mile Skoric and Bulgarian midfielder Dominik Yankov have both been missing recently.

PAOK possible starting lineup:

Pavlenka; Kenny, Lovren, Michailidis, Baba Rahman; Ozdoev, Meite; Zivkovic, Ivanusec, Konstantelias; Giakoumakis

HNK Rijeka possible starting lineup:

Zlomislic; Lasickas, Majstorovic, Radeljic, Devetak; Petrovic, Jankovic, Dantas; Ndockyt, Fruk, Menalo

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We say: PAOK 3-0 HNK Rijeka (3-1 agg.)

PAOK have not shown their offensive might yet this season, but it is only a matter of time before it clicks again for last season’s Greek Super League top scorers, and that could be the deciding factor in this second leg.

Rijeka saved their best performance of the season so far for the first leg, but there are doubts about whether they can replicate that, especially after some poor recent results, both domestically and on the continent.

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

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