Panathinaikos vs Viktoria Plzen Prediction: Cagey affair likely

Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen met in the league phase of this year's Europa League, playing out a goalless draw and now the pair resume hostilities in the play-off round on Thursday (20:00 GMT, TNT Sports 6). The Czech side were the only team to go unbeaten through the league phase, but they did draw five of their eight games.

Rafa Benitez's hosts bounced back from a poor start to the league phase, losing two of their first three matches, to grind their way to progress after a 1-1 draw with Roma in their final match saw them reach the knockouts of this competition for the first time since 2009/10. Read below for my Panathinaikos vs Viktoria Plzen predictions, alongside team news and match odds.

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Team News

Pana will be without Filip Djuricic, Giannos Kotsiras, Cyriel Dessers and Pedro Chirivella, while former Manchester United man Facundo Pellistri also looks likely to be absent.

Moussa Sissoko is building up his fitness following his January move from Watford, while Sverrir Ingi Ingason is a doubt.

For Plzen, Matej Vydra and Karol Swiderski both return from suspension, but Jan Paluska, Vaclav Mika and Viktor Baier are injured. Salim Lawal and Daniel Vasulin are doubts.

Football Odds

Panathinaikos vs Viktoria Plzen Odds

Panathinaikos have been installed as 7/5 favourites for the victory, while Plzen are on offer at 21/10 and the draw is available at 21/10.

Over 2.5 goals is available to back at 6/5, while both teams to score is also priced at 5/6 and it is 9/4 for over 1.5 goals in the first half.

Under 2.5 goals @ 8/13

There were no goals in the league phase meeting between these two teams despite the fact that Plzen were reduced to 10 men for the majority of the game and Pana have struggled to break teams down as of late.

The home side have only scored twice in their last four games, while Plzen had the best defensive record of any team in the league phase, conceding just three times.

Benitez is known for his defensive prowess as a coach and he has prioritised that since taking over the Greek hosts - seven of their last eight games have gone under 2.5 goals and this looks set to follow suit.

Today's Football Fixtures

Matej Vydra to score at anytime @ 12/5

If a moment of magic is to come in this first leg, it may come from Plzen's Matej Vydra.

The former Watford man has seven goals in 15 starts for his club this season and is also their penalty-taker, so looks like a likely route to goal for the away side.

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