Ferencvaros vs Panathinaikos Prediction: Be keen on Keane’s charges

Ferencvaros are enjoying a wonderful season in Europe so far, and they will look to strengthen their grip on a top-eight place in the Europa League when they host Panathinaikos on Thursday evening (20:00 GMT, TNT Sports 8). 

Below you can find my Ferencvaros vs Panathinaikos predictions featuring team news and more. 

Team News

Ferencvaros were having a remarkable campaign, but manager Robbie Keane will now have to cope without two key players, who have departed for pastures new. Midfielder Alex Toth was sold to Bournemouth and Hungarian striker Barnabas Varga has signed for AEK Athens. 

However, Naby Keita has made his loan from Werder Bremen permanent this month and should start, while Elton Acolatse has arrived to replace Varga in the final third. Mariano Gomez has also come through the door and could start in defence. David Grof should play in goal, with Denes Dibusz still out with a hand injury.

Football Odds

Panathinaikos could line up with Facundo Pellistri and Anass Zaroury out wide, with both players having appeared in the Premier League prior to their moves to Greece. Andreas Tetteh should start up top having arrived from Kifisia, while former Liverpool man Pedro Chirivella should play in midfield. 

Final point on Pana’s team, remember goalkeeper wonderkid Alban Lafont, who was the best keeper to sign on every FM from 2017 to 2020? Well, he’s there on loan from Nantes. The worst thing about that? He’s now 26! Worse than that, fellow failed wonderkid Renato Sanches is 28 and currently on the bench for Pana.

Ferencvaros vs Panathinaikos Odds

Ferencvaros have been installed as the favourites to win this game at 13/10, giving them an implied win probability of 44%. A draw is 23/10 while the Greek visitors are 21/10 to take an away win. 

Both teams to score is 4/6, over 2.5 goals is 10/11 and Aleksandar Pesic is the favourite to score first at 9/2. 

Ferencvaros to win @ 13/10

Ferencvaros are unbeaten in this competition this season, beating Genk, Red Bull Salzburg, Ludogorets and Rangers and drawing with Viktoria Plzen and Fenerbahce. They are also bang in form, wth five wins in their last six across all competitions.

Their last competitive match came back on December 19 which is a slight concern, as is the fact that they have lost two key players during this window. Against stronger opposition I would be worried for them, but Keane has proven himself to be a decent manager and I think they have enough to beat Panathinaikos. 

The Greek side were hammered 4-0 by AEK Athens last time out, and they sit fifth in the league - so there’s plenty of room for improvement. I’ll back the Hungarians once again. 

Ferencvaros clean sheet @ 21/10

Defensively solid, I’ll also back the home side to keep a clean sheet. They’ve only conceded 17 goals in 18 league games, and six in six in Europe. It seems to me that Pana struggle to score against tough opposition, failing to find the net against AEK, PAOK and Viktoria Plzen recently. 

Combining these two selections would give us a home win to nil, which looks like the best bet in my eyes. 

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