PAOK Salonika v Borac Banja Luka

PAOK vs Borac Banja Luka Preview

Greek club PAOK hold home advantage for this upcoming 1st leg tie of their Champions League 2nd qualifying round clash against Bosnia & Herzegovina outfit, Borac Banja Luka, when the two teams meet at the Stadio Toumbas on Wednesday evening with the hosts looking to forget a pretty ordinary pre-season warm-up, while Borac Banja Luka earned a place in this 2nd qualifying round after beating Albanian side, Egnatia, on penalties.

PAOK ended last season's Greek top flight campaign in triumphant fashion as they not only finished the regular Super League season top of the table but also finished in top spot at the end of the Championship Round phase, narrowly edging out runners-up AEK Athens by a slender two-point margin to book their place in this 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League.

The Greek hosts ended last season's campaign with a 2-1 win away from home at Aris but although they started this new term with a 2-1 home win against AEK Larnaca in their opening pre-season friendly, the hosts have since stumbled to three friendly defeats on the trot, losing to Hibernian, Union St Gilloise and Vitesse respectively.

PAOK have won six of their last nine home games though in all competitions.

Borac Banja Luka also finished top of their respective Bosnia & Herzegovina Premijer Liga as they pipped runners-up Zrinjski to the top spot and therefore qualification for these Champions League qualifiers by a narrow two-point margin despite losing their last game of the season 2-1 away from home at Zeljeznicar.

The visitors narrowly squeezed past their Albanian counterparts, Egnatia, in the 1st qualifying round of this season's Champions League competition as they ran out 4-1 winners on penalties to earn this upcoming tie against PAOK.

The bigger picture will give the Bosnia & Herzegovina visitors a boost as well, as Mladen Zizovic's side have been handed just three defeats in their last 18 matches in all competitions which were to the likes of Zrinjski (twice) and Zeljeznicar, but they have also picked up 12 wins within this period as well, so they are certainly no pushovers.

In addition, Borac Banja Luka have suffered just two defeats in their previous 14 outings on the road in all competitions which gives the visitors a decent chance of achieving a positive result at the Stadio Toumbas on Wednesday evening.

PAOK v Borac Banja Luka Verdict

Previous experience at Champions League level may play a crucial part in determining which team goes through to the next qualifying round with PAOK having participated at this level on numerous occasions, while Borac Banja Luka will be playing only their seventh tie at this level on Wednesday evening.

Therefore, our main bet will be PAOK win & Over 3 goals @ 2.05

Other side bets worth considering:

PAOK win & BTTS Yes @ 3.00

Correct Score: PAOK 3-1 @ 12.00