Hearts v PAOK Salonika

Hearts vs PAOK Preview

British interest in the Europa Conference League also includes Scottish Premiership hosts, Hearts, taking on Greek visitors, PAOK Salonika, at their Tynecastle Park with the hosts looking to continue their adventures in Europe by progressing through to the group stage of this season's competition.

Hearts head into this 1st leg tie having lost just once in their opening five games of the new season overall in all competitions which came in the shape of a 2-1 defeat away from home at Norwegian club, Rosenborg, in the away leg of their previous Europa Conference League tie but a resounding 3-1 home win over their Norwegian counterparts at Tynecastle Park in the 2nd leg saw the Edinburgh club through to the play-off stage.

On the domestic front, Hearts have captured a 2-0 win in the Scottish Premiership away from home at St Johnstone along with a comprehensive 4-0 rout of Partick Thistle in the Scottish League Cup so the hosts will be in confident mood ahead of this opening leg against PAOK.

Having won their last two games at home on the trot, Hearts look well placed to score at least once at Tynecastle Park on Thursday night.

PAOK have also won their last two games on the trot as the Greek side captured a 3-0 home win against Hajduk Split in the previous round of the Europa Conference League which was followed by a 3-0 home win in their domestic top flight against Asteras Tripolis, so the visitors also bring some promising momentum into this 1st leg tie.

That victory over Asteras Tripolis was PAOK's opening game of the new Greek Super League season but the visitors have progressed through the early qualifying rounds of the Europa Conference League as they accounted for Israeli side, Beitar Jerusalem, with a 4-1 win on aggregate along with a 3-0 win over two legs against the aforementioned Hajduk Split.

However, before we get too invested in PAOK's results overall, it should be noted that the Greek outfit have managed to capture just two wins from their previous 10 outings on the road in all competitions with wins at Volos and Beitar Jerusalem but having also slipped to five defeats as well within this period, this looks like being a tricky outing to Edinburgh on Thursday night for PAOK.

Hearts v PAOK Verdict

Both Hearts and PAOK have experienced recent success on both the European stage and domestic as well, and although both sides have also produced inconsistent results over a larger period of time, both look to be well equipped to at least hit the back of the net in this 1st leg tie at Tynecastle Park in what could be an entertaining two-legged encounter.

Therefore, our main bet will be Both Teams To Score Yes @ 1.72

Other side bets worth considering:

Hearts win @ 2.70

Correct score: Hearts 2-1 @ 11.00