Tuesday 05/08/2014, 20:30, Champions League Qualifiers, Panathinaikos vs Standard Liege

Panathinaikos vs Standard Liege Preview

It's been a while since these two teams have played in the Champions League groups and none of them enjoyed a deep run. Returning to the most important European competition is the top priority for both of them, with the Belgian side starting as favorite to qualify. They failed to take advantage of the first leg played in front of their fans and will now try to score on the road, against one of the toughest teams in Greek football.

Panathinaikos vs Standard Liege Odds

At Totepool

Panathinaikos 2.10, Draw 3.30, Standard Liege 3.50

Panathinaikos vs Standard Liege Tips

Panathinaikos showed extreme resilience last season and after finishing second behind archrivals Olympiacos, battled it through the playoffs. They now try to build on the scoreless draw recorded in Belgium, but in order to reach the final stage of the qualifiers, they need to score at least once while keeping a clean sheet.

Using two strikers on the road was not enough for the Greek side, and even though Petric and Berg will probably start up front, they could be joined by Klondaris. The 22-year-old has played in the Greek championship before, but his main advantage is that as a Belgian, he has some experience and could prove useful against his countrymen.

Panathinaikos took a two-month break after the domestic championship concluded and played a couple of friendly games but failed to win back-to-back matches. Twice they prevailed on the road by a narrow margin and came painfully close of making it three times in four matches, but eventually had to settle for a point in Belgium.

Standard Liege is a much better form, because after taking its own break, the team won three matches in five rounds, including two Premier League fixtures. De Camargo and Ezekiel were the chosen strikers for the first leg and they are guaranteed to start upfront again. Several midfielders and most of the defenders were shown yellow cards in the first leg, which means that they need to be extra careful about how they tackle opponents this Tuesday.

Key Facts

• Panathinaikos kept a clean sheet in three of the last four games played, but scored just twice over that span.
• The two teams met before in Europa League for years ago and back then the Belgian side won both matches by 1-0

Panathinaikos vs Standard Liege Prediction

The Greeks will give everything they've got tonight and will be playing on a Stadium packed with enthusiastic fans, so the match will be very different from the first leg. Odds above even value with Totepool are always appealing, because despite recent results, Standard Liege are not exactly Champions League material and are very likely to crumble under pressure.

Bet: Panathinaikos @ 2.10 with Totepool