Preview: PAOK vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - prediction, team news, lineups

The hosts got the better of Finnish outfit HJK on matchday one, while Frankfurt edged out Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen.

Match preview

PAOK negotiated three qualifying round ties against Beitar Jerusalem, Hajdunk Split and Hearts to seal their place in the group stage.

Razvan Lucescu's side began their second appearance in the Europa Conference League main draw with an entertaining 3-2 away victory over HJK following goals from Konstantinos Koulierakis, Kiril Despodov and Brandon Thomas.

That result has helped PAOK put together a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions, including Sunday's 2-2 draw with rivals Panathinaikos, where they were made to settle for a share of the spoils despite taking the lead on two occasions.

After conceding a 96th-minute equaliser at the weekend, PAOK will have to pick themselves for their first meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt since 1982 when they lost out on penalties in the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup.

Having avoided defeat in all 13 of their competitive home matches this season, PAOK will be confident about their chances of claiming at least a point from Thursday's contest.

After spending the last two seasons competing in the Europa League and Champions League, Frankfurt have had to settle for a place in the Europa Conference League following their seventh-place finish in the Bundesliga.

Die Adler secured their place in the main draw with a 3-1 aggregate win against Levski Sofia, before they beat Aberdeen 2-1 in their group opener thanks to an Omar Marmoush penalty and a Robin Koch effort.

That narrow victory helped Dino Toppmoller begin his tenure with a nine-game unbeaten run, which was brought to an end by Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Wolfsburg in a game where Frankfurt played the final 30 minutes with 10 men following Mario Gotze's red card.

As a result of the league defeat, Frankfurt will travel to Greece without a victory in their last four competitive away matches (D3, L1).

Having failed to score more than one goal in any of those four away matches, Frankfurt will need to improve in the final third if they are to return home with maximum points from Thursday's encounter.

PAOK Europa Conference League form:

W

D

W

W

W

W

PAOK form (all competitions):

L

D

W

W

W

D

Eintracht Frankfurt Europa Conference League form:

D

W

W

Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):

W

D

D

W

D

L

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Team News

The hosts are unable to call upon the service of Marcos Antonio and Filipe Soares, who remain sidelined with their respective injury issues.

After having to settle for substitute appearances in PAOK's last two matches, Despodov could return to the side for Thursday's contest.

Thomas Murg is also likely to come back into the starting lineup after playing 74 minutes against HJK in PAOK's opening group game.

Meanwhile, Frankfurt will travel to Greece without the injured trio of Sebastian Rode, Simon Simoni and Mehdi Loune, while Argentine forward Lucas Alario is a doubt.

Toppmoller could make a couple of changes to the lineup, with Hrvoje Smolcic and Niels Nkoukou in contention to start against PAOK.

Gotze featured as a substitute against Aberdeen on matchday one, but with the 31-year-old ruled out of Sunday's league match with Hoffenheim through suspension, he is set to be included in the starting lineup for Thursday's encounter.

PAOK possible starting lineup:

Kotarski; Kedziora, Troost-Ekong, Koulierakis, Baba; Schwab, Tsingaras; Zivkovic, Murg, Despodov; Brandon

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Trapp; Smolcic, Koch, Pacho; Buta, Larsson, Skhiri, Nkounkou; Chaibi, Gotze, Marmoush

We say: PAOK 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

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