Conference League Quali, Playoffs, second leg, Thursday, 29.08.2024 at 20:00
“Welcome to the Green Hell”. This phrase was written on the wall in the FV Niefern visitors’ dressing room at a time when I was still playing amateur soccer myself, but it’s much better suited to the Athens Olympic Stadium
Because according to my Panathinaikos Athens Lens tip, this is where the hosts will give their guests a warm welcome. But I’m just as convinced that the French defense will have to be shuffled, but will still be able to withstand the pressure.
It’s a real shame that with all the weaker teams still in the UECL play-offs phase, the 2024/25 European Cup season will come to an end on Thursday for one of these two major clubs.
At the moment, everything looks as if it will be Panathinaikos.
Especially as the Greek capital club with the nickname “Cloverleaf” will have to look at themselves for the 2-1 first-leg defeat.
After all, if you’re lucky enough to have opposing defender Facundo Medina sent off with a yellow card for two unnecessary fouls in a very short space of time, you simply cannot lose the game afterwards
The Athenians could have made it a lot easier for themselves, even if it cannot be denied that the second leg on Thursday could well go very differently.
But the Greeks cannot rely on the data at the moment – quite the opposite. Anyone who takes a closer look at the European Cup home record is unlikely to want to place a home win bet afterwards.
Watch out: In the Europa League alone, Panathinaikos have lost 70% of their last 10 home games (7 defeats, 3 wins). In the Conference League, meanwhile, they are still waiting for their first win (1 draw, 2 defeats).
In the meantime, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that RC Lens could have a very successful 2024/25 season.
In fact, participation in the group stage of the UECL would fit in all too well with the excellent performances of recent weeks.
Already in the preparation phase, Lens convinced me with an outstanding 3-0 win over Leicester City and a respectable 2-2 draw against Leverkusen that the team under coach Will Still is ready to soar to sporting heights
The start of the season finally turned me into an RCL fan: a 1-0 win against Angers, a 2-0 win against Brest and in between the aforementioned win against Panathinaikos – great!
What more could a “Sang et Or” supporter want these days? Perhaps an Oddset free bet to sweeten their evening of soccer in front of their own television.
Be that as it may, Lens has what it takes this season to top the club’s greatest international success, their semi-final appearance in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup, if the team keeps this up!
Now let’s move on to possible betting scenarios that I can recommend to you as part of a Panathinaikos Athens Lens prediction.
The bet on “RCL qualifies” does not offer the highest profit with odds of 1.23, but for me it is a relatively safe bet.
Panathinaikos are under pressure to win, but have only won 4 of 16 European Cup matches against French Ligue 1 clubs and only one of 5 against Lens (1 draw, 3 defeats)
The majority of German bookmakers expect the Greeks to provide an entertaining game with plenty of goals, but is that really the case?
Panathinaikos have played three home fixtures in August, two in the league and one in the Europa League.
The special thing about them? The Athenians only won 1-0 against Levadiakos, but lost with the same low-scoring result against both Asteras Tripolis and Ajax Amsterdam!
RC Lens could be forced to switch from their beloved back three to a more solid back four in the second leg due to Facundo Medina’s suspension.
This could lead to a game dominated by the French side’s sturdy back line, which has yet to concede a goal when fully fit in the 2024/25 season
In my personal Sunmaker experience, this is an excellent bookmaker, but in my opinion it wrongly assumes three to four goals.
This gives me the opportunity to strike with a combination bet of the type “Double chance X2 & Under 2.5 goals”.
A clean sheet or a narrow 1:0 win for the French would suit this game well and at the same time give me combination odds of around 2.52 on the above bet
Conclusion: Every Greek and quite a few bookmakers expect Panathinaikos to storm off and beat Lens.
However, that has rarely happened this month, and not even in the first leg against a Lens side that was outnumbered for 70 minutes.
As a result, I expect the game to be sluggish for a long time and possibly even end 0-0.
RCL’s sturdy defense could cause the Greeks even more problems than they already had a week ago if they switch to a back four …
My Panathinaikos Athens Lens tip: DC X2 & under 2.5 goals
