ABERDEEN host Greek cracks PAOK at Pittodrie as they aim to get their first win in the Europa Conference League group stages on Thursday.
The Dons won plenty of plaudits for their display in Germany when they narrowly lost 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt in a game where they could easily have got a draw.
But they blew a real missed opportunity in their next game against HJK Helsinki where they went a goal down before they finally woke up to salvage a draw against bang-average opponents.
Barry Robson's side will have had an 18-day hiatus by the time the Thessaloniki side visit Scotland after their weekend game with Dundee was postponed following the international break.
There were no such problems for Razvan Lucescu's side who sit in second place in the Greek Super League after a weekend win against Atromitos.
And more ominously for the hosts, PAOK have already defeated Eintracht at home and HJK away in this section. A win here would probably be enough to qualify.
Aberdeen can take some encouragement from the fact that Hearts probably should have beaten them in Tynecastle in the play-off round first leg, but fell to a 2-1 defeat before being thrashed in the return in Greece.
How the bookies view it
PAOK are stong favourites here at 21/20 with 10Bet. They are mostly evens.
Aberdeen fans might take the 13/5 on offer from bet365, with the draw 5/2 with William Hill.
Recent head to heads
The clubs have never met in any competition.
Players to watch
Bojan Miovski has been Aberdeen's star performer this season by a mile. The North Macedonian international striker rescued a point for the Dons against HJK and is 9/4 to net anytime with bet365.
Serbian dangerman Andrija Zivkovic has already scored on Scottish soil when he netted against Hearts in August and also scored against Eintracht. He has eight goals for the season and is 23/10 to score anytime with BetVictor.
Anything else catch the eye?
Aberdeen have been a punters' nightmare this season. They play well when written off as their win at Rangers and strong display in Germany proved, but throw in far too many stinkers to be trusted – as draws with St Johnstone and losses at home to Hibs and Hacken have proved.
And the sensible call here is a stalemate at Pittodrie. PAOK are clearly a very good side as they proved against Hearts, but there were times they looked vulnerable in Edinburgh too.
And with six points already on the board, the Greeks wouldn't be devastated with a share of the points.
Aberdeen are capable of winning and if they are realistic about qualifying they surely must. But this is a new team and they are too inconsistent to know what kind of performance you will get from them.
If the Dons are to score, there's every chance Miovski will net it and he's on the penalties too.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Aberdeen and PAOK will be played on Oct 26, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aberdeen vs PAOK prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
