Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Prediction and Betting Tips

Panathinaikos and Villarreal kick off their Europa League campaign at the Athens Olympic Stadium on Thursday (September 21). The two sides have been drawn in Group F, alongside reigning Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa and French outfit Stade Rennais.

The hosts maintained their perfect record in the new Super League campaign, as they cruised to a 5-0 win over Panetolikos on Saturday. Ivan Jovanovic’s men have won their opening three Greek top-flight games, scoring nine goals and keeping three clean sheets.

Panathinaikos are featuring in the Europa League for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, since a 3-1 aggregate loss to Braga in the Champions League playoffs in August.

Villarreal, meanwhile, returned to winning ways in La Liga, coming from behind to see off Almeria 2-1 on Sunday.

Before that, Pacheta’s men were on a run of two straight defeats, losing 4-3 against Barcelona on August 27, five days before suffering a 3-1 defeat at Cadiz.

Villarreal picked up 64 points last season to finish fifth in La Liga and qualify for the Europa League for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign.

Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

This will be the third meeting between the two teams, with Villarreal winning one and drawing the other in the 2008-09 Champions League group stage.
Panathinaikos have won three of their last four games across competitions, with a 1-0 loss against Braga on August 29 being the exception.
Villarreal are winless in all but one of their last seven away games since mid-May, losing four.
Panathinaikos have lost just one of their last four home games across competitions, winning twice, this season.

Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Prediction

Buoyed by their comeback win against Almeria, Villarreal's confidence is high. However, Panathinaikos have put together successive impressive displays on the road and should hold out for a share of the spoils against a superior Villarreal side.

Prediction: Panathinaikos 2-2 Villarreal

Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Draw

Tip 2: Both teams to score - Yes (Both teams have scored in four of Villarreal’s last five games.)

Tip 3: Over 10.5 corners - No (There have been fewer than 11 corners in four of Panathinaikos' last five outings.)

About the author

Joshua is a European and international football writer at Sportskeeda who covers news and match previews. He fell in love with the sport watching Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o win titles at club and international level, and his passion for the sport led him to become a professional football writer. He has an overall professional experience of 5 years.

Joshua supports Chelsea at club level, having witnessed a number of African stars break records with the club. Drogba’s equalizing header and match-winning shootout penalty for Chelsea against Bayern Munich in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final left a last impact on him. His favorite player is Eden Hazard and favorite manager is Jose Mourinho, who gave him the most joyous days as a Blues supporter. He believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is unlucky to be born in Messi’s era and favors the Argentine in the G.O.A.T. debate.

Joshua also follows the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Nigeria Professional Football League and loves to play football during his free time. Having attained a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan, he employs his problem-solving skills in crafting articles while doing extensive research to ensure each article is well thought out and crafted.

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Edited by Bhargav

Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Prediction and Betting Tips | September 21, 2023

Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Prediction

Panathinaikos vs Villarreal Betting Tips