Panathinaikos vs Chelsea Prediction, Odds and Betting Tips: Back Chelsea in the Corner Market

There have been some major signs of improvement in Chelsea's performances under Enzo Maresca, and for the first time in a while, it feels like this Chelsea team are finally going somewhere. They are the rightful favourites for this competition. A trip to Greece against FC Panathinaikos awaits Chelsea this Thursday.

Kick-off for this game is at 17:45.

For my first tip, I am backing Chelsea to get over 5.5 corners in the game.

Chelsea have been consistently strong when it comes to winning corners this season, averaging an impressive 8.4 corners per game over their last five matches. In fact, they've surpassed the 5.5 corner mark in all but one of these outings. The only exception came in their most recent match against Liverpool, where they won 5 corners. 

Panathinaikos are currently struggling in the Greek league, sitting in 6th place, and their form has been far from convincing. Given this, I expect Chelsea to dominate possession throughout the match, controlling the tempo and creating numerous attacking opportunities. With Chelsea likely to spend much of the game on the front foot, this should lead to plenty of chances to win corners. Panathinaikos' defensive vulnerabilities could further contribute to Chelsea racking up corner numbers, as they’ll likely be forced to defend deep for long stretches of the match.

For my second tip, I predict that at least one team will fail to score.

At least one team has kept a clean sheet in 6 of Panathinaikos' 8 league matches this season. Their European campaign has followed a similar pattern, with four of their seven games seeing one side fail to score, indicating a trend of low-scoring affairs.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have been involved in more open, high-scoring encounters, with both teams finding the net in their last four matches. Despite Chelsea's recent defensive form, I find it hard to envision Panathinaikos making much of an impact on their defence. A clean sheet for the visitors seems the most likely outcome in this matchup.

Panathinaikos vs Chelsea Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Panathinaikos Predicted Starting XI

Lodygin, Kotsiras, Jedvaj, Ingason, Mladenovic, Arao, Cerin, Tete, Bakasetas, Djuricic, Ioannidis

Chelsea Predicted Starting XI

Sanchez, Veiga, Badiashile, Tosin, Disasi, Dewsbury-Hall, Enzo, Neto, Felix, Mudryk, Nkunku