Europa League preview: CSKA Moscow v PAOK Salonika

CSKA Moscow enter the second leg of their Europa League round-of-32 clash with PAOK Salonika as favourites after a 1-0 win last Thursday.

Tomas Necid’s 29th-minute strike ensured the Russian Premier League side would take a healthy advantage into the second leg, which is to be played in Russia.

Necid’s goal was his sixth of the Europa League campaign and he now only trails FC Porto’s Falcao on the scoring charts for the second-tier European competition.

The odds are stacked in CSKA Moscow’s favour, having won all four of their home games in Europe this season.

What makes their record even more impressive is the fact that all four games have been won by at least two goals, with 15 goals scored and just two conceded in continental fixtures at the Arena Khimki.

CSKA Moscow are also unbeaten in nine European matches, winning eight of them, with their seven-match run ending when they drew 1-1 with Sparta Prague in their last group stage fixture on December 15.

They returned to winning form with their win on Thursday and joined Zenit St Petersburg as the highest scoring sides in the competition this season when Necid struck CSKA’s 19th goal of their European campaign.

In stark contrast, PAOK were the lowest-scoring side to make it past the group stage and have scored just five goals in the Europa League so far this season as they qualified out of Group D behind Villarreal.

But if anything is in PAOK’s favour, it is the fact that CSKA have lacked regular match-play in recent months.

Since the Russian Premier League ended in November, CSKA have been involved in just three competitive fixtures, all in the Europa League.

They have also played two friendlies against Real Murcia and Tom Tomsk in the build-up to their first leg clash, but still lack consistent match fitness and it could come back to haunt them in the second leg.

While all the statistics point to a CSKA victory, even inside their camp they are not sure about progression.

Before the first-leg tie, manager Leonid Slutsky was unsure of how his side would play while captain Igor Akinfeev rated the Russian side’s chances of progression as ’50-50′.

All will be revealed on Tuesday night in Moscow, with PAOK still likely to fancy their chances despite trailing by a goal.