- PAOK (W) are unbeaten in their last five official matches, winning four and drawing one. PAOK won the 2025-26 Greece A' Ethniki Women season with 72 points, while Hapoel Jerusalem finished with 71 points to win the 2025-26 Ligat Nashim season. Minela Gatsanitza has reportedly scored 23 goals in the Greece A' Ethniki Women for PAOK. Smadar Cohen scored 28 league goals in Israel for Hapoel Jerusalem in 2025-26.
All to play for in first-ever clash
There is no head-to-head history between PAOK Thessaloniki (W) and Hapoel Jerusalem (W) as they meet for the first time in a UEFA Women's Champions League qualification match for the 2026-2027 season.
There will be no advantage in this tie in a single-leg mini-tournament in Veria, so the opening goal could be pivotal and the margin for error tiny. PAOK are the 1.77 favourites to win on Wednesday, but Hapoel are priced at 3.75 and the draw is 3.7, so all outcomes appear to be live.
PAOK's odds are probably about right as the club have just completed a domestic double under Thanasis Patrikidis and they have the better all-round pedigree to back that up. His team played high-intensity, possession-based soccer for the most part and were very good at overloading the flanks to hurt teams in numbers.
Hot, dry conditions could drag the pace down
Hapoel have a different recipe under Tzach Shimroni, who has led them to become Israeli champions with a 4-3-3 system that is compact and highly efficient in transition. They press high, but have the legs to recover and get back into shape quickly so they can hit teams on the break. It will be interesting to see how these two contrasting set-ups play out in a game where the winner will be decided one way or the other in one swing.
PAOK are on a roll with a 2-0 cup final win over Asteras Tripolis and a 6-0 flogging of Volos their last two results. Hapoel are also in good shape, but their results over the last five have been a mixed bag with 4-1 and 4-0 wins contrasted by narrow losses to Qiryat Gat and Maccabi Hadera, suggesting they can score in bunches and leave gaps.
Gatsanitza is a goal machine
PAOK should edge it, but the scoreline is likely to be 2 - 0 as the heat of Greece should drag the tempo down later in the game and that could suit Hapoel. Backing over 2.5 goals at 1.55 suits this game script better, although both teams to score at 1.5 also makes sense as there could be plenty of chances at both ends.
Minela Gatsanitza is PAOK's most obvious threat, having reportedly scored 23 league goals this past season, so she will be the sharp edge of their attack in this one. Maria Gouni also has big-game experience at this level and her ability to deliver on the big occasions - such as scoring in the cup final - makes the hosts a real threat to score as well.
Rachel Steinschneider and Doris Boaduwaa add to the danger Hapoel can offer and PAOK cannot just laser-focus on one finisher, as Smadar Cohen is the headline striker after smashing 28 goals in the league last term.
