Early in the European season, PSV awaits a do or die match. If PSV wins, they will remain in the race for winter. If they lose, Roger Schmidt's men are almost certainly eliminated and the Europa League season ends as early as next month. Gracenote found out all about the upcoming game.
Hopeful
The last time PSV lost both away and at home to a specific team in the group stage of a European tournament was in the period from September to November 2016. At that time, the club lost both at Philips Stadium and also away from home to FC Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid in the group stage of the Champions League. After that, no such incident occurred. In addition, PAOK Saloniki has never won an official game in the Netherlands. Eight times before, the Greek opponent of PSV came to the Netherlands, never did the team leave with more than one point.
Holy ground
At its own Philips Stadium, PSV has never lost to a Greek opponent. Six times before, the club hosted a team from Greece, resulting in five wins and one draw. It is high time to break the negative spiral in the Europa League. In three of the last four Europa League seasons, PSV failed to win. The last time it succeeded was in 2014-2015.
Malen on fire
Donyell Malen has already scored 11 goals in a European context for PSV. He needs two more goals to enter the top 5 'European top scorers for PSV of all time'. In fifth place are three former PSV players, all with thirteen goals for the club. These are Ola Toivonen, Mateja Kežman and Gerrie Deijkers.