Olympiacos v Burnley UEFA Europa League, 23rd August 7.45pm
The Clarets have made hard work of grinding their way through the Europa League qualifiers, but they are one step now from reaching the group stage. Burnley will get a stern test against Greek side Olympiacos in the playoff round. Once again the English side may have to produce a night of resistance on the road in the first leg. Read our betting tips for Olympiacos v Burnley.
Olympiacos v Burnley Betting Odds
Olympiakos 4/5
Draw 9/4
Burnley 4/1
* (Betting Odds were taken from August 19th, 2018 at 8:02 p.m.)
Olympiacos News and Form
The Greeks are the favourite for the first leg of this playoff tie in the Europa League. They are a highly experienced side and just last season they were in the UEFA Champions League having gone through two rounds of qualification. They failed to get out of the group stage but their best result of the group was a 0-0 against Barcelona. They started in the previous round of the Europa League qualification for this season after having finished third in the Greek top flight last season. They took a comfortable 7-1 aggregate win over Swiss side Lucerne in that to set up this tie with Burnley.
The Greek domestic scene doesn’t start until later in the month and so Burnley will have a slight advantage of having a bit more in terms of match sharpness. However, the goals that Olympiakos scored against Lucerne will be of concern for Burnley. Still, it is hard to back games in involving Burnley to be high scoring one and under 2.5 goals at bet365 for this fixture is at 3/5 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from August 19th, 2018 at 8:02 p.m.). The Greeks have won just two of their last six home matches in Europe now with a W2 D2 L2 record. Last season overall they produced a W1 D2 L3 record in their home games.
Burnley News and Form
The Clarets have had a strange start to the new season. They have progressed through to the play off round of the Europa League but it has been a struggle. They have drawn all four of their European games this season over 90 minutes. In the second qualifying round, they played out two 1-1 draws with Aberdeen before settling the tie in extra time. Then in the third qualifying round, after two 0-0 draws against Istanbul Buyuksehir, and again the Clarets settled things in extra time. There was a heavy hit for them in a 3-1 home loss against Watford in the Premier League on the weekend so that is a W0 D5 L1 record so far from them this season (over 90 minutes). They have scored just the three goals this term (over 90 minutes).
Both teams not to score is at 4/6 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from August 19th, 2018 at 8:02 p.m.) and that looks a strong option in our betting tips for Olympiakos v Burnley. This is their first UEFA campaign since the 1960/61 season and naturally, they are adjusting to things. Getting the balance between domestic and European action is a tough thing to handle out of the gate. It really is hard to expect a high-scoring game turning up on Thursday night and again, the Clarets start on the road in a tie where they may need to just contain their opponents and take their chances back on home soil. An Olympiakos 1-0 correct score at 5/1 odds is the shortest option in the market* (Betting Odds were taken from August 19th, 2018 at 8:02 p.m.).
Olympiacos v Burnley Head to Head
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.
Who will win – Olympiacos v Burnley Predictions
We are going to side with the Greeks pulling out a win in this home game to make things really interesting. Burnley just are surviving by the skin of their teeth and their defeat at home against Watford will be a concern. It’s been a lot of extra work for them so far and the experienced Greeks can edge this.
