Olympiacos Piraeus vs Freiburg prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-09-14 16:45.
Olympiacos have been tasked with carrying the Greek flag in European competition this season as they are the country’s only participant this term. That added pressure seemed to get to Carlos Corberán’s men, who conceded in the 93rd minute to lose 2-1 in their UEFA Europa League (UEL) Group G opener against Nantes, meaning they’re still winless in regulation time across their seven European matches this season (D5, L2).
The 47-time Greek Super League champions played out a 1-1 draw against Volos at the Karaiskaki Stadium over the weekend, in what was already their second draw of a rather lacklustre start to the domestic campaign, and their fifth competitive home game of six this season to see them fail to keep a clean sheet. That’ll be of great concern in their first ever meeting with Freiburg, given Olympiacos have only won five of their 19 matches against German opposition, including losing each of the last nine!
A 0-0 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach in domestic action at the weekend may have knocked Frieburg off top spot, but it’s been a wonderful start to the Bundesliga season for Christian Streich’s side (W4, D1, L1), who some consider a dark horse for UEL honours. Freiburg did nothing to knock that tag, and proved their fine form domestically can be translated to the continental stage, when they got what is just their fifth ever European campaign off to a winning start by beating Qarabağ 2-1 in the opening round.
The Breisgau Brazilians will be wandering in unexplored grounds here though, having never before competed against Greek opponents. They’ve actually only ever travelled outside Germany for eight European games in the past for a return of just two victories (D3, L3), with Freiburg’s failure to score in all six games they failed to win a small area of concern.
Players to watch: Olympiacos front-man Youssef El-Arabi has scored all three of his goals at home this season, all arriving past the 75th minute, while Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo has netted the match opener eight times in his last 11 goalscoring outings.
Hot stat: Both teams have found the net in 11 of Olympiacos’ last 14 fixtures.