Olympiacos Piraeus vs Qarabag prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-10-05 19:00.
Olympiacos, Greece’s sole representatives in European competition this season, haven’t been a great ambassador for their country after losing both of their games to start their UEFA Europa League (UEL) Group G campaign. Subsequently rooted to the foot of the table, those two defeats made it five losses on the bounce in UEL group stage or knockout matches for the Greeks, while conceding 11 times and only scoring twice in that time shows there’s room to improve in all areas.
The Greeks re-appointment of former manager MĂchel paid off instantly however, as they claimed their first win in four matches at the weekend (D1, L3), showing the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium is never an easy place to visit. The Piraeus club prepare to face Azerbaijani opponents for only the third time when they host QarabaÄź here for the first time, after running out 1-0 winners both home and away against Neftçi last season.
QarabaÄź have also faced Greek opposition only twice before, overcoming PAOK in both group games of the 2016/17 UEL campaign. With this season being their ninth consecutive to feature in the group stages of a European competition, QarabaÄź got their campaign back on track after an opening day loss, recording their biggest home win in a UEFA group game when beating Nantes 3-0 on matchday two.
That result contributed to the in-form Horsemen having now galloped to a four-game winning streak. However, they’ll need all the confidence they can muster to counteract a subpar record on the road in UEL group games, having only won four of their 18 such matches.
Players to watch: Olympiacos defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has happy memories of playing Qarabağ, winning both his games against them, while keeping clean sheets and scoring once when playing for Arsenal. Qarabağ’s Owusu could be a threat to that record though, as his side have remained unbeaten when he’s got on the scoresheet (W3, D2).
Hot stat: There’s been goals in both halves in six of Olympiacos’s last seven matches.