Olympiacos Piraeus vs TSC prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-12-13 20:00.
Olympiacos (W1, D1, L3) can progress no further in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) this season, but they’ve still got something to play for as avoiding defeat against TSC will guarantee a spot in the Europa Conference League knockout round play-off. They’ll start as odds-on favourites, especially after going unbeaten in three European matches against Serbian opponents this term (W2, D1).
Winning three of their four home European fixtures this season (L1) should also put a spring in the step of the Red-Whites as they look to break a sequence of alternate wins and defeats in recent competitive home matches (W3, L2). There was no shortage of entertainment in those games or, indeed, across their last ten home fixtures overall, which produced an average of 4.2 goals per game (W7, L3)!
The good news for TSC (D1, L4) is that they don’t have to go for broke and improve on that goal average as any win will be enough for them to move above Olympiacos and finish third in the group. That gives them a significant incentive as they look to conclude a disappointing second-ever foray into continental football with the guarantee of more European games after Christmas.
With the Greek government considering extending its ban on fans attending domestic games to European fixtures taking place in the country, playing behind closed doors could level the playing field a little as Žarko Lazetić prepares to lead his side into Greece for the first time. It may still make little difference as they’ve conceded at least three times in all three European away games this term (L3).
Players to watch: Konstantinos Fortounis has scored four goals across Olympiacos’ last six fixtures, three of them after the 65th minute, while TSC’s Aleksandar Ćirković has opened the scoring within the first five minutes of two of their last five games.
Hot stat: Olympiacos haven’t won or scored on matchday six in Europe since beating another Serbian club, Red Star Belgrade, in 2019/20 (L3 since).