Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Olympiacos Piraeus prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-03-13 20:00.
[p]Managed by former Republic of Ireland star Robbie Keane, newly-confirmed Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv seem to have one foot in the final eight of the UEFA Europa Conference League this season after coming up with a shock 4-1 victory at long odds in the first-leg of their knockout clash with Olympiacos. All the Israeli outfit must do now is simply keep their heads and not lose by a 3+ goal margin and that seems highly likely since the last team to inflict such a damaging scoreline against them in any competitive setting was a 4-0 loss to Villarreal all the way back in 2020![/p]
[p]Another stat backing up Maccabi’s likely claim on progression is the fact that they’ve won all six of their home encounters against Greek opponents, scoring 11 times in the process with just one Greek goal in reply. That’s not to mention the fact that they enter this clash on the back of an imperious run of form in home European action across their last 16 such games (W13, D2, L1), which includes an eight-game winning run ahead of this clash.[/p]
[p]In stark contrast, Olympiacos’ failure to justify their favourites status extended their run of winless games against Israeli opposition to six games (D2, L4). The bookies surprisingly make Olympiacos favourites once again, which may be in part due to the fact that the Piraeus outfit – Greece’s most successful club in history – remain in contention for a 48th Greek title at the business end of their domestic campaign.[/p]
[p]Despite their domestic pedigree, Olympiacos have failed to deliver similar results on the continental stage with just two victories across their last 12 European away games (W2, D7, L3). A similar return of obtaining progression from just two of their last 12 UEFA knockout ties in which Olympiacos lost the home first leg suggests that they need a miracle here, although the most recent of those was their rousing comeback win against Arsenal in 2019/20. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Maccabi’s evergreen and ever prolific Eran Zahavi struck twice in their first leg victory, and seven of his last eight goalscoring appearances saw him score the decisive goal. Any Olympiacos fightback may rely on the exploits of Ayoub El Kaabi, who has eight continental goals in 13 such appearances for the club, with three of the last four serving as match openers.[/p]
[p]Hot streak: Each of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s last nine matches in Europe featured goals in both halves. [/p]