Freiburg vs Olympiakos Match Analysis and Prediction

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Olympiakos make a trip to face Freiburg for a Europa League group-stage match at Europa-Park Stadion on Thursday, with the hosts looking to seal top spot in the section.

The vistors have already been eliminated from the competition, but they can still secure third place and a place in the Europa Conference League as a result.

Freiburg’s first appearance in the Europa League group stage for nine seasons has been a remarkably successful one so far, taking maximum points from four matches to secure a spot in the knockout rounds with two matches to spare.

Christian Streich’s side still need two points from their final two matches to ensure that they progress in top spot, which would mean bypassing the knockout round altogether after a recent change to the competition’s structure.

As such, there is clearly a huge advantage for clubs to finish first as opposed to second, especially for one like Freiburg, who are going strong in their domestic league.

Meanwhile, Olympiakos have endured a poor start to the season, resulting in them sacking Carlos Corberan and replacing him with Michel last month.

Michel, who made 66 caps for Spain during his playing career, is in his second managerial stint with the Greek giants, having won two domestic titles with them between 2013 and 2015.

Three defeats from his four league matches in charge so far represents an improvement on recent form, but they have dropped 10 points behind Panathinaikos already with a fourth successive Greek Super League title looking increasingly unlikely.

The 59-year-old’s two matches in the Europa League have both come against Qarabag, with Olympiakos failing to score a single goal on both occasions, although they managed to pick up their first point in the competition this season with a goaless draw in Azerbaijan last time out.

Freiburg vs Olympiakos head to head

These two teams have previously met on just two occasions, where Freiburg both matches, scoring seven goals and conceding two in the process.

Freiburg 4-2 Olympiakos 18/07/13

Olympiakos 0-3 Freiburg 15/09/22

Freiburg latest home form

Freiburg have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their seven most recent matches. They managed to defeat Werder Bremen 2-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded just two.

Freiburg 0-0 Borussia M’gladbach 11/09/22

Freiburg 2-1 Mainz 01/10/22

Freiburg 2-0 Nantes 06/10/22

Freiburg (E)2-1 St. Pauli 19/10/22

Freiburg 2-0 Werder Bremen 22/10/22

Freiburg latest away form

Freiburg were beaten 5-0 by Bayern Munich in their last away game in the league. However, they have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their previous 10 games. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded seven.

Olympiakos 0-3 Freiburg 15/09/22

Hoffenheim 0-0 Freiburg 18/09/22

Hertha Berlin 2-2 Freiburg 09/10/22

Nantes 0-4 Freiburg 13/10/22

Bayern Munich 5-0 Freiburg 16/10/22

Olympiakos latest home form

Olympiakos have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their five most recent matches. They were beaten 2-1 by PAOK in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded nine.

Olympiakos 1-1 Volos NFC 11/09/22

Olympiakos 0-3 Freiburg 15/09/22

Olympiakos 2-0 Atromitos 02/10/22

Olympiakos 0-3 Qarabag 06/10/22

Olympiakos 1-2 PAOK 17/10/22

Olympiakos latest away form

Olympiakos have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their three most recent matches. They managed to defeat Panaitolikos 2-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded five.

Nantes 2-1 Olympiakos 08/09/22

Aris 2-1 Olympiakos 18/09/22

OFI 1-2 Olympiakos 09/10/22

Qarabag 0-0 Olympiakos 13/10/22

Panaitolikos 0-2 Olympaikos 22/10/22

Freiburg news

Freiburg are likely to be without Roland Sallai, Kimberly Ezekwem, Jonathan Schmid and Manuel Gulde on Thursday due to injury.

Streich could rest several key players, with the likes of Ritsu Doan, Lucas Holer and Maximilian Eggestein likely to be called upon from the start having features from the bench at the weekend.

Olympiakos news

Olympiakos have a host of concerns to deal with at present, with Pape Abou Cisse, Pajtim Kasami, Tomas Vaclik, Ousseynou Ba and Konstantinos Tzolakis all unlikely to feature.

James Rodrigues and Cedric Bakambu, who both started in attack away to Panaitolikos at the weekend, are not registered for the Europa League.