Olympiakos vs Nantes Match Analysis and Prediction

3 years ago 702

Nantes need a victory on Thursday in the final game of the Europa League group stage at Karaiskakis Stadium against Olympiakos to have any hope of progressing into the knockout stage.

The hosts have just two points after five matches eliminating them from the competition, while the visitors are one point behind Qarabag for second in Group G after beating the Azebaijani side 2-1 on matchday five.

For the first time in over decade, Olympiakos will not be taking part in the knockout round of the Europa League in what has been a rough campagn for them so far.

Conceding the winning goal against Nantes on matchday one appeared to take the wind out of their sails as they fine themselves in danger of going winless in the group stage of a European competition for the first time since the 2017-18 Champions League.

The return of Michel as manager has not transformed their fortunes in Europe, as they went goalless in his first two group matches at the helm and conceded an equaliser in injury time against Freiburg on matchday five, drawing 1-1.

While the hosts have struggled in the latter stages of their group matches in the Europa League, Nantes have rescued themselves in the nick of time, collecting six points courtesy of a pair of injury-time goals.

Even though they are keeping their hopes of a knockout stage appearance alive, Nantes will have to do something they have not done so far in this season’s competition, which is to win a game away from home.

Scoring goals on their travels in Europe has been a problem for Les Canaris, and preventing them has been as weel, with Antoine Kombouare’s side maintaining just one clean sheet in their last 17 matches across all competitions, conceding 32 goals over that period.

Olympiakos vs Nantes head to head

These two teams have previously met on just one occasion in the Europa League on September 8, where Nantes claimed a 2-1 home victory.

Nantes 2-1 Olympiakos 08/09/22

Olympiakos latest home form

Olympiakos have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just two of their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Lamia 2-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded eight.

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 2-0 Lamia 30/10/22

Olympiakos latest away form

Olympiakos have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their four most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Freiburg in their last away game in the Europa League. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded four.

Aris 2-1 Olympiakos 18/09/22

OFI 1-2 Olympiakos 09/10/22

Qarabag 0-0 Olympiakos 13/10/22

Panaitolikos 0-2 Olympiakos 22/10/22

Freiburg 1-1 Olympiakos 27/10/22

Nantes latest home form

Nantes have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their six most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Clermont in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and also conceded seven.

Nantes 0-0 Lens 18/09/22

Nantes 0-4 Freiburg 13/10/22

Nantes 4-1 Brest 16/10/22

Nantes 2-1 Qarabag 27/10/22

Nantes 1-1 Clermont 30/10/22

Nantes latest away form

Nantes have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having been winless in their ten most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Nice in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored just two goals and conceded 13.

Qarabag 3-0 Nantes 15/09/22

Monaco 4-1 Nantes 02/10/22

Freiburg 2-0 Nantes 06/10/22

Rennes 3-0 Nantes 09/10/22

Nice 1-1 Nantes 23/10/22

Olympiakos news

Youssef El-Arabi is the only Olympiakos player to score in the group stage, while Alexandros Paschalakis picked up a clean sheet domestically on Sunday against Lamia.

Ousseynou Ba will be suspended for this game after he had received a second yellow card in stoppage time in the game against Freiburg.

Nantes news

Ignatius Ganago scored the winner for Nantes of their victory over Qarabag, with the other goal coming through Ludovic Blas, while Kader Bamba missed against Clermont through suspension.

Jean-charles Castelletto, Moutoussamy and Moses Simon replaced Nicolas Pallois, Moussa Sissoko and Bamba in the starting XI in the game against Qarabag.

Prediction and Odds

They may enter the contest in contention to progress to the next stage of this competition, but we anticipate Nantes will have a tough time getting through Olympiakos.

The Greek side might slow the game down and frustrate a side who have been poor in the attacking third and struggled on the road.

Odds: 1 2.30 X 2.02 2 2.20