Olympiakos will take on Slovan Bratislava at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in the first leg of their third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.
Both sides dropped from the Champions League qualifiers after falling to Maccabi Haifa and Ferencvaros in the second round respectively.
Olympiakos were disappointing in both legs of the tie, playing out a 1-1 draw in the first meeting before suffering a 4-0 defeat at home in the returning leg.
The Greeks’ domestic campaign is yet to kickoff and thus they will take a poor form to the Thursday’s clash having struggled for form in the pre-season and the early stages of the European competition. They have just win one of their last eight matches across all competitions and have a lot to do ahead of the Bratislava’s visit.
Meanwhile, Bratislava will be kicking themselves for failing to progress in the Champions League after winning the first leg of their tie with Ferencvaros. A 2-1 victory in the first leg was easily overturned in the reverse leg where they suffered a humiliating 4-1 loss at home.
However, Bratislava have already opened their domestic campaign where they have won two of their opening three matches and are coming off a 4-2home win against Michalovce, making it their fourth victory from the last six games across all competitions.
The Slovaks have also looked decent on their recent travels with just one defeat from their last four away matches across all competitions – a run they will desperate to extend on Thursday as seek an advantage ahead of the returning leg next week.
Olympiakos vs Slovan Bratislava head to head
Both sides have met in four encounters since 2009 with Olympiakos claiming three draws and they have been one draw.
- Bratislava 2-2 Olympiakos 26/08/21
- Olympiakos 3-0 Bratislava 19/08/21
- Olympiakos 2-0 Bratislava 05/08/09
- Bratislava 0-2 Olympiakos 29/07/09
Home
- Olympiakos 0-4 Maccabi Haifa
- Maccabi Haifa 1-1 Olympiakos
- Aris Thessaloniki 2-1 Olympiakos
- Olympiakos 1-0 Alkmaar
- Salzburg 3-1 Olympiakos
Away
- Bratislava 4-2 Michalovce
- Bratislava 1-4 Ferencvaros
- Bratislava 4-0 Trencin
- Ferencvaros 1-2 Bratislava
- Podbrezova 2-1 Bratislava
Olympiakos team news
Olympiakos have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the tie.
Bratislava team news
Bratislava will be without Jurij Medvedev due to injury.
Prediction and odds
- Double chance (1, X)
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
