Arouca vs Olympiakos Piraeus Predictions, Betting Tips, & Match Preview

Arouca have made a swift rise to prominence in Portugal. In 2013, the side managed its fourth promotion in seven years to bring them up to the Portuguese top flight and now, just three years later, their 5th place finish sees them playing in European competition for the first time. Arouca entered the UEFA Europa League at the third qualifying round where they faced Dutch side Heracles. After a 1-1 draw away from home in the first leg, a 0-0 draw at home was enough to see the Portuguese side through to the playoff round thanks to the away goal rule. Pressure builds on the side here, with the Portuguese Primeira Liga now underway and just a 2-0 defeat under their belt so far, their schedule will become more and more strenuous the further they progress.

Greek giants Olympiakos won their sixth consecutive Superleague title with ease last season. After all thirty matches, they stood a ridiculous thirty points above 2nd placed Panathinaikos, which was more than enough to secure them the only available Champions League qualification spot. Olympiakos entered the competition in the third qualifying round, a step down from last season’s group stage entry, but failed to make any significant impact. Their 1-0 aggregate knockout by Israeli champions Hapoel Be’er Sheva was one of their worst displays in years and they will certainly be hoping to make amends coming into this Europa League tie.

While Olympiakos clearly have the better squad depth and experience in European competition, we think it’s fair to say that all five of their performances since mid-July (D2 L3) have been abysmal. The Greeks may be the bookies’ favourites, but they’ve simply not been consistent enough for us to see value in a bet there. Instead, let’s focus on what both sides haven’t been doing recently – scoring goals. Olympiakos have scored just one goal in their last five matches, meanwhile Arouca are goalless in their last two. Combine that with the likelihood that Arouca will play a somewhat conservative and defensive style of football, considering this match represents their deepest run in European competition and they are against intimidating opponents, then this definitely favours a low scoring outcome.

As such, we feel a draw at 21/10 and a 0-0 draw at 11/2 are the best value bets for this Europa League playoff first leg match.