Astana vs Olympiakos Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Astana’s domestic campaign might have gone exactly to plan as they finished top of the Kazakhstan Premier League with a two point advantage on 2nd placed Kairat, but in the Europa League they are really struggling.

Their 4-1 hammering at Olympiakos last time round left them with just one point to their name at the halfway point of the group stages, with that defeat following a goalless draw at home to Young Boys and a defeat at APOEL.

Astana’s domestic form wasn’t exactly top notch in the closing stages of the season either. They drew their final two matches and have only won one of their last five in all competitions. At home they have managed to win five of their last seven, but a 4-1 thrashing at home to Kairat in September showed that there are cracks to be exploited.

Olympiakos had a dodgy week back in September as they suffered a Greek Super League loss to Larissa and followed it with a home defeat to APOEL, but since then they have looked unstoppable.

Their 1-0 win over Atromitos on Saturday made it six wins on the bounce for them in all competitions, to leave them four points clear of Panathinaikos at the top of the Super League table.

Brown Ideye has been Olympiakos’ major threat domestically this season, with six Super League goals to his name and another one in the Europa League. This isn’t bad at all considering he has only started ten games in all competitions, so backing him to score anytime at 8/5 could be a very good choice. Seba is another option on this front as well, with the Brazilian winger having three Europa League goals and one more in the Super League this season. He comes in at 10/3 to score anytime.

Astana have simply looked out of their depth in this Europa League group, and I think Olympiakos have what it takes to get the win on Thursday. They battered them in the home clash a few weeks ago, so backing them to extend their winning streak at 21/20 looks very good value. I’m also going for a 2-1 correct score prediction at 8/1.