Atalanta vs Olympiacos Predictions

• Atalanta are winless in five matches in all competitions, drawing three and losing two, both of which came at home.
• Olympiacos are unbeaten in the Greek Super League after 22 games, and have won on eight of their 11 league away trips.
• In the Greek Super League and the UEFA Europa League, the Greek outfit have only conceded 20 goals in 30 games this term.

Atalanta face tough Greek test

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta were left devastated last Sunday, as a late Danilo goal saw Juventus snatch a point from a game that the Bergamo side dominated, dealing a blow to their top four hopes. Their early elimination from the UEFA Champions League came as a shock to many, but Atalanta have been backed as one of the favourites to lift the Europa League.

However, the price around the Italian outfit to beat Olympiacos looks dreadfully short, considering that Gasperini’s men are now on a five-match winless run and have tasted victory just twice in their last nine outings. Furthermore, Atalanta are winless in three home games, and have only won three of their 12 Serie A games in Bergamo all season.

While the two legs of this round-of-32 tie come at an awkward time for Atalanta, placed either side of a tough trip to Fiorentina, who beat Atalanta in the Coppa Italia just a week ago, Olympiacos have no such worries. The Greek champions are unbeaten in 22 league games this season, holding a nine-point lead over the nearest rivals PAOK. Pedro Martins’ team thus have no reason to shuffle their pack for this contest, and have dumped out Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven in the last two editions of the Europa League, before coming close to eliminating the Gunners again last term.

Could Athens outfit complete the Italian job?

Despite Atalanta’s superior quality and status amongst the Europa League favourites, this fixture against a team which has only conceded 11 goals in their domestic league season comes at an awkward time, and we view Olympiacos as being worth a punt on the double chance market, at a decent price.

Olympiacos have only lost one league game in the last two-and-a-half years, as they look to complete an second unbeaten league campaign in three years, so they have the resolve to earn something in Bergamo even if they may not progress through the tie overall.

A 1-1 draw, meanwhile, could prove a decent correct score prediction.