Olympiakos vs Astana Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Olympiakos failed to make it into the Champions League group stages this season when they were knocked out by the excellent Hapoel Be’er Sheva. This took them to the Europa League Playoffs, where they dispatched of Arouca on penalties and were drawn in a group with Astana, APOEL, and Young Boys.

Their first clash saw them edge a 1-0 victory at Young Boys, but they lost 1-0 at home to APOEL in their second match. In all honesty, both games were devoid of much excitement, something which isn’t as much of a problem in the Greek Super League.

Domestically Olympiakos have won four of their five games this season, losing once away to Larissa. They have scored an impressive 12 goals in these five games and conceded just three, putting them at the top of the pile after five matches.

Five of these 12 goals have come from Brown Ideye, who has also scored one in the Europa League to take his tally to six in all competitions this season. Interestingly, this tally matches his tally from the whole of last season, so he’s well on the way to a fantastic individual campaign. We’re not expecting a host of goals on Thursday, but any goals that are scored are likely to involve the striker. Backing him to score anytime at 1/1 with bet365 is a solid choice.

Astana are having a similar sort of campaign in Europe. They were knocked out of the Champions League by Celtic before dispatching of BATE in the Europa League Playoffs. A defeat to group leaders APOEL kicked their group stage off, but unlike their opponents they could only muster a goalless draw at home to Young Boys in their second group match.

The Kazakhstan outfit are rather struggling for goals at the moment as well. They have only netted eight goals in their last six games in all competitions despite the low quality of opposition. Astana are already nearing the end of their domestic campaign, and even though they sit at the top of the pile with 68 points from 29 games, their top scorer has just seven goals to his name. Despotovic and Nurgaliev each have seven goals in all competitions, so there really isn’t a standout player for them going forward.

Both of these sides have been rather drab in Europe so far this season, but the advantage clearly lies with Olympiakos. They are in good form at the minute and have a clear quality advantage over their opponents. I’m certainly not expecting a thriller here though. Four of Olympiakos’ last six games have seen fewer than three goals and we already know how poor Astana’s attack is. Backing Under 2.5 Goals at 4/5 looks good value to me, so I’m going for that along with a 1-0 win for Olympiakos at 9/2.