Olympiakos vs FK Krasnodar Predictions

After delivering a disciplined two-legged effort against Plzen in the previous round, whereby they drew away from home and won comfortably at Karaiskakis Stadium, Olympiacos beat Turkish outfit Basaksehir both home and away last time out, so they’ll fancy themselves to get over the final hurdle. Much the same can be said for Krasnodar, who knocked out Porto.

Olympiacos were far from impressive away from home during the last round, despite winning by a goal to nil. Fortunately for them, knockout football is more about getting a result and less about performance. It’s also fortunate for Olympiacos that they’ve looked strong on their own patch.

When playing Plzen at this venue, Wednesday’s hosts scored four goals and created an impressive 3.55 expected goals for, while they were once again effective in the final third when hosting Basaksehir during the previous round. On that occasion, the Greek outfit scored twice and posted another encouraging expected-goals-for figure of 2.79. However, for all they impressed in the final third, Olympiacos struggled to contain their visitors, who after posting 1.75 expected goals for were very unfortunate not to score.

Krasnodar struggled to get going at home during the previous round, as they lost by a goal to nil, but the Russians came to life on the road. In Portugal, Krasnodar didn’t exactly dominate in terms of chances created, but scored three goals by being deadly on the break. In that game, Sergei Matveev’s men proved that they can be deadly on the break, which bodes well ahead of a match against an Olympiacos side that has been expansive at home.

In the betting, ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ stands out as a viable option. If their last two efforts at Karaiskakis Stadium are anything to go by, then the hosts have more than enough quality to do some damage against a Krasnodar back-line that shipped twice in Portugal. However, Olympiacos, who shipped 1.75 and 1.97 expected goals during the last round, looked very shaky against Basaksehir, while they also looked susceptible to the counter. Add in the fact that the visitors thrived (in an offensive sense) when playing on the break against Porto and we can conclude that backing the goals to arrive in no small number on Wednesday is the way to go.