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Europa League | Group Stage
Sep 15, 2022 at 5.45pm UK
Stadio Georgios Karaiskáki
FL

Olympiacos
0 - 3
Freiburg


Rodrigues (77')
FT(HT: 0-2)
Hofler (5'), Gregoritsch (25', 53')
Lienhart (61'), Hofler (80')

Preview: Olympiacos vs. Freiburg - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Olympiacos vs. Freiburg - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa League clash between Olympiacos and Freiburg, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Olympiacos will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to Nantes last week as they take on Freiburg in Group G of the Europa League on Thursday.

Freiburg, on the other hand, can play with more freedom having beaten Qarabag FK in their opening match in the competition.


Match preview

Having lost 5-1 on aggregate to Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League second qualifying round, this is Olympiacos' second successive season competing in the Europa League group stage.

The Red-Whites are well-versed in this competition, though, having taken part in five of the six previous knockout rounds. Some of these appearances have come from finishing third in the Champions League group stage and dropping down to Europe's secondary tournament as a result.

That demoralising two-legged defeat to their Israeli opponents saw Pedro Martins's four-year spell in Greece come to an end, as he was sacked despite winning three successive league titles. Former Huddersfield Town boss Carlos Corberan has replaced him, after unexpectedly guiding the Terriers to the Championship playoff final last season.

The 39-year-old marginally guided his new side through two qualifying rounds on penalty shootouts to reach this stage, which is symptomatic of his lack of a positive impact since taking the helm, having already dropped four points in four league games as well as losing 2-1 to Nantes last Thursday.

As such, there is significant pressure on Marcelo Bielsa's former assistant at Leeds United to beat Freiburg this week, but it will not be easy against a side competing towards the top of the Bundesliga.

Indeed, it would be fair to say that Freiburg represent a much more settled unit than their forthcoming opponents, having had Christian Streich as their manager since 2011.

Only Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid has served a club in Europe's top five leagues for a longer period of time, with Streich enjoying one of his most successful seasons last time around by finishing sixth as well as claiming a runners-up medal in the DFB-Pokal.

Their reward is a place in the Europa League for only the fifth time in their history, but Streich will be hoping to take them into the knockout rounds for the first time since 2001-02, when they lost to Feyenoord in the third round of the UEFA Cup.

A drab 0-0 against Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday may have ended their four-match winning streak but it should not take the wind out of their sails given that they remain second in the Bundesliga table, only one point behind league leaders Union Berlin and one point ahead of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Should they be able to make it two wins from two in the Europa League by beating Olympiacos on Thursday, they would put themselves in an incredibly strong position in the group and have every chance of making modern history for themselves.

Olympiacos Europa League form:
  • L

Olympiacos form (all competitions):
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • L
  • D

Freiburg Europa League form:
  • W

Freiburg form (all competitions):
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • D


Team News

Olympiacos appear to have no injury concerns restricting Corberan's team selection, although Konrad de la Fuente and Aguibou Camara - who were both named in the matchday squad for the weekend's 1-1 draw at home to Volos - are one of several first-team players ineligible having not been named in the Europa League squad.

Having failed to register a single shot on target against Nantes last week, Corberan is likely to revert to a four-man defence as he attempts to be more offensive on home soil.

Mathieu Valbuena may be benched with his experience considered more useful from the bench at 37-years-old, while Kostas Manolas will be expected to lead the defence.

Freiburg, meanwhile, will travel without Roland Sallai, Lucas Holer and Kimberly Ezekwem due to injuries.

Streich picked a strong XI for the win against Qarabag last week but he did rest Michael Gregoritsch for Nils Petersen in attack and is likely to do so again, while Lukas Kubler and Manuel Gulde could receive crucial minutes having recently returned from injury.

Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Vaclik; Vrsaljko, Manolas, Ba, Reabciuk; M'Vila, Bouchalakis; Biel, Hwang, Masouras; Camara

Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Kubler, Lienhart, Gulde, Gunter; Eggestein, Keitel; Doan, Jeong, Grifo; Petersen


We say: Olympiacos 1-1 Freiburg

With Corberan needing to avoid defeat after a slow start to his time in Greece and Freiburg likely to rest a few key players, we can envisage both teams settling for a point on Thursday.

There is little doubt the visitors come into this match in better form but they lack experience in terms of juggling two competitions and would likely consider a draw away from home to be a positive outcome, especially considering their victory last week.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.




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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Relegation Round
1OFI CreteOFI Crete62403548-1335
2Panserraikos62223553-1835
3Asteras TripolisAsteras61143955-1635
4AtromitosAtromitos61323652-1634
5PanetolikosPanetolikos64113448-1433
6Volos64113557-2232
7Kifisia62133866-2828
8PAS GianninaPAS Giannina61143261-2922
Championship Round
1AEK AthensAEK Athens851277334475
2PanathinaikosPanathinaikos850379314871
3PAOKPAOK732279324771
4OlympiacosOlympiacos741274324270
5Aris ThessalonikiAris83144640652
6LamiaLamia80174172-3135
 
Regular Season
1PAOKPAOK26193466214560
2AEK AthensAEK Athens26178160253559
3OlympiacosOlympiacos26183558243457
4PanathinaikosPanathinaikos26175462214156
5Aris ThessalonikiAris26126839291042
6LamiaLamia2697103544-934
7Asteras TripolisAsteras2694133646-1031
8AtromitosAtromitos26610102944-1528
9Panserraikos2669112845-1727
10OFI CreteOFI Crete26510112644-1825
11Kifisia2649133156-2521
12PanetolikosPanetolikos2648142646-2020
13Volos2647152452-2819
14PAS GianninaPAS Giannina2639142548-2318
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