Seeking to somehow bounce back from a 3-0 first-leg defeat in the Europa League playoff round, Slovan Bratislava welcome Olympiacos to the Tehelne Pole for the second leg on Thursday evening.
The Slovakian outfit are unbeaten in each of their last seven home matches across all competitions, while their Greek visitors have not lost any of their previous eight competitive games on the road.
Match preview
Slovan Bratislava endured a difficult first-leg encounter against a Olympiacos side who secured a comfortable victory last Thursday.
The Slovakians failed to pose a threat in the final third, with just one shot off target, in stark contrast to the 19 efforts on goal by their Greek counterparts, who also dominated possession with 63% of the ball.
Vladimir Weiss is aware of the challenging task his side are to face in the second leg, with their hopes of reaching the group stages seemingly a tall order.
Weiss's men could do with transferring their league form to the European stage, having won all four of their Slovakian Super Liga games so far this campaign, winning by an aggregate of 10-2.
Success on Thursday for Bratislava is unlikely and a defeat on aggregate would see them demoted to the inaugural Europa Conference League.
As for Olympiacos, they have one foot in the Europa League group stage after an impressive 3-0 victory in the first leg.
Mohamed Camara's first-half opener was followed by a 52nd-minute strike from Pape Abou Cisse and an own goal from Bratislava's Vasil Bozhikov 13 minutes later.
Although the Thrylos were strong favourites to come out on top, Pedro Martins will be delighted that his side were able to win so comfortably, and he should now have plenty of confidence in his team progressing into Friday's group stage draw.
Olympiacos have never lost in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League and with a three-goal advantage heading into Thursday's game, they should have no problems in finishing the job away from home.
- W
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
Team News
Slovan Bratislava left-back Lucas Lovat and attacking midfielder David Holman are both ruled out with respective foot and knee injuries.
Aleksander Cavric was handed a start up front in the first leg, though he is at risk of losing his place to Ezekiel Henty, who has found the net three times so far this season.
Former Sheffield Wednesday winger Andre Green is set to keep his place on the left flank, with Dejan Drazic – who scored in the league last weekend – expected to play on the opposite wing.
As for Olympiacos, Tiquinho (arm), Kostas Fortounis (knee) and Cisse (ligament) are all ruled out with injuries.
The latter is set to be replaced by defender Ousseynou Ba, who is back after serving a one-match suspension.
Veteran midfielder Mathieu Valbuena is expected to play again in the number 10 role, with either Henry Onyekuru or Youssef El Arabi to start as the lone striker.
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:
Chovan; Pauschek, Abena, Kashia, Bozhikov; Kankava, De Kamps; Ratao, Weiss, Zmrhal; Henty
Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Vaclik; Lala, Sokratis, Ba, Reabciuk; M'Vila, Camara; Bouchalakis, Valbuena, Masouras; El Arabi
We say: Slovan Bratislava 1-3 Olympiacos (Olympiacos win 6-1 on aggregate)
Slovan have a mountain to climb if they are to overturn a three-goal deficit and so an attacking approach is set to be taken by Weiss on Thursday.
However, that could favour Olympiacos who will likely pose a threat in the final third once again, with another comfortable victory on the cards for the visitors.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email
