Olympiakos and Genk square off in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League third round clash on Thursday. Both teams appear evenly matched at the moment and with little to separate them, could be set to cancel each other out.
Olympiakos are making their first appearance in this year’s Europa League qualifiers having drawn a bye from the previous rounds. They reached the group stage of last season’s competition, crashing out early after failing to win a single match.
The Greek side head into Thursday’s clash in erratic form having claimed two wins and two draws from their last five preseason matches. Diego Martinez’s men ended preseason on a disappointing note after suffering a 2-0 defeat to English Championship side Norwich City.
Olympiakos will be relying on their solid home record having lost just once in their last 17 matched at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki. They have also been slightly suspect at the back, failing to keep a clean sheet in four of the last six matches in that run.
Genk are in the Europa League after crashing to Servette in the Champions League second round. They did not lose either fixture, playing out a 3-3 aggregate draw before losing on penalties toothed Swiss side.
The Belgians are already two weeks into their domestic season and travel to Olympiakos off the back of a 2-0 First Division defeat to Eupen last weekend. The good news for Wouter Vrancken’s men is that it was their first defeat in six matches across all competitions.
Genk have also shown some quality on their recent travels, suffering just one defeat in their last five away matches across all competitions. However, like their hosts, defending remains a problem having kept just one clean sheet in that run.
How the bookies view it
Olympiakos have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 6/5 with William Hill. A victory for Genk is valued at 9/4 by Paddy Power while 10bet is offering odds of 13/5 for a draw.
Head to head
There has been only one previous meeting between both teams with Genk claiming a 4-0 victory in a friendly back in 2018.
Players to watch
Aboubakar Kamara has carried the attacking threat for Olympiakos for much of preseason and could be worth keeping an eye on. The forward is priced at 15/8 by bet365 to get on the score sheet on Thursday.
Genk have some attacking quality of their own, particularly Toluwalase Arokodare, who is enjoying a fine start to the season. The forward was on target in both matches against Servette and is priced at 13/8 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
There is quality in both attacks and with neither defence looking particularly solid, both teams can be backed to score at 4/5 with William Hill. There were over 3.5 goals in Genk’s previous European outing and a repeat is priced at 13/5 with BetVictor while over 2.5 goals is valued at 19/20 with bet365.
A cagey opening is expected, which means a halftime draw could be on the cards at 59/50 with Unibet. The second half can also be tipped to produce the most goals at 21/20 with bet365.
This UEFA Europa League match between Olympiakos and KRC Genk will be played on Aug 10, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Olympiakos vs KRC Genk prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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