Olympiacos vs Marseille Prediction & Betting Tips - Champions League

Prediction published on 18/10/2020, 23:49  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 18/10/2020 at 23:58 in Champions League Predictions

Greek giants Olympiakos Piraeus start their Champions League campaign at home to Olympique Marseille in Group C this Wednesday. Olympiakos will know they are outright underdogs as they find themselves in a group that has two former European champions and another top seed. The other teams in this pool are Manchester City and FC Porto and a winning start will be key for Olympiakos. Going to this game, Olympiakos registered a comfortable 4-0 win over Atromitos, keeping them second in the Greek top flight, with a game in hand. They have definitely had a good start to the season and among the key players who will feature in the midweek game is former Marseille midfielder Mathieu Valbuena. Youssef El-Arabi is another man Marseille will need to watch closely. He has started the season well, already having scored six goals and the French side should know him well, having scored 17 goals for Caen in Ligue 1 in 2010/11. Last season, the Moroccan scored 20 league goals and can be devastating, as seen in his second half hat trick in the Atromitos win on Saturday. Last season Olympiakos dropped from the Champions League to the Europa League and went on to eliminate Arsenal after a win in London and Marseille should be wary of their threat. The Greek side doesn’t have a big story in the Champions league as compared to Marseille but having come this far from the qualifying rounds, they will be hoping for a shocker ahead of the much tougher games in the group. This is the second time these two sides land in the same group in the Champions League; in 2011/12, Olympiakos beat Marseille home and away. The Greek side goes to this game unbeaten in their opening seven matches this season, winning five and keeping six clean sheets; they have conceded only one goal so far.

Marseille are making a return to the Champions League after seven years in the cold and the only French side to have won this competition hope for a flying start. The team has however had a shaky start to the season. They won their opening two but went on a four-match winless run before beating Bordeaux 3-1 in the most recent game. In their opening seven matches, Marseille’s only clean sheet came against a weakened PSG in a very controversial game. On the flipside, they have scored in all but one and after ending their winless run last weekend they will be motivated for this midweek game. The French side will bank heavily on Florian Thauvin’s experience, with the forward on three goals already this season, while Dimitri Payet’s return will also be key after missing the weekend game on suspension. These attacking options will particularly be key for Marseille as they have struggled in front of goal so far this season. In their opening seven matches, they have scored two or more in just two matches. This is in contrast to Olympiakos who have scored two or more in four of their seven matches in the season so far.