Olympiacos Piraeus vs Wolverhampton Wanderers 13/03/20

13 March 2020

Olympiacos Piraeus and Wolverhampton Wanderers go head-to-head at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League (EL) last-16 tie.

After finishing third in the UEFA Champions League Group B (W1, D1, L4), the hosts have crossed over to the EL knockout stages, dumping Arsenal in the round of 32 on the away goals rule (0-1 H, 2-1 A) to reach their third-ever appearance in the EL last-16. But, both of Olympiacos’ previous appearances in this stage of the competition have resulted in the elimination, although they’ve avoided defeat at home across those two ties (W1, D1). Yet, the ‘Thrylos’ have failed to secure a win in eight of their nine previous home matches in the EL knockout stages (D4, L4). They have also endured mixed fortunes in 16 continental home fixtures against the Premier League visitors (W7, D4, L5) and have lost six of eight two-legged ties against such opposition (W2).

In the meantime, Wolves’ first European campaign in 39 years saw them finish runners-up in Group K with a solid record (W4, D1, L1) before easing past Espanyol in the round of 32, 6-3 on aggregate (4-0 H, 2-3 A). Before succumbing to Espanyol, the Wanderers have avoided defeat in five European road trips this term (W5, D1), qualifying included. Also, their last three continental away victories have all yielded a clean sheet, with two seeing Wolverhampton score over 1.5 goals. But, Nuno Espirito Santo’s players have failed to impress away from home ahead of their first-ever trip to Greece, suffering four defeat in their last seven road trips in all competitions (W2, D1). Curiously, all of those matches have ended separating the sides by under 1.5 goals.