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Porto vs. Olympiacos: UEL Match Preview, Odds & Prediction
On Thursday night, in their last Europa League league Phase encounter, managerless Porto will host Olympiacos at the Estadio do Dragao.
In the 36-team rankings, both teams are now in the middle of the pack; the hosts, the Portuguese, are in 18th position, while the Greeks are in 15th, one point and three spots higher.
Preview of the match
Porto have lost their previous three home games after winning four in a row by an aggregate score of 11-0. This included a 2-0 win against Midtjylland in their most recent Europa League encounter.
After a tight Taca da Liga semi-final loss to Sporting Lisbon by a score of 1-0, the team shocked everyone by losing 2-0 on the road to Nacional and 3-1 to Gil Vicente, the latter of which came last Sunday in the Primeira Liga.
Porto fired head coach Vitor Bruno on Monday, only 24 hours after he said he is "part of the solution, not part of the problem." Bruno had been in charge for six months, winning eleven of his thirty-nine matches in all competitions. The 42-year-old departs when his former team is in third place in Portugal's premier division, trailing just four points from first place.
The Dragons will want to get back on track quickly in their pursuit of last-16 qualifying under the temporary leadership of Jose Tavares, who has been appointed head of the Porto academy. Tavares will make his Europa League debut in the team's encounter against Olympiacos.
Porto are in a precarious position, only two points outside the playoffs. In six Europa League matches this season, they have won twice, drawn twice, and lost twice. However, they should feel confident playing at home, having won five and drawn one of their past six European matches at the Estadio do Dragao.
Olympiacos, in sharp contrast to Porto, are riding high with a 16-game undefeated streak (W10 D6) in all competitions, including a perfect record in the Greek Super League.
Last Saturday, the Thrylos prevailed 2-1 thanks to goals from Panagiotis Retsos and Ayoub El Kaabi. With seven games left in the regular season, they maintain a four-point lead at the top of the table.
Just three months into his tenure, Jose Luis Mendilibar guided Olympiacos to 2023-24 Conference League glory. This season, under Mendilibar's tutelage, his side has taken nine points from their first six Europa League matches (W2 D3 L1), drawing all three of their most recent encounters with Rangers, FCSB, and FC Twente.
Olympiacos' past two games ended in scoreless draws against FSCB and Twente; no team in the history of the tournament has ever drawn three straight games with a score of 0-0, save Saint-Etienne in 2014–15.
With a victory over Porto on Thursday, the Thrylos will move into the automatic last-16 spots. However, they come into this match having won just one of their previous nine away games against Portuguese teams, and they have gone winless on their past four trips to Porto (D1 L3).
Porto x Olympiacos Team News
Marko Grujic and Wendell will not be playing for Porto since they are still nursing muscular ailments. Ivan Marcano, who has been out for a long time with an ACL tear, will be evaluated once he returns to training.
In Porto's most recent match, a domestic loss to Gil Vicente, Nico Gonzalez was sent off late in the game. However, he is fit to play on Thursday and will compete for a starting spot in central midfield alongside Alan Varela and Stephen Eustaquio.
Samuel Omorodion was also sent off in that encounter, but he will likely get the nod to start up front once again. The last Porto player to score more than five goals in a big European campaign was Moussa Marega in 2018-19 (six), and the 20-year-old has scored five goals in the Europa League this year.
Olympiccos player Yusuf Yazici will miss the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury, while Santiago Hezze will miss the rest of the season due to a suspension for three yellow cards he received during the League Phase.
Christos Mouzakitis, an 18-year-old, is expected to take Hezze's spot and play in the centre of the field with Chiquinho, Marko Stamenic, Sergio Oliveira, Dani Garcia, or ex-Porto player Marko Stamenic.
This season, Ayoub El Kaabi has scored 17 goals in all competitions, which is 12 more than any of his colleagues. The Moroccan forward is expected to start up front once again after scoring four goals in six Europa League games.
Our Predictions
Full-time draw @ 4.00 on Sky247.ng
It is hard to predict the outcome of this match since Porto has scored 12 goals and surrendered 10 in their six Europa League matches, while Olympiacos has only scored five goals and conceded three in their six games.
With both sides intent on avoiding defeat in their last match, a tight matchup is possible in Portugal. The result might be a draw.
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