One of the most intriguing Round of 32 ties in the Europa League this season is between Olympiakos and PSV Eindhoven.
The first leg will take place at the Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus on Thursday the 18th of February, giving the Greek club home advantage.
🔜 @EuropaLeague 👀#OLYPSV #UEL pic.twitter.com/03VizCIxTC— PSV (@PSV) February 15, 2021
🔜 @EuropaLeague 👀#OLYPSV #UEL pic.twitter.com/03VizCIxTC
Olympiakos come into the match having lost 2-1 at rivals Panathinaikos in the Greek league on the weekend. They remain 14 points clear at the top of the table despite the defeat and will surely go on to win the championship again this season but it was still a disappointing loss.
In terms of European football this season, Olympiakos started the campaign in the Champions League and were drawn in Group C along with Manchester City, Porto, and Marseille.
Olympiakos knew it would be impossible to finish above Manchester City but there may be an opportunity to challenge Porto and Marseille for second place.
That challenge did not materialise and Olympiakos lost 5 of their 6 games, picking up just one victory which came at home over Marseille in the opening round of fixtures.
Therefore, Olympiakos have lost each of their last 5 European matches this season.
Their recent history in the Europa League is poor and Olympiakos have picked up just two victories from their last 8 Europa League games. However, they remain difficult to beat at home and the Greek club have lost only one of their 12 most recent home matches in the competition.
PSV Eindhoven came through the Europa League as winners of group E this season. Drawn along with Granada, PAOK, and Omonia, PSV were always the favourites to qualify from the group but did well to finish above the Spanish club.
The group started in disappointing fashion for PSV Eindhoven as they lost 2-1 at home against Granada. Despite having picked up a 2-1 win at Omonia, PSV Eindhoven then slumped to a heavy 4-1 loss at PAOK before gaining revenge in a 3-2 victory at home.
PSV Eindhoven went on to record a good 1-0 win in Granada before beating Omonia 4-0 at home to seal their place at the top of the group.
Trends show PSV Eindhoven have won 6 of their last 8 Europa League matches and 4 of their last 5 on the road. PSV Eindhoven have scored at least one goal in each of their last 9 Europa League games.
Team news and Olympiakos can call upon the Portuguese duo of Rúben Semedo and Tiago Silva. Youssef El-Arabi is expected to play in attack and he has scored plenty of goals this season.
PSV Eindhoven travel without Richard Ledezma and Maximiliano Romero who are injured. Nick Viergever, Noni Madueke, Cody Gakpo, and Mario Götze are doubts.
We expect to see plenty of goalmouth action in this game and it would not be a surprise to see both teams score and over 2.5 goals. However, this tie could be over before the first leg as we believe PSV Eindhoven are the favourites to come away with the win.