Antwerp vs Olympiakos: Europa League Match Day 6 Preview

Antwerp vs Olympiakos: 

Europa League Match Day 6 Preview

Top Spot Still an Unlikely Possibility 

By Stephen Kountourou 

Just like that, the group stages of every major UEFA Competition is about to come to an end for another season. Teams competing in these major tournaments have more or less secured their destinies, whether that be securing qualification to the knockout stages, dropping into a secondary or tertiary knockout phase, or waving goodbye to continental football altogether. 

In Group D of the Europa League, there are still a few places up for grabs despite the top two and bottom two now separated mathematically. After a famous victory in Piraeus over Fenerbahce, Olympiakos were able to secure a place in at least the Europa League playoff place for the new year. Even with this success, there is still the small possibility of finishing top but it is out of Thrylos hands. 

To secure 1st and a place in the Round of 16, the Greek champions would have to not only beat Antwerp away in Belgium but also hope that Fenerbahce will attempt to seal their future in the Europa Conference League place by defeating Frankfurt in their matchup. While there is less pressure on the team now that Pedro Martins' men have at least taken 2nd place, the aspiration should be to finish as strong as possible with a win, regardless of the other match's result. 

 

Domestic Results for both Teams 

Olympiakos

Thrylos, after a poor defeat midweek in the Cup against Levadiakos, travelled away to Crete and the tough task of facing high flying OFI. With a much stronger starting XI than in midweek, Olympiakos started the game on the front foot with a couple of early opportunities to test the OFI defence. The Cretan side did not sit back however and took the game to the league leaders early on too, which eventually led to them taking the lead. After a poor clearance in the Thrylos box from Rony Lopes, defender Apostolos Dianmantis' strike was able to find its way past the players in the box and Vaclik to make it 1-0 to the home side. 

Despite going behind early on Thrylos continued with their game plan and continued to pressure the OFI defence for an equaliser. After a few more chances were well saved by Devis Epassy in goal, a cross from Yann M’Vila found the head of Pape Cisse who directed the ball past the keeper and drew his side level. 

After the halftime break, it was that man Cisse, who not only doubled his goal tally but gave Olympiakos the lead. After a cross was poorly cleared by OFI, the ball went back into the box off of an OFI player and into the bath of the Senegalese international who proved just as accurate with his right foot as his head. Cisse celebrated by running up to and hugging his coach, Martins. 

A mere 11 minutes later Olympiakos would all but seal the match with a 3rd. After a nice passing move between Kenny Lala and Rony Lopes, the Frenchman’s cross was poorly dealt with by the OFI defence and Lopes fired home his second goal in two matches for Thrylos. With the scoreline at 1-3, Martins and the Greek champions saw out the victory against an in-form opponent in OFI while also maintaining their healthy lead at the top of the Greek Super League table.

Antwerp

After a 3-0 smashing of Oostende the previous weekend, Royal Antwerp also travelled in their latest Pro League match to face Beerschot. After a first half where neither side could be separated, the oldest club in Belgium continued to pressure the home side to try and break the deadlock. With minutes before the hour mark, an Antwerp move managed to get into the opposing box. The ball was poorly cleared from Breeschot on numerous occasions with Antwerp attempting fruitlessly to challenge the keeper with their blocked attempts. 

Eventually, Frey found veteran midfielder Radja Nainggolan riled the ball past everyone including the keeper to give Antwerp a deserved lead against the hosts. Thanks to the former Belgium international goal, the travelling team were able to hold on and secure themselves the 0-1 victory ahead of host Olympiakos on Thursday night.

Injuries and Suspensions 

First and foremost with injuries for Thrylos this time around, Sokratis is supposedly fit as he was on the Olympiakos bench for the win against OFI. Whether he plays or not this Thursday remains to be seen. The only reported player on the sidelines is Mathieu Valbuena who was left out of the travelling squad to Belgium due to an adductor problem. 

Prediction 

Obviously and maybe thankfully for fans of Olympiakos, for once, the Greek champions have not put themselves into a position in which the match is a 100% must win in order to save Thrylos European season. Match Day 6s tie however should still be treated with the utmost importance by the players and Martins. 

Despite 2nd place being secured, there is still the small possibility that the Piraeus side can still top the group. Even if that circumstance is still out of their hands, the club should at the very least, put themselves in the best possible position and win this match with the hope that the other result between Fenerbahce and Frankfurt go Greek champions way, that being a Fener win in Turkey. 

Regardless of staying in 2nd, claiming a final group stage win is also great for momentum to take them into the playoffs in the new year as well as the rest of Thrylos domestic season this calendar year. It would also act as a good contribution to the Greek coefficient. Much like the first tie in Piraeus however, Antwerp cannot be underestimated as they too have a lot to play for. A victory for them and a Fenerbahce defeat would see them piping the Turkish side to 3rd and a UECL knockout stage place. I will also say that, unlike Olympiakos, Antwerp were able to pick up at least a point against Frankfurt for whatever that is worth going into this match.

Still, despite Antwerp being a tough place to travel to, I will once more back the Greek champions to get a slim victory here, much like on Match Day 1, and predict a 0-1 win for Olympiakos. This would put them at least on 12 points and 2nd place with an unlikely top spot on the cards.

Hellas Football 

Follow @stevekountourou