Europa League betting tips: Olympiakos v Arsenal best bets and preview
Jake Pearson provides best bets as Arsenal travel to Greece to face Olympiakos in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Football betting tips: Olympiakos v Arsenal
1pt Olympiakos to win at 16/5 (SBK, VBet)
Inconsistency has been a big problem for Arsenal this season, Mikel Arteta’s men often following a good result with a poor one, and Saturday’s 1-1 draw away at Burnley highlights that point perfectly.
Arsenal arrived at Turf Moor on the back of an impressive 3-1 victory over Leicester the previous week, and all looked to be going to plan after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the Gunners a goal to the good inside six minutes.
Again, though, Arsenal were architects of their own downfall, an ill-advised square pass across his own box from Granit Xhaka ricocheting off Chris Wood to draw the home side level.
That was the eighth time in their past 14 Premier League away matches that Arsenal have failed to win, losing six of those, and that does not include the first-leg tie away at Benfica in the last round of this competition.
Arsenal did get the job done at home to the Portuguese side in the end, but even that was touch and go for a long time, the Gunners coming from 2-1 down to eventually win the match 3-2.
The race for European places is about as hotly contested as it has ever been in the Premier League this season, and with Arsenal sitting eight points behind sixth-placed Everton, not to mention the fact that they still have the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool and Aston Villa ahead of them, winning the Europa League really could be the best way for the Gunners to enjoy another European campaign next season.
They face an extremely tricky fixture against Olympiakos though, with the Greek side unlikely to provide Mikel Arteta’s side with an easy time of things.
To say that Olympiakos are streets ahead of the competition in Greece would be an understatement. Bidding to secure a ninth league title in the past 11 years, they currently lead the way by 16 points in the Greek top flight, but it is not just their points total that is impressive, it is everything that goes along with it.
The Greek Super League is by no means the pinnacle of European football, but that does not take away from the fact that Olympiakos have scored a staggering 61 goals in their 25 matches this term, giving them a goal-per-game average of 2.44, second only to Bayern Munich across Europe’s top five leagues. They have also conceded just 12 goals in the league this season.
At home, Olympiakos have been extremely impressive this season, winning 12 of the 13 league matches played at the Karaiskakis Stadium, and they have demonstrated their capabilities on home soil in the Champions League too, beating Marseille in Greece before going down by a single goal to Manchester City.
Olympiakos brushed aside PSV with a comfortable 4-2 success in their home leg of their last 32 tie, meaning a 2-1 defeat away was still enough to take them through.
This tie will not be settled in Greece, but this does have all the hallmarks of a tricky away tie for Arsenal, and whether or not the Gunners should be as short as they currently are is up for debate.
If this fixture was played ten times over, would Arsenal theoretically win more than half of those matches? That is what the betting is suggesting.
Olympiakos are an extremely effective side when playing in Greece, and Arsenal aren’t particularly good travelers.
Arsenal will have plenty to say when these two sides meet in North London next week, but in Greece it is Olympiakos who are the team to beat, so a price of 16/5 about an OLYMPIAKOS WIN makes plenty of appeal.
Olympiakos v Arsenal best bets and score prediction
- Olympiakos to win at 16/5 (SBK, VBet)
Score prediction: Olympiakos 1-0 Arsenal (Sky Bet odds: 10/1)
Odds correct at 1600 GMT (09/03/21)
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