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Olympiacos faces Jagiellonia in Europa League opener
16 Sep
Summary
- Olympiacos and Jagiellonia Bialystok meet for the first time.
- Both teams lost their recent league matches before this clash.
- Jagiellonia Bialystok is making its group stage debut.
Olympiacos will host Jagiellonia Bialystok at the Karaiskakis Stadium for their UEFA Europa League campaign opener on Wednesday. This encounter signifies Jagiellonia Bialystok's inaugural appearance in the group or league phase of the Europa League.
Both clubs are aiming to swiftly recover from recent domestic setbacks. Olympiacos saw their five-game unbeaten streak end with a 1-0 home loss to OFI in the Super League Greece on Saturday. This defeat also marked their first time failing to score in seven games.
Similarly, Jagiellonia Bialystok suffered a 2-0 loss to Wisła Kraków in the Ekstraklasa on Friday, marking their second defeat in three matches. However, the Polish side navigated the Europa League qualifiers undefeated across four games, securing three victories.
Historically, this is the first meeting between the two clubs. Olympiacos has a mixed record against Polish opposition, with two wins and three losses in seven previous encounters. Jagiellonia Bialystok has not secured a victory against Greek opponents in their two previous meetings.
Olympiacos has experienced low-scoring games at home this season, with three of their four matches seeing under 2.5 goals. They have maintained clean sheets in two home games but have also failed to score twice. Conversely, Jagiellonia Bialystok has conceded two goals in each of their last three away fixtures.
The Greek team has a strong recent record in the Europa League group stage, losing only one of their last eight games. Jagiellonia, however, boasts an impressive away record in European competitions, remaining unbeaten in their last nine away matches, including qualifiers, with five draws.
Key absences for Olympiacos include Kostas Fortounis due to suspension and Gustavo Sa due to a muscle strain. Chiquinho and Lorenzo Pirola are also nursing knocks. Roman Yaremchuk has been added to the European squad, replacing the injured Ayoub El Kaabi.
Despite recent league defeats for both sides, Olympiacos's home advantage is expected to be a significant factor. The prediction favors a narrow victory for the hosts.
