Wolverhampton v Olympiacos Betting Tips & Predictions - bettingexpert
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Olympiacos Prediction
Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome Olympiacos for the second leg of this crucial Europa League round-of-16 match. The first leg finished all square in Greece but the away goal gives the English side the slimmest advantage in the tie. It’s a familiar position for the Greek side after going into the second leg of their round-of-32 match with Arsenal with a slim disadvantage that they ultimately overcame.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Olympiacos Recent Form
Wolves haven’t been at their best in recent weeks. They lost three of their final six matches in the Premier League as they eventually finished in seventh in the league. Olympiacos, meanwhile, ended their season on a high. They won nine of their final 11 matches in league and cup to secure their first title in three seasons.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Olympiacos Recent Matchups
The sides have met just once before and that was in the first leg in Greece back in March. Youssef El-Arabi put the hosts ahead before Pedro Neto equalised for Wolves just over ten minutes later. That match was the first time Wolves had played against a team from Greece in an official match.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Olympiacos Stats & Analysis
Wolves enter this match as one of the form sides in the Europa League and they come close to the best in every category. Only two teams have outscored them and only three have kept more clean sheets than Nuno Espirito Santo’s men this campaign. The big worry on paper is the number of goals they have conceded. The total of nine in nine matches is three times the number that fellow English side Manchester United have let in. But the stats are a little off here as two-thirds of those goals were conceded in just two matches.
The big positive for Wolves will be their home record going into this match. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side weren’t at their best at Molineux in the Premier League but when in Europe, they’ve dominated. They’ve won six of the seven Europa League matches they’ve played at Molineux this season and conceded just two goals in the process.
This will undoubtedly be a worry for the visitors, as will their historic record against English opposition in Europe. They’ve lost 13 of their last 16 European matches in England as well as six of their last eight two-legged ties against English opponents. The big positive is that this record is starting to turnaround. Those two wins over English sides in two-legged ties have been their most recent two and that includes the aggregate victory over Arsenal in the previous round.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Olympiacos Bets
But the bookies don’t think that Olympiacos’ resurgence against English opposition will continue here. Wolves are the favourites in 90 minutes at 4/5 to secure the win. You’ll get odds of 14/5 for a draw and 9/3 for Olympiacos to win the match and secure a second successive two-legged win against English opposition in this competition.
But as previously mentioned, a Wolves win appears to be the likeliest outcome here. Their home record in this competition is exceptional, as is their defensive solidity at Molineux. They’ve won each of their last three Europa League home matches without conceding a goal and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the same thing happened here. Wolves to win to nil is 8/5 if you want to lengthen those match outcome odds.
But Santo’s side have found the goalscoring touch of late. They’ve won two of those most recent home Europa League matches by four goals to nil. There are many reasons why they’re amongst the top scorers in the competition but one of the biggest is that they have the joint-top scoring player in Diogo Jota. What separates the attacker from the rest of the players on six goals is that the Portuguese has done it in just 329 minutes on the pitch compared to the rest who have all played between 600 and 840. Wolves to win with a European handicap of 0-2 is 13/2 and 0-3 is as high as 22/1 if you fancy them to continue this impressive run of results.
