Olympiacos vs Slovan Bratislava Prediction and Betting Odds | UEFA Europa League August 4
Olympiacos vs Slovan Bratislava Betting Preview
Olympiacos and Slovan Bratislava play the first leg of their UEFA Europa League qualifier with the second leg coming on August 11th. WagerTalk soccer handicapper Kevin Dolan shares his Picks and Predictions on Thursday’s clash between Olympiacos and Slovan Bratislava.
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| Thursday, August 4 | UEFA Europa League Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Olympiacos: | -263 |
| Slovan Bratislava: | +763 |
| Draw: | +239 |
| Total: | 2.5 Goals (Odds Above Courtesy of DraftKings) |
| Game Time: | 3:00pm ET / 12:00pm PT |
Olympiacos vs Slovan Bratislava Analysis
Both Slovan Bratislava and Olympiacos crashed out of Champions League qualification last week in two fairly lopsided losses so will be eager to regroup in this one in order to secure a Europa League spot ahead of this year’s competition.
Slovan Bratislava looked firmly in the driver’s seat heading into their second leg matchup against Ferencvaros last week, carrying over a 2-1 advantage on the road from the first leg.
However, even that one-goal advantage in their home city of Bratislava wasn’t enough for them to qualify as the Hungarian champions opened them up with a dominating 4-1 display in the Slovakian capital.
Olympiacos similarly suffered a complete second-leg collapse at home in their tie, claiming a solid 1-1 draw on the road over in Israel, only to get blown out 4-0 at home in Greece in leg 2 by the Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa.
The two sides have met four times in European competition previously with Olympiacos winning three of those games outright with one draw.
Slovan Bratislava Look To Rekindle Road Form
Slovan Bratislava came out of the gates with an opening day loss in defense of their Slovakian title this season but that was a huge lookahead situation to their first leg clash against Ferencvaros in the Champions League just a few days later, so that result was somewhat understandable.
That leg 1 result for Bratislava paid off for them however as they went to Budapest and knocked off Ferencvaros in the opening matchup, securing a 2-1 victory on the road and they’ll be hoping they can do the same in Greece here on Thursday.
Olympiacos Strong Home Record Somewhat Deceiving
Heading into last week’s second leg against Maccabi Haifa, Olympiacos owned an incredibly strong home record in Piraeus, losing just one game there since February.
However, that’s likely a testament to the relative strength, or lack thereof, of the Greek Super League (15th overall on the UEFA coefficients rating) as the last serious test they had outside of Greece, Atalanta in the Europa League, happened to be that game in February which they got dominated in 3-0 by the Italians.
Olympiacos vs Slovan Bratislava Prediction
Olympiacos go in as heavy favorites against Slovan Bratislava on Thursday and it’s honestly difficult to see why, especially with how poor they looked against Maccabi Haifa last week.
Even in the leg 1 draw over in Israel against Maccabi Haifa, the Israeli champions held a 14-6 goal attempts advantage over Olympiacos and with the Greek Super League not kicking off for another two weeks, those two games against Maccabi Haifa represent Olympiacos’ only competitive action since May.
In contrast to that, the Slovakian Super Liga is in full swing right now with matchday 4 kicking off this weekend and Slovan Bratislava already showed their mettle on the road in traveling over to Budapest two weeks ago and beating the Hungarian champions Ferencvaros 2-1 on their own home field.
I’m more than happy to take a piece of Slovan Bratislava +1.25 in this one and give Olympiacos a competitive game here on Thursday night in the Europa League.
Prediction: Slovan Bratislava +1.25
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Meet the Author
‘The sharpest sports mind in Ireland’ is how one prominent newspaper dubbed Kevin Dolan after he became the first foreigner ever to win the World Series of Handicapping tournament back in 2015. “The Irishman” made his start wagering on GAA, football, soccer and boxing, all to immense success. Since becoming a professional bettor, he has since lit up the sports betting scene in the U.S. and abroad, winning two handicapping awards and writing a best-selling book on sports handicapping named ‘The Complete Guide to Sports Betting’.
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