Olympiacos vs Omonia Nicosia Predictions and Betting Tips
Olympiacos welcome Omonia Nicosia to Karaiskaki Stadium for the first leg of their UCL playoffs tie. Both sets of fans will tune in on Wednesday night to cheer the respective teams in this game. Which one of the sides will pick up a win in the first half of this doubleheader?
This encounter will be the first European meeting between these teams. Although they met in a friendly game two months ago, in which the Greek outfit won, this would be both side's first real taste of the other's style of play. Omonia Nicosia is heading into this game looking to book themselves a place in the group stage of the UCL for the first time. Unlike their opponents, the Greek champions have a wealth of European experience to boot. Given this, they would be looking to take advantage of that- alongside home advantage- to kill the tie in this leg.
The Red-Whites commence their title defence in style
Olympiacos got off to the best possible start in their opening match last weekend. Pedro Martins and his troops downed Asteras Tripolis via a comfortable 3-0 score-line with all three goals scored in the final 30 minutes of the game. The opposition defence couldn't contain Giorgis Masouras as the Greek midfielder bagged a brace only after coming on in the second half.
Olympiacos is one of the ever-present teams in European competitions. However, their performances in said European competitions isn't impressive as they've made it past the last-16 stage only once in their illustrious history.
The Queens looking like a one-season wonder
AC Omonia won the 2019/2020 Cypriot first division title only by fine margins. They finished level on points with second place Anorthosis who even won more games than the eventual champions. The Nicosia-based side edged their opponents via goal difference having conceded lesser goals. However, they haven't hit the heights in the four games played this new campaign.
Although eight points from the opening four games isn't a bad record, it cant be termed 'defending champions' quality. Last time out, they had to dig deep for all three points against AEK Larnaca. An 89th-minute strike from Kiko turned out to be the winning goal as they bagged the three points.
Olympiacos vs AC Omonia Team News
Olympiacos possible starting XI:
Tzolakis; Holebas, Ba, Semedo, Rafinha; Cafu, Camara; Fortounis, valbuena, Masouras; El Arabi
Omonia Nicosia possible starting XI:
Kyriakidis; Panagiotou, Kiko, Kousoulos; Charalambous, Loizou, Mavrias, Tzionis, Venizelos; Asante, Duris
Olympiacos vs Omonia Nicosia Prediction: 2-0
Olympiacos are odds-on favourites not only to win this game but also to win the whole tie. Although Omonia Nicosia is decent in their own right, their recent results have been extremely narrow wins and therefore, they don't have the quality to upset the Greek champions.
