Greek champions Olympiakos will be hoping to claim another major scalp when they host Juventus in Athens, having defeated last year’s finalists Atletico Madrid at their Karaiskaki. Meanwhile, the Bianconeri are desperate for a victory after suffering a narrow defeat to los Colchoneros as they want to avoid another early exit from the competition.

Costly defeat to Malmo FF

While Olympiakos have remain the dominant force in Greek championship, the club have failed to enjoy success in Europe, usually showing promise in some matches but lacking the consistency to see things through. The same thing appears to be happening again seeing as how the Greek giants did brilliantly to defeat Atletico Madrid at home, even if they were very fortunate to do so, before suffering a 2-0 defeat to weak Malmo FF in the second group game. This is enough to suggest that Michel’s charges do not seem to have what it takes to mount a serious challenge for a place in the knockout stages and I fully expect them to struggle against arguably Italy’s best side. The hosts have quite a few players capable of creating problems to their more illustrious opponents, but they look a bit shaky at the back and definitely lack some experience as well as quality to match a side like Juventus. Olympiakos are used to playing on the counter against Europe’s top sides, but the Bianconeri rarely leave a lot of space behind even when they desperately need a win.

David Fuster should be back in contention, while Ibrahim Afellay, Eric Abidal, Pajtim Kasami and Delvin Ndinga will be recalled. Dimitrios Siovas remains on the sidelines.

Juve desperate for Champions League success

While everybody at the club as well as the fans have been delighted with club’s success on domestic stage and three consecutive Serie A titles, they now hope the Bianconeri will be able to prove their worth in Europe as well. Juventus showed a great deal of promise last term, having twice outplayed mighty Real Madrid in the group stage, and they were extremely unfortunate to crash out in the group stage. This time they started well, beating Malmo FF 2-0, before a narrow loss to Atletico Madrid, not entirely deserved, complicated things for them. While there is still plenty of time for the Bianconeri to secure one of the top two places, they will want to do it as soon as possible and avoid last year’s scenario, meaning they will be very motivated to defeat Olympiakos and extend the impressive run that saw them win four of last six meetings with the Greek side. The weekend’s 1-1 draw with Sassuolo is likely to serve as a wake-up call and with Arturo Vidal back to the side, the Bianconeri look like they can edge this one out.

Alvaro Morata and Arturo Vidal are back in contention, with Martin Caceres and Andrea Barzagli are out injured and Fernando Llorente is doubtful with a back problem.

Verdict

Olympiakos were pretty fortunate to defeat Atletico Madrid in Athens and I cannot see them repeating such a result against Juventus, especially having suffered a comfortable defeat to Malmo FF. The Bianconeri have plenty of quality and experience to cope with the hot atmosphere at Karaiskaki and they have got to be considered favourites here.

Top pick: Away win   2.10 (11/10) @ SkyBet

Alternative pick 1: Under 2.5 goals   1.61 (5/8) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Olympiakos not to score   2.38 (11/8) @ Betfred