Apollon Limassol and Olympiacos square off at the Tsirion Athlitiko Kentro in the first leg of their Europa League qualifying playoff round matchup on Thursday. Our sportsbook offers a great range of betting markets and props for the UEL qualifiers.
Let’s check the latest Europa League news, stats, injury reports, and Europa League odds. We’ve plenty of soccer picks and predictions for you to consider.
Apollon vs Olympiacos
Both Apollon and Olympiacos didn’t have the best of times in their UCL Qualifiers since both teams were eliminated in a pretty convincing fashion by the same team, Maccabi Haifa. Still, both can at least reach the Europa League group stages, which is the reward for the winner of this double-legged tie. The hosts, who enter this clash fresh off the back of winning the Cyprus Super Cup title, will look to continue in the same vein and place one foot in the group stages of the competition. If you’re betting online and you wish to be profitable in the long term, you should always take some time and read all our soccer articles.
Last week, Apollon lifted the Cyprus Super Cup trophy after beating Omonia Nicosia 2-0. They’ve managed just two victories in their seven competitive games on home soil since February, losing twice and claiming three draws in the process.
On the other side, Olympiakos had a generally poor preseason campaign, and to make things worse, the Greek giants suffered an embarrassment in the UCL qualifiers, losing to Maccabi 1-5 on aggregate. After the elimination, Olympiacos sacked Pedro Martins and appointed Carlos Corberan as the new coach, but even under him, they did not shine, as they eliminated Slovan Bratislava only after the penalty shootout.
Apollon Limassol will be without 22-year-old midfielder Ilian Iliev, who continues his long road to full fitness after suffering a metatarsal fracture back in April. Veteran forward Nicolas Diguiny was missing for the cup victory over Omonia Nicosia last time out and the 34-year-old is a major doubt for Thursday’s encounter. Olympiacos will be without the injured Garry Rodrigues, who netted five goals in 19 league appearances last season. Sime Vrsaljko, who was recently signed by Spanish heavyweight Atletico Madrid, is also set to miss his third straight game after coming off with an injury against Maccabi Haifa back in July.
Apollon should take advantage of Olympiacos’ lack of defensive consistency while the Greek side has a powerful enough attack to find the net. We expect a high-scoring affair so we are backing goals in our soccer picks and parlays.
Pick: Over 2 goals in the match at -145
Austria Vienna vs Fenerbahce
Austria Vienna and Fenerbahce meet in one of the most exciting ties of the UEFA Europa League playoffs. The first leg will be played on Thursday at Generali Arena in Vienna. Austria Vienna picked up their first win of the new Austrian Bundesliga campaign as they saw off Tirol 2-1 last Saturday. Prior to that, they were on a three-game winless run in the league, picking up one point from the first nine available. It’s important to note that this is their first European game of the season.
The hosts are unbeaten in six straight home games across all competitions, picking up four wins and two draws since April’s 2-1 loss against Austria giants Red Bull Salzburg. Austrian manager Manfred Schmid has huge problems with the lack of defensive quality. They allowed eight goals in the first four domestic fixtures of the season and we expect them to extend their poor run of form on Thursday.
They enter this clash as underdogs being priced at +210 on the three-way Moneyline according to the latest soccer odds while the goal-line is set at 2½. On the other side, Fenerbahce kicked off the new Super Lig season with a surprising 3-3 draw at home to the newly-promoted Umraniyespor. They were earlier eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 on aggregate but then demolished Czech side Slovacko in the third qualifying round of Europa League 4-1 on aggregate, mainly thanks to a 3-0 victory in front of their fans.
Luckily for the hosts, their opponents Fenerbahce have not actually been much better defensively themselves at the start of the 2022/23 campaign. Both sides are struggling at the back being very easy to break down. We expect an entertaining clash with the visitors having the first chance to win this clash.
Pick: Over 2½ goals in the match at -110
