Can Neftchi Baku upset Olympiacos in Champions League qualifying?
Olympiacos FC vs Neftchi Baku - 21/07/2021
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The Greek champions host the Azerbaijani champions at Karaiskakis Stadium on Wednesday, with both sides hoping to book their place in third round of Champions League qualifying.
Olympiacos enter Champions League qualifying in the second round after clinching the 2020/21 Greek Super League title.
Neftchi Baku, on the other hand, have already had to come through one qualifying round to reach this stage.
Olympiacos’ last competitive game was all the way back in May, with a 2-1 loss to PAOK coming in the Greek Cup final.
Since then, the Greek champions have played seven friendlies, facing various teams from all across Europe.
Olympiacos have only lost one of their seven pre-season friendlies, registering one draw and one loss in the process.
Following victories over Wolfsberger, Krasnodar, CSKA Sofia and Univ. Craiova, Olympiacos head into Wednesday’s clash on the back of a 3-0 win of Aris.
Olympiacos have scored ten goals across their seven pre-season friendlies and have also kept four clean sheets along the way.
Meanwhile, Neftchi Baku played three friendlies last month, picking up one win, one draw and one defeat.
In their first competitive games since May, the Azerbaijani side secured an impressive two-leg victory over Georgian outfit Dinamo Tbilisi.
Neftchi claimed a 2-1 away win in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier before beating Dinamo Tbilisi by the same scoreline on home soil.
It is worth pointing out that Neftchi have now scored exactly two goals in each of their previous three outings.
Head-to-head: Wednesday’s game will be the first meeting between Olympiacos and Neftchi, meaning we have no previous results to assess for this fixture.
Team news: Olympiacos duo Konstantinos Fortounis (cruciate ligament rupture) and Tiquinho Soares (arm injury) are both currently unavailable. Meanwhile, Neftchi have no injury worries.
With neither side playing any competitive matches over the past couple of months, it is difficult to gauge exactly what will happen on Wednesday.
That said, Neftchi will surely be fire up for the first leg, with the chance to feature in the Champions League for the very first time a real possibility.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Neftchi will claim a low-scoring victory over Olympiacos – gaining a narrow first-leg advantage.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
UCL
343036
2
0 - 1
2.16
28°
11.50
1.25
6.05
11.50
1
-1
-1
1 - 0(1 - 0)
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