Olympiakos vs Fenerbahce Prediction: Turks can create new headlines in Piraeus

Olympiakos will be looking to do their stunning Europa Conference League round of 16 comeback justice when they face Fenerbahce in the quarter-finals, the first leg of which takes place at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday (KO, 17:45).

The midweek match in Piraeus, Greece will be shown in the UK live on TNT Sports, and we have taken a look at the clash in further detail below, noting all the latest team news and match odds, and delivering our Olympiakos vs Fenerbahce prediction. 

Olympiakos were humbled at home in the first leg of their last 16 tie with Maccabi Tel Aviv, losing 4-1, but they turned things around in dramatic fashion in the return leg, reversing the scoreline before sealing their passage into the quarter-finals with two goals in extra time.

Their reward is a two-legged tie with Turkish giants Fenerbahce, who beat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-1 on aggregate to reach this stage.

However, the Yellow Canaries arrive into Greece on the back of huge controversy in their homeland. Fenerbahce fielded their under-19 side in the Turkish Super Cup against Galatasaray and went one-nil down in the first minute before walking off in protest at alleged unfair treatment, with reports suggesting the club were unhappy that their request to have the match postponed before an important European tie was rejected.

Fenerbahce had also called for a foreign referee to take charge of the game, instead of a domestic-based one.

Team News

Olympiakos will be without on-loan Wolves winger Daniel Podence due to an accumulation of yellow cards in the competition; Gelson Martins started instead of the 28-year-old in a 5-1 win over Lamia on Sunday and could get the nod again.

Sotiris Alexandropoulos is also missing for the hosts through injury while there are doubts over the participation of Konstantinos Fortounis, who has struck four times in Europe this season.

The visitors have a few key injury absentees themselves including ex-Manchester United midfielder Fred, who has only lost one game since joining Fenerbahce last summer.

Defender Luan Peres and another former Red Devil, Joshua King, are likely to join Fred on the sidelines again.

Ex-Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi was missing from Fenerbahce's last league outing, a 4-2 win over Adana Demirspor on April 3, so Edin Dzeko looks likely to lead the line in Greece.

Match Odds

Olympiakos have been installed as 11/8 favourites for this match, which gives them an implied win probability of 42.1%, while Fenerbahce are 2/1 - or a 33.3% chance - to claim victory.

The draw can be backed at 12/5, both teams to score at 8/13 and over 2.5 goals at 4/5.

Fenerbahce to win @ 2/1

Fenerbahce have been near perfect away from home in the Turkish Super Lig, winning 14 of their 15 games and drawing the other. Granted, they won just one of their three away matches in the Europa Conference League group stage, but after winning their first three in Group H - including one against Spartak Trnava in Slovakia - they already had progression in their sights, and the need to win was lessened.

Ismael Kartal's side took a 20th-minute lead away to Union SG in the last round and followed Batshuayi's strike with two more in the latter stages through Jayden Oosterwolde and Dusan Tadic.

Olympiakos, meanwhile, were humiliated on their own patch against Maccabi Tel Aviv, going into the interval 3-1 down before conceding another in the second half.

The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium hasn't exactly been a fortress for them this season as they have already suffered five defeats (plus another awarded against them) there this season, two of them coming in Europe - one in the Europa League group stage against Freiburg and the other versus Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa Conference League.

Three defeats in their last six isn't great form for the Greek giants, while Fenerbahce - despite the noise surrounding the club at the moment - are in a pretty good place having won five of their last six - discounting the Super Cup - with their only defeat being the ultimately pointless one in their second leg against Union SG.

The price is tempting enough to back Fenerbahce to do what they have done pretty much all season - win away from home.

Over 3.5 goals @ 2/1

If previous games in the competition mean anything, we could see several goals on Thursday evening. Olympiakos saw five goals scored in regulation time of both legs against Maccabi Tel Aviv, while Fenerbahce stuck three past Union SG in Belgium.

Over 3.5 goals has been a pretty common occurrence in Olympiakos' matches since that first leg thriller versus Maccabi Tel Aviv, with four of their last six seeing at least four goals scored.

It's a similar story for Fenerbahce, who have seen the over 3.5 goals selection land in three of their last four.

With the likes of Dzeko, Tadic and Ayoub El Kaabi - who have scored 64 club goals between them this season - likely to be on the field on Thursday, there's no reason to suggest we'll be starved of them in Piraeus.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.