FOOTBALL betting enthusiast Ross Casey (@RossCasey24) runs the rule over Thursday night's Europa League clash between Burnley and Olympiacos as the Premier League side attempt to overturn a 3-1 deficit.
Burnley v Olympiacos | Thursday 30th August 2018, 19:45
After battling past both Aberdeen and Istanbul Buyuk in four battles of attrition, Sean Dyche's side are now facing an early exit from the Europa League after a nightmare in Greece where they conceded a penalty and had Ben Gibson red-carded when losing 3-1.
They do of course have the away goal, but after a season so far that has seen them fail to win any of their eight competitive matches, this looks a real uphill struggle on paper.
Burnley
Burnley still haven’t won a game in 90 minutes since the 14th April and have relied upon getting the job done at Turf Moor, but the previous victories have come on the back of stout away draws, not a 1-3 loss. They are going to have to chase the game here and that does not suit this Burnley side one bit.
Usually you can rely on this Clarets team to keep things tight, but they have now leaked 10 goals in their last three games. That is even more of a concern when you realise the opposition has been Fulham, Watford and Olympiakos.
They have real injury worries too with Johann Gudmundsson ruled out and they could well be missing Matej Vydra and Robbie Brady again too. Those are three players all capable of scoring or unlocking a defence and without them they are likely to rely on set-pieces and a more direct approach tonight.
Burnley have netted in six of their eight games so far this season and odds of 10/11 may well appeal for some that Both Teams To Score, when you add that statistic to the one that they have conceded 10 in three.
Olympiacos
Olympiacos have been impressive so far this season in the little that we have seen of them. They have won all four competitive matches so far, including defeating Luzern 7-1 on aggregate over two legs. The Swiss outfit have lost five in seven so far this season though, so it may be hard to read too much into that.
They were certainly the deserving winners over 90 minutes against Burnley in the first leg, with the Red and Whites having 32% more of the ball and five more shots in total.
The goal that they did concede does give Burnley some hope, but I suggest that an away goal will take any spice out of the atmosphere tonight and a side that have scored 11 in four should be capable of breaching Burnley's leaking defence – especially as they look to push forward needing at least two goals here to qualify.
The angle
Burnley are going to surge forward as much as possible here in search of the two goals they need to find to have any hope of qualification and against a side on song in terms of scoring goals, I like the odds of Olympiakos to win and Both Teams To Score at 6/1 (Bet365).
This bet has landed in each of the last three Burnley matches and can happen again tonight at Turf Moor – just as it did when Olympiacos travelled to Luzern in the last round.
Best Bets
Burnley v Olympiacos – Olympiacos to win and Both Teams To Score (6/1 Bet365)
Burnley v Olympiacos – Both Teams To Score (10/11 Bet365)
