Olympiacos vs Leverkusen Prediction
🔊 Will Olympiacos secure their first home victory in the Champions League? As part of the 7th round of the group stage, Bayer Leverkusen, who have gone unbeaten in their last three games and have not lost an away match in this campaign, visit the Karaiskakis Stadium. The Greek club still have a shot at the playoffs, but they must defeat the "Pharmacists" to keep their hopes alive. The visitors hold a more favorable position in the standings, yet a loss in Piraeus could significantly complicate their situation ahead of the final, eighth round. Before diving into predictions, it's worth noting that the team from Piraeus are considered slight favorites for this encounter.
Head-to-Head
📊 The teams have not faced each other in over 20 years, rendering their head-to-head history practically irrelevant for crafting a current prediction.
H2H Stats Matches and Previous Teams Results
Olympiacos Team Overview
🔴 In their previous Champions League match, José Luis Mendilibar's squad traveled to Astana to face Kairat, where they secured their first tournament victory thanks to a goal from Gelson Martins, winning 1-0. Before this, the "red and whites" suffered defeats against Real Madrid (3-4), Barcelona (1-6), and Arsenal (0-2), while drawing with Pafos (0-0) and PSV (1-1). Olympiacos sit in 29th place with five points and a goal difference of 6:13. They trail the 24th spot by two points, and victories against Bayer and Ajax in the final round would significantly boost their playoff hopes.
⚪ Heading into the upcoming fixture, the "red and whites" are not in the best psychological state. They recently exited the Greek Cup after losing 2-0 to PAOK at home in the quarterfinals. However, they previously claimed the Greek Super Cup by defeating OFI 3-0, with all goals coming in extra time. In the national Superleague, the club is on a 10-match unbeaten streak (8 wins, 2 draws), currently sitting third and just two points behind the leader.
Match Results: Olympiacos
Bayer Leverkusen Team Overview
⚫ Kasper Hjulmand's team recently played their last Champions League match at the "BayArena," where they shared the spoils with Newcastle in a thrilling 2-2 draw. After an own goal by a visiting player, the "pharmacists" failed to capitalize on their lead and conceded twice in the second half, but Alejandro Grimaldo salvaged a draw three minutes before full-time. Previously, Leverkusen defeated Manchester City (2-0) and Benfica (1-0), drew with PSV (1-1) and Copenhagen (2-2), and suffered a heavy defeat to PSG (2-7). Bayer currently sit 20th with nine points, and a win in Greece would almost secure their spot in the Round of 16.
🔴 Since the start of the new year, the "pharmacists" have experienced a dip in form in the Bundesliga. After an away victory over Leipzig (3-1) at the end of 2025, the team has lost to two direct competitors for the Champions League spots in 2026-Stuttgart (1-4) and Hoffenheim (0-1). As a result, Bayer have dropped from third to sixth place, trailing the top four by four points, with a game in hand.
Match Results: Bayer Leverkusen
Latest news
Olympiacos
🎙 José Luis Mendilibar after the Greek Cup exit: "We definitely need to play better from this point forward because we were not good in this match at all. It's not just about the two early goals conceded - PAOK were the better side throughout. They threatened us early on and could have done so again later. The issue is that we didn't create any chances to score. It was a poor performance on our part. Now, it's crucial to fight for a win against Bayer to keep our hopes alive in European competitions and to continue our pursuit of the league title. These are the two objectives we have left."
❌ Alexandros Paschalakis, Rúben Vezo, Yusuf Yazıcı, Konstantinos Angelakis, Gustavo Mancha, Pep Biel, Lorenzo Pirola, and Theofanis Bakoulas will be unavailable for the match for various reasons.
Bayer Leverkusen
🎙 Kasper Hjulmand after the match against Hoffenheim: "Hoffenheim deserved the win, even though it was a tense game. We didn't show our best football. We had a decent spell towards the end of the first half, and we tried to ramp up the pressure again at the end, but it wasn't enough. Today, we couldn't find the right solutions."
❌ Bayer also face a significant list of absentees. Missing the match will be Mark Flekken, Edmond Tapsoba, Martin Terrier, Exequiel Palacios, Alejo Sarco, Robert Andrich, Jonas Hofmann, Nathan Tella, Eliesse Ben Seghir, and Axel Tapy.
🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards
The match will be officiated by Maurizio Mariani. In his last 10 matches, the Italian referee has averaged 4.1 yellow cards per game. In the Champions League, the "Red and Whites" have averaged 2.2 yellow cards per match, while the "Pharmacists" average 1.8. A betting option to consider is Olympiacos under 2.5 yellow cards, a line that has hit in their last five matches in this tournament.
⚽ Goal Predictions
In the current Champions League campaign, Olympiacos have netted just six goals, all coming in the last four rounds. Bayer Leverkusen have scored 10 times, finding the back of the net in every match of the tournament. A potential betting option is a Bayer goal in the second half-an outcome that has occurred in all six of their previous Champions League games.
🚩 Corner Predictions
Olympiacos hold a slight edge in average corners per match with about five per game, while Leverkusen average 4.5. We suggest under 9.5 total corners, a bet that has been successful in all six of Olympiacos' matches in this Champions League season.
Editorial Prediction
Out of a possible nine points contested at Karaiskakis Stadium, Olympiacos have only managed to secure two, indicating a lack of home victories. Despite the bookmakers' odds and Bayer's recent struggles in the Bundesliga, we believe the visitors will avoid defeat. Julmann's team remains unbeaten on the road in the Champions League and showcases disciplined defensive play. Considering the significant personnel losses on both sides, we anticipate a low-scoring match that might end without a winner-1-1.
Betting Tips: Olympiacos - Bayer Leverkusen
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in 18 of last 19 Maurizio Mariani games.in 18 of last 20 games.in 10 of last 11 home games.in 7 of last 8 Olympiacos games.
Comparison of Teams Stats
Other predictions
