Olympiakos v Besiktas Betting Tips: Turkish outfit to go well in Greece

Having got the better of Turkish side Osmanlispor in the previous round, Olympiakos have been rewarded with a last-16 tie against yet more Turkish opposition, although this time they take on a side of higher calibre in Besiktas.

With the visitors in fine form at the moment, it’s likely that Olympiakos will need a positive result at home to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals; however, with the way these two have been performing of late, the Turkish side are the team to side with here.

Given their superior form of late, coupled with a strong performance away from home in the last round, Besiktas appear to have been overestimated somewhat in the betting. At odds of 6/5, ‘Besiktas Draw No Bet’ really catches the eye.

Not only have Şenol Güneş’ men won each of their last five fixtures, scoring ten goals in the process, but they’ve also performed well away from home in Europe this season. Before dropping out of the Champions League, the Turkish outfit were victorious away at Napoli and earned a more than respectable point in Lisbon against Benfica. They may well have been thumped 6-0 away to Dynamo Kiev in their final group match, but that was their only defeat in the group stages of Europe’s premier competition and the match itself was something of an anomaly with Besiktas receiving two red cards.

Going forward, the visitors possess both creativity and firepower, and, with the likes of Vincent Aboubakar, Talisca and top-scorer Cenk Tosun, not to mention the mercurial veteran that is Ricardo Quaresma, are certainly not short of routes to goal. The attacking quality of Gunes’ men was apparent throughout the Champions League group stages with them finding the net on nine occasions, including a treble away at Napoli. Such scoring form was easily transferred to this competition as Besiktas netted five times in their aggregate win over Hapoel Be’er Sheva, including three in the away-leg.

This tie could easily come down to quality in the final third and, quite frankly, Besiktas have more of it. Olympiakos may be a decent side on their own patch from a domestic point of view, but they’ve been far from convincing in this competition, reaching the last-16 in somewhat stuttering fashion. Having hosted continental opposition four times at Stadio Georgios Karaiskáki this season, Olympiakos have managed to secure just one victory. Other than beating Kazakhstan side Astana in the groups, the hosts have struggled on their own patch, losing to APOEL, before failing to get the better of either Young Boys or Osmanlispor.

The hosts might boast a respectable defensive record when playing at home in Europe having conceded just three goals in four matches, but aside from their 4-1 win over Astana – a team who finished bottom of the group – they’ve managed to find the net just once in three matches. Ahead of meeting with a more than useful Besiktas side, such stats don’t bode well for Paulo Bento’s men.

All in all, Besiktas have been handed an excellent opportunity to progress to the last-eight of this competition and can begin to do just that by securing a favourable result when they travel to neighbouring Greece on Thursday night.

See all of our Europa League tips here.