Olympiakos v Man U

Olympiakos are the ‘Celtic’ of their domestic league – the Super League. They are routing their opposition in Greece and currently sit 20 points clear of nearest rivals PAOK and have an incredible goal difference of +69.

As for the Champions League they got through a tricky group which included Benfica and Paris St-Germain to reach the last 16 stage and will be well up for tonight’s first leg match against Man U – despite the head to head records giving Man U a 4-0 advantage.

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Max last 10 only)
Oct 2002 C League Olympiakos 2-3 Man Utd
Oct 2002 C League Man Utd 4-0 Olympiakos
Oct 2001 C League Man Utd 3-0 Olympiakos
Oct 2001 C League Olympiakos 0-2 Man Utd

It’s coming on for 12 years since they last met and unquestionably Man U were a bigger force then than they are currently but their performance in this season’s Champions League is hard to fault.

They finished top of Group A with wins including a 5-0 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen. Man U have also kept four straight clean sheets in the Champions League but are odds against to win at the Karaiskakis Stadium – how times have changed – even a couple of years ago they surely would have been around 8/11 to win this fixture?

There are injury concerns on both sides. For Man U Phil Jones (hip) and Jonny Evans (calf) miss the match, whilst Nani is also sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Record signing Juan Mata is cup-tied after playing in the competition with Chelsea, but Rafael and Danny Welbeck are both fit after injury.

For Olympiakos their top scorer Javier Saviola is out with a thigh problem and Kostas Mitroglou was sold to Fulham in January and Marko Scepovic is cup-tied.

I suffered a reverse on Sunday when Norwich beat Spurs 1-0 and a further 16 points of hard earned profit on Star Spreads was eroded.

However, unless things go cataclysmically wrong, we should finish the month in front. If ever there was a cue for things to go cataclysmically wrong then that’s it.

As for tonight I think Olympiakos will give Man U a run for their money and they will need to in order to stand a chance at Old Trafford.

I’m therefore a seller on Star Spreads of Man U / Olympiakos at around 0.25.

RECOMMENDED BET (1-10 points)

SELL MAN U / OLYMPIAKOS for 10 points at around 0.25 with Star Spreads

RUNNING RETURN (FEBRUARY): PROFIT 69 POINTS

RUNNING RETURN (YEAR): PROFIT 45.8 POINTS

• Any spread prices quoted are indicative and as always prices are subject to fluctuation.
• Please note the opinion, views and forecasts above are of the author and not of Star Spreads.