Olympiakos vs Slovan Bratislava Preview

Olympiacos will welcome Slovakian club Slovan Bratislava to the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium this Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League group stage qualifiers.

The hosts come into this stage of the tournament after losing their quest to play in the Champions League when they were beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Israeli club M Haifa in their last two outings.

After drawing 1-1 away from home, the hosts were beaten 4-0 in their home stadium, with three goals conceded in the second half.

They will now hope that by having dropped a step down to the Europa League, they will be able to make the most of their opportunity.

However, their form at home heading into this tie is worrisome as they have won just one of their last five home games in all competitions.

Like their hosts, Slovan Bratislava were also beaten in the Champions League. The visitors lost 5-3 on aggregate to Ferencvaros, despite winning 2-1 in the first leg away from home.

They have since bounced back from that loss though, beating Micalovce 4-2 at home in their most recent Fortuna Liga game.

That win was their third win in the last four games and was the second time they have scored four goals in their last four games.

However, their problem in recent times have been at the back as they have kept just one clean sheet in their last six games while conceding ten times in those six games.