OFI welcome Bayer 04 Leverkusen to the Pankritio Stadio on Thursday 22 October, with kick-off at 17:45 UK, in the third round of the Europa League league stage. The visitors arrive 2nd in the table with two wins from two and no goals conceded. OFI sit 18th of 36 on 3 points.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen are the clear favourites, priced at 1.22 with Ladbrokes. OFI are 12.00 with bet365 and the draw is 7.00.
OFI have won one and lost one in the league stage, scoring 3 and conceding 2. They opened with a 2-0 home win over Hoffenheim, then lost 2-1 at Rennes last time out. Before that came back-to-back wins over CSKA Sofia in qualifying, a 3-0 at home and a 2-0 away.
Defensively they have been solid. They have kept a clean sheet in three of their four European games this season, and they average 2 goals and 3.75 shots on target a game.
Leverkusen have won their last five games in all competitions. They beat Lech Poznań 4-0 away in midweek and followed it with a 2-1 home win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Before that they won 4-3 at Mainz.
In Europe they have scored six and conceded none, with a clean sheet in both games, and they average 9 shots on target a game.
OFI possible starting lineup:
Katsikas; Krizmanic, Nikolaou, Athanasiou, Poungouras; Androutsos, Dickmann, Bouchalakis; Theodosoulakis, Kodro, Nuss
Bayer 04 Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Vázquez, Badé, Tapsoba, Gutiérrez; Fernández, GarcÃa; Tella, Tillman, Maza; Schick
Patrik Schick has scored in four of his last five games, with five goals in that run. He is 1.57 to score at bet365.
Malik Tillman has committed at least one foul in each of his last five games, averaging 2 a match, and is 1.25 for a foul at Midnite.
Loïc Badé has also fouled in each of his last five, and is 1.30 for a foul at Midnite.
For OFI, Christos Sielis is 3.50 for a shot, which our model ranks among the likeliest in the match.
Kick-off is at 5:45pm UK at the Pankritio Stadio, where the visitors arrive second in the table. We expect Leverkusen to win: they are 1.22 with Ladbrokes, and the interest is in the player markets. Both teams to score is 1.80 at bet365 and over 2.5 goals is 1.36, with over 1.5 goals at 1.11. Leverkusen also beat Celje 2-0 in Europe on 16 September and RB Leipzig 2-0 in the Bundesliga four days later, while OFI's league-stage points came from the 2-0 home win over Hoffenheim and their defeat at Rennes was by a single goal.
| Market | Best price | Statz chance |
|---|---|---|
| OFI to win | 12.00 (bet365) | - |
| Draw | 7.00 (bet365) | - |
| Leverkusen to win | 1.22 (Ladbrokes) | - |
| Both teams to score | 1.80 (bet365) | - |
| Over 2.5 goals | 1.36 (bet365) | - |
Leverkusen have not conceded in Europe and have scored four on their last visit to Poland, while OFI have found the net in both of their league stage games. We expect Leverkusen to win, with a goal for the home side possible.
A three-leg Leverkusen build of Schick to score, Tillman to foul and Badé to foul comes to 2.34.