A week on from their first-leg success in Greece, Olympiacos will be looking to finish the job in Serbia against Cukaricki in the return fixture of their Europa League playoff tie on Thursday.
The Red-Whites head to the Gradski Stadion Dubocica with a two-goal advantage after securing a 3-1 victory in their first encounter in Athens.
Match preview
Cukaricki's hopes of qualifying for the Europa League group stage for the very first time are hanging by a thread following their first-leg defeat to Olympiacos.
The Greek giants raced into a three-goal lead inside the opening 40 minutes courtesy of strikes from Ayoub El-Kaabi (2) and Kostas Fortounis, but substitute Igor Miladinovic pulled one back for Cukaricki in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to provide them with a glimmer of hope for Thursday's second leg.
Milan Lesnjak's men have since extended their unwanted winless run in all competitions to four matches after playing out a goalless draw at home against Radnik Surdulica last Sunday.
Cukaricki endured a disappointing afternoon in front of goal, registering just one of their 17 shots on target, and they have subsequently slipped down fifth in the Serbian SuperLiga standings and sit five points behind leaders Backa Topola, albeit after only five matches.
Despite sharing the spoils with Radnik Surdulica, Cukaricki are now unbeaten in 15 home games across all tournaments since the turn of the year. However, four of their last five home matches have ended as draws, and they can ill-afford to play out another on Thursday if they wish to overturn their two-goal deficit against Olympiacos.
© Reuters
Coming out on top against an in-form Olympiacos outfit will be a tall order for Cukaricki, considering that their Greek counterparts have won four and drawn one of their opening five fixtures across all competitions in the new campaign.
After beating Belgian side Gent 2-1 on aggregate in the Europa League third qualifying round earlier this month, the Red-Whites have since won three successive home games, with their 3-1 success over Cukaricki sandwiched between 2-0 and 4-0 wins against Panserraikos and Atromitos respectively in the Greek Super League.
Giorgos Masouras (2), Mady Camara and Quini were all on the scoresheet to help Olympiacos claim a dominant victory against Atromitos on Sunday and move to the summit of the Super League table.
Manager Diego Martinez has hailed his side's bright start to the new season, but has highlighted the need for his squad to build chemistry having seen 13 new players join the club so far this summer.
Seeking to qualify for the Europa League group stage for a second successive season, Olympiacos head to Serbia having won only one of their last five competitive away matches in all competitions, including a 1-1 draw with Gent earlier this month, but a draw on Thursday would be enough to see them progress from the playoff round.
- W
- W
- D
- L
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Cukaricki midfielder Vukasin Jovanovic joined the club from Apollon Limassol earlier this summer, but he is yet to make his debut due to a ligament injury and is set to remain sidelined until October.
Should Lesnjak decide to revert to a back three on Thursday, Nemanja Tosic will likely push up to left wing-back and Viktor Rogan could start on the opposite flank at the expense of Miladin Stevanovic, who could move to centre-back alongside Uros Drezgic and Luka Subotic.
Jose Mario Gomes could lose his starting place up front to Ibrahima N'Diaye, who may be joined in attack by either Djordje Ivanovic or Stefan Tomovic.
As for Olympiacos, right-back Rodinei missed the first leg due to suspension, but he is available for selection on Thursday and could start at the expense of Marios Vrousai.
The Red-Whites have recently bolstered their options at left-back with the arrivals of Francisco Ortega and Omar Richards – the former joining permanently from Velez Sarsfield and the latter signing on loan from Nottingham Forest – and the pair are set to battle for a starting place with Quini.
Vicente Iborra was not involved in the matchday squad against Atromitos, but he should be in contention to start in centre-midfield on Thursday alongside Mady Camara, while one of Gustavo Scarpa or Pep Biel is set to start in the number 10 role behind El Kaabi.
Cukaricki possible starting lineup:
Filipovic; Stevanovic, Drezgic, Subotic; Rogan, Stankovic; Sissoko, Docic, Tosic; Ivanovic, N'Diaye
Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Paschalakis; Rodinei, Retsos, Freire, Quini; Camara, Iborra; Masouras, Biel, Fortounis; El Kaabi
We say: Cukaricki 1-3 Olympiacos (Olympiacos to win 6-2 on aggregate)
Olympiacos enter Thursday's second leg in buoyant mood after making a strong start to the new campaign, and they will be regarded as firm favourites to win this playoff tie on aggregate.
Cukaricki need to make improvements in the final third if they are to have any chance of pulling off a remarkable comeback, but we believe that their Greek counterparts will have too much quality on the night and they should win comfortably in Serbia.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
