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Olympiakos welcome Neftci to the Karaiskaki Stadium in their UEFA Champions League second-round qualifying fixture on Wednesday.
The Greek champions secured a place directly in the second round through the champions path. Meanwhile, Neftci overcame the challenge of Dinamo Tbilisi in the first round fixture, defeating them 4-2 on aggregate in the first round fixtures.
Neftci became the first Azerbaijani side to feature in European competition when they qualified for the Europa League group stage in 2012-13.
Olympiakos are a regular side in European competitions and made it to the round of 16 fixtures in the Europa League last season.
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Olympiakos vs Neftci Head-to-Head
The two clubs have never squared off in a competitive fixture.
Olympiakos form guide (Pre-season): W-D-W-L-W
Neftci form guide (all competitions): W-W-W-D
Olympiakos vs Neftci Team News
Olympiakos
Tiquinho Soares and Konstantinos Fortounis are the two injury concerns for the home side at the moment. Soares suffered a fractured arm while Fortounis is a long-term absentee following an ACL rupture.
Ousseynou Ba is ineligible for the game due to a suspension.
Injuries: Tiquinho Soares, Konstantinos Fortounis
Doubtful: None
Suspension: Ousseynou Ba
Neftci
There are no known injury or suspension concerns for the visiting side ahead of this fixture. New signings Roman Basque and Hugo Basto have joined training sessions with the squad and are in contention to start here.
Injuries: None
Doubtful: None
Suspension: None
Olympiakos vs Neftci Predicted XI
Olympiakos Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Tomáš Vaclík; Jose Holebas, Pape Abou Cisse, Ruben Semedo, Sokratis Papastathopoulos; Pierre Kunde, Yann M'Vila; Tiago Silva, Mathieu Valbuena, Ahmed Mahgoub; Youssef El-Arabi
Neftci Predicted XI (4-3-3): Agil Mammadov; Vojislav Stankovic, Mamadou Mbodj, Mert Celik, Omar Buludov; Yusuf Lawal, Namiq Alasgarov, Emin Makhmudov; Harramiz, Cesar Colli, Mirabdulla Abbasov
Olympiakos vs Neftci Prediction
This will be the first competitive fixture for Olympiakos this campaign but they have a strong squad at the moment. Neftci were impressive in their two first-round fixtures and recorded a 2-1 win in both games.
The Greek side have won three games in pre-season and thanks to better squad quality and home advantage, we expect them to come out as the winners.
Prediction: Olympiakos 2-1 Neftci
Also See: Dinamo Zagreb vs Omonia Nicosia prediction, preview, team news and more | UEFA Champions League qualifiers 2021-22
