I doubt many people would have believed this if you had told them two or three years ago, but Burnley are one game away from making it through to the Europa League group stages. The team standing between them and what would be a huge moment for the club is Olympiakos, and to make things worse Burnley are trailing 3-1 from the first leg in Greece. They are far from out of it, and have an important away goal on their side, which could come into play later down the line. This is a massive night for the club, and I am sure they are going to be up for the test that stands in front of them.

Burnley vs Olympiakos – What Happened in the First Leg?

Burnley felt quite hard done by in the first leg of the game, with complaints about the officials coming after the game. We saw plenty of action and incident, with four goals, two penalties and one sending off. Burnley defender Ben Gibson was the player sent off, and he will miss this game due to that. Chris Wood found the back of the net from the penalty spot to bring Burnley level before half time, but the second half was all about the dominance of Olympiakos.

One thing you could see during that second half was the experience that Olympiakos have at the club in Europe, and the lack of it from a Burnley point of view. There is no doubt that this has been a huge learning experience for Burnley, but whether they can get back into the competition next season to show they have learnt from it remains to be seen.

One thing that could have made things much easier for Burnley in the second leg would have been if Sam Vokes hadn’t been ruled offside when he scored late in the game. He thought he had scored, and that would certainly have made things easier at Turf Moor, but righfully the goal was ruled offside. It isn’t a mountain, but it is certainly a big hill that Burnley have to climb when they head out onto the field to face Olympiakos on Thursday evening.

Europa League – A Dream or Distraction for Burnley?

The Europa League has long had a very varied reputation, depending on the stature of the team taking part. We have seen teams disregard the tournament and play a weakened team in almost every game they play in, while we have seen others make this their number one priority. Burnley probably find themsevles right in the middle of this, they are not too big to play a weakened team because they want to play in Europe, but they cannot afford to struggle in the Premier League because of this competition.

That is something they have done up to now, they have failed to win any of their opening three games and they sit in the relegation zone with just one point. This is a long way away from where Burnley should be, and where their fans expect them to be, so it will be interesting to see how they handle the Europa League should they progress to the group stages.

One of the main reasons why people struggle to play Europa League and Premier League is because of the schedule problems that it causes. With the Europa League being played on a Thursday, that means that the weekend after their European games, any Premier League clubs would have to play their league game on a Sunday instead of Saturday. This may not seem like much of a move, but it completely changes the dynamics of how the squad prepares and when they do that, and this is without factoring in traveling back home from Europe on a Friday after they have played away from home.

It is a sign of how football has changed dramatically when you look at the situation that Burnley are in. They are playing in Europe for the first time since the 1960’s, but there will be members of their staff and some fans too, who would rather they didn’t qualify because of the impact the competition could have on them. They aren’t the first team to be torn by the Europa League, and they are unlikely to be the last, as this competition continues to divide fans, players and board members.

Burnley vs Olympiakos Betting Tips

Back to the game in hand, and although this is very much a two legged game and we already have a score line from the first leg, from a betting point of view it is always important to separate the two games and focus on the one taking place. When it comes to this individual game, regardless of what happened in the first leg and what Burnley need to do to qualify, I think Burnley are the most likely winners of the game.

In parts of the first leg, there appeared to be little between these two teams. When Olympiakos took control and led the tie, the majoirty of their success came because they are experienced in Europe, and Burnley looked a little lost. Being back at home will certainly help them out, as will the experience they had in Greece. They should have grown as a team because of that, and should come here in a better frame of mind, despite coming back with a two goal deficit that they need to overturn to win the tie.

There is a slight risk backing Burnley that they have to go all out and attack from the off, something which could put a win in this game in doubt because of their tactics. However, I am confident enough in their ability that they can win this game on the night, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them qualify overall, but that is not what this bet is about.

The Greeks used their home advantage well in the first leg, but it is now time for Burnley to have the home advantage, and they have to make things uncomfortable for their visitors. If they do this then they have a great chance to book a place in the group stages, despite coming into the game with a 3-1 score line to turn around.

I fancy Burnley to win on the night, regardless of anything else though, and they are a good price to do so with the bookmakers. They will have learnt from the first leg, and can use that here as they look to find a way past Olympiakos back in the familiar surroundings of Turf Moor.

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