No Greek tragedy for Pep's City
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola, fresh off signing a contract extension to keep him at the Etihad for a further two years, will be desperate to seal progression in the Champions League with a full two games to spare away at Olympiacos. Victory over the Greek giants would confirm that, and be a welcome distraction from the continuing woes in domestic competition. The Karaiskaki Stadium will play host to a match that, whilst the Citizens can't take lightly, should be the springboard they need. Read our preview here:
Spinning plates
Erythrolefki manager Pedro Martins will be all too aware of the restrictions to the side he can put out on Wednesday early evening. Many of the household names are either unavailable or severe doubts for a match they realistically must take all three points from to preserve some semblance of hope in grabbing second spot in the group. Mathieu Valbuena, Bruma, José Holebas, and Rúben Vinagre could all be out, and the 4-2-3-1 shape that will be employed will be much very a defensive-minded mentality first and foremost. Algerian international Hillal Soudani will plough a lone furrow up top, without even the luxury of having started a game for either club or country in 2020/2021. He'll most likely get some crumbs of support from Konstantinos Fortounis, either by cutting in from the left as he favours or by pressing the visitors' notoriously high backline from long clearances from their own third.
Citizens' strength
It's almost certain Guardiola will name as strong a side as he has at his disposal, with the forward line especially keen to start firing. Riyad Mahrez will ensure a narrow trio with the ball to put immense pressure on the organisation and discipline of the hosts' defence, which in turn will allow the full-backs to express themselves ahead of the man in possession, who will doubtlessly be Kevin De Bruyne most of the time. Sergio Agüero should start, and it is been a little disconcerting just how his teammates have missed him spearheading the attack.
It needn't be pretty
The global pandemic has been a great leveller in terms of packing the schedule and taking away perceived advantages some of the biggest clubs in world football have. Manchester City are struggling badly for goals and wins, except at Europe's top table. Olympiacos have been similarly crippled in their pursuit of producing an upset in their own backyard, but could still get something out of the game. betway are offering odds of 1.95 for both teams to score, which should be a dead cert with how the visitors are performing at the moment.
