UEFA Europa League: Burnley vs Olympiacos preview

Premier League side Burnley have a two-goal deficit to overcome at Turf Moor on Thursday if they want to make it to the UEFA Europa League group stage, Greek side Olympiacos are the favourites to pull through. The Greeks won the first leg 3-1 last week, even though Burnley had fought back from 1-0 down to earn a solid 1-1 draw at the break. Goals from Andreas Bouchalakis and Kostas Fortounis in the second half put Olympiacos ahead, and now Burnley need at least a 2-0 victory to pull through. Burnley seemed capable of getting a good result in Athens last week, but everything crumbled in the second half. However, they can get some confidence from their history in European competitions, they have won seven of their eight matches at home, scoring 20 goals and conceding just four. The Clarets had to go through extra time in both previous rounds, against Aberdeed and Istanbul Basaksehir. Last weekend they lost 4-2 at Fulham in the Premier League. Ben Gibson is suspended after being sent off in the first leg, Robbie Brady is not fully fit yet, while Johann Berg Gudmundsson picked up an injury against Fulham and will be out for a few weeks. Nick Pope and Steven Defour are long-term absentees for the home side. Olympiacos had a perfect start to the season, four wins out of four matches in all competitions, eleven goals scored and just two conceded. In the previous round they breezed past Swiss side Luzern with a 4-0 victory at home followed by a 3-1 away win, while last week they gained the upper hand in the tie against Burnley with the 3-1 home victory. Last weekend Olympiacos started their campaign in the Greek top flight with a 1-0 home victory over Levadiakos. They don't have any injury concerns ahead of Thursday's match, so they will most likely use the same starting line up from the first leg. Probable line-ups: Burnley: Heaton - Bardsley, Long, Tarkowski, Ward - Walters, Cork, Westwood, Taylor - Vokes, Barnes Olympiacos: Gianniotis - Elabdellaoui, Miranda, Vukovic, Tsimikas - Bouchalakis, Camara - Christodoulopoulos, Fortounis, Podence - Guerrero My prediction: Burnley to win 2-1, the Clarets are great at Turf Moor but Olympiacos won't let qualification slip away. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Burnley win - 2.45 Draw - 3.30 Olympiacos win - 2.80