Olympiacos and Freiburg get their Europa League group-stage campaign underway with a showdown in Greece on Thursday night.
While the home side have enjoyed a strong start to the season, the same cannot be said of the visitors who are yet to replicate their consistent quality from 2022-23.
Match preview
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Having only finished in third place in the Greek top flight last season, Olympiacos boss Diego Martinez will recognise that he is under immense pressure to deliver this time around.
So far, he can be delighted with his team's efforts, initially through defeating Genk and Cukaricki to ensure that they did not drop into the Europa Conference League.
In total, Olympiacos are unbeaten in eight competitive games since August 10, with three wins and one draw being collected from their opening four domestic matches.
Although a 1-1 draw with AEK Athens at the weekend came as a disappointment, Martinez's team came from behind to earn a point against the defending champions on away territory.
That should bode well heading into an encounter with one of Germany's up-and-coming teams, yet Freiburg have dropped off alarmingly either side of the international break.
Battling to wins over Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen have been followed by conceding nine goals in defeats to Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
Christian Streich's team had been leading the latter at half time - a positive response having lost 5-0 in the previous contest - but Dortmund rallied after a late red card to net two pivotal goals for a 4-2 triumph.
Fortunately for Freiburg, no team in the Bundesliga possesses a 100% record after four matches, ensuring that they still remain within four points of top spot.
Nevertheless, Streich knows that he requires an immediate response from his players on Thursday night in a fixture that may prove pivotal at the end of the group stage.
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Team News
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Such is Olympiacos' squad depth that Martinez has options available should he wish to tinker with his starting lineup.
However, while Vicente Iborra may return in central midfield to add some continental experience, Martinez could insist on retaining the majority of the players who started in Athens.
Daniel Podence featured for 54 minutes on his second debut for the club and may retain his place in the team, but Stevan Jovetic is likely to remain as a substitute after his switch from Hertha Berlin.
Regardless of whether Streitch sticks with a three-man backline, playmaker Vincenzo Grifo may return to the starting lineup on the left flank or a central creative role.
Kenneth Schmidt is in line to feature at centre-back for Freiburg, while Kiliann Sildillia, Merlin Rohl, Maximilian Philipp and Junior Adamu are all in contention for opportunities.
Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Paschalakis; Rodinei, Retsos, Freire, Quini; Camara, Iborra; Masouras, Fortounis, Podence; El Kaabi
Freiburg possible starting lineup:
Atubolu; Schmidt, Gulde, Ginter; Sildillia, Eggestein, Hofler, Kubler; Doan, Adamu, Grifo
We say: Olympiacos 1-1 Freiburg
Although Freiburg may be the marginal favourites on paper, there is little doubting that they would accept a share of the spoils from this contest. We expect Olympiacos to make most of the running, but the visitors may have enough quality at both ends to claim a draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
