A Mitroglou-less Olympiacos still pose Man United a goal threat

When Kostas Mitroglou was pictured holding up a Fulham shirt on deadline day, the general reaction at Old Trafford was that his departure would make Olympiacos an easy nut to crack in the Champions League.

That actually couldn’t be further from the truth as the fans of the Greek club could be heard collectively asking “Kostas who?” over the last three games, as 13 goals were scored.

Olympiacos are 12/5 to score more than 1.5 goals against Manchester United in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash, and even without Mitroglou that is a cracking price.

Thrylos have their league title all but sewn up with eight games to go, thanks to a 20-point lead and have accrued a Manchester City-like goal difference of +69 along the way.

Much of that was down to the scoring might of “Mitrogoal” but Olympiacos’ rampant attacks on opponent nets hasn’t slowed in his absence.

Since the closure of the January transfer window they’ve scored two or more goals in all five of their outings.

While their Champions League exploits haven’t really matched their trailblazing league endeavours, playing a United side prone to letting goal tallies on the road multiply once the first one flies in will help.

In all of the last six away games that David Moyes’ men have conceded in, they’ve failed to keep the opposition to just one strike, shipping two or more.

That’ll be music to the ears of Olympiacos players, who have collectively got on the scoresheet more than once in a game for 10 straight outings at their Karaiskakis Stadium.

With at least three players attractively priced to score at anytime in the clash, there’s certainly no reason to expect a Mitroglou-less Olympiacos to fade with a whimper when the game gets underway.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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