Preview: Olympiacos vs. NEC - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to put a losing run behind them, Olympiacos host NEC at Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis in Tuesday's Champions League third qualifying round first-leg match.

Jose Luis Mendilibar's men have lost three on the trot in pre-season ahead of their first competitive match of the campaign, but their Nijmegen visitors are not in fine form either, as they travel to Piraeus on a two-match losing run.

Match preview

While some observers reckon that pre-season results should never be used as a barometer for a team's current level, Mendilibar's team have not had a fine run of it.

Having started their tune-up with two wins and a draw, the Red-Whites have now fallen to three consecutive defeats to Ajax, Royal Antwerp and AZ Alkmaar.

What has stayed consistent, regardless of recent results, is the Greek outfit's inability to keep a clean sheet during their pre-season outings, letting in goals even during their undefeated start — wins over Rakow (2-1) and Fortuna Sittard (3-1) sandwiched a 1-1 draw with Leuven.

While those outings were then followed by consecutive blanks against Ajax and Antwerp, Mendilibar at least enters Tuesday's match aware of his team ending their 180-minute drought, even if they ultimately fell to a 3-2 loss against AZ Alkmaar at the end of August.

Having reached the knockout phase play-offs in Europe's premier club competition last season, Mendilibar's men's ultimate aim is reaching the league phase; however, they must navigate this tie and the next to reach the competition proper in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Perhaps even worse off in pre-season, NEC enter their first-ever Champions League qualifying match after a dismal run in the off-season.

Much time has passed since the Nijmegen outfit claimed third place in the Eredivisie — their best-ever finish in the competition — but results ahead of their bow in the preliminary phase have been below par.

NEC have played out two wins in seven tune-up matches, losing four in that period, and travel to Piraeus after losing back-to-back games against Elversberg and Sevilla.

What has not changed, though, is Dick Schreuder's men's all-or-nothing approach: they have conceded in all seven matches, while scoring in all but one game.

Indeed, NEC's free-scoring nature was evident in 2025-26, with Schreuder's team notching 77 goals — only PSV Eindhoven (101) netted more — while their 53 conceded was the worst of the top three, with PSV and Feyenoord letting in 45 and 44, respectively.

Their pre-season results suggest that the Nijmegen outfit are carrying that front-footed approach into the new campaign, likely guaranteeing great entertainment in Piraeus.

Olympiacos friendlies form:

NEC friendlies form:

Team News

While Olympiacos do not appear to have a surfeit of injury issues, Yusuf Yazici remains out with a long-term knee issue.

Only Ayoub El Kaabi and Mehdi Taremi netted double figures in league goals last term, notching 18 and 10 respectively, and both men have returned to action after representing Morocco and Iran at the 2026 World Cup.

El Kaabi has already found the back of the net, albeit in defeat against AZ, but the Morocco international aims to carry that run into Tuesday's fixture.

NEC's Vito van Crooij, Koki Ogawa, Perr Schuurs, Willum Thor Willumsson, Adam Tahaui and Yassin Moslih are either injured or not named in the squad for the first leg, with Ogawa's exclusion noteworthy after an eight-goal season in 2025-26.

Nonetheless, the veteran pair of Tjaronn Chery and Bryan Linssen, who scored a combined 21 goals in the top flight, are among the group in Piraeus.

Olympiacos possible starting lineup:

Popovic; Saliakas, Retsos, Pirola, Ortega; Scipioni, Garcia; Rodinei, Chiquinho, Martins; El Kaabi

NEC possible starting lineup:

Crettaz; Pereira, Sandler, Fonville; Ouaissa, Sano, Nejasmic, Lebreton; Chery, Tadic; Linssen

We say: Olympiacos 2-1 NEC

Although both sides enter this tie plagued by pre-season defensive vulnerabilities, Olympiacos boast far greater European pedigree and home advantage in Piraeus.

With Schreuder's men missing several key figures, including Ogawa, Mendilibar's side should just about edge an entertaining opening leg to take a slender lead to Nijmegen.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.