Olympiakos v Burnley preview: Sean Dyche says pitch is ‘not great’

Sean Dyche says his Burnley side have had it tough so far in the Europa League, but is ready to take on Olympiakos.

Dyche’s Burnley go to Greece for their Europa League qualifying play-off first leg, having seen off Aberdeen and Istanbul Basaksehir in the previous two rounds.

„We’ve had a tough time of it really when you think about it. We had a lot of noise about the Battle of Britain against Aberdeen, and when we played the Turkish side, they were a very good side, a very technical side. We’re mixing our group as well, and then coming here and then back at Turf Moor,“ Dyche said.
„But, at the end of the day, I think that is part of the prestige of any tournament – it’s when you play against the big names. As you rightly say, they have got a history here.

„They have got a knowledge of different variances in the European scene of football and that’s probably in their favour slightly. But, on the other hand, we have a freshness, we have a newness about us. It’s a new look for us to come and take these challenges on.“

Dyche says Olympiakos’ pitch is „not great“ but insisted he was not worried about it.

Burnley trained at an alternative venue, the Panionios’ Nea Smyrni Stadium, to give the surface at the Karaiskakis Stadium as much protection as possible ahead of Thursday’s match.

Olympiakos were granted special dispensation by UEFA over the pitch which has been described as „dry“ and „patchy“.

Team news
Matej Vydra could make his Burnley debut, travelling to Athens having made two appearances for the Clarets’ U23s since his move from Derby.

Dyche says there are „a couple of knocks that we’ll have to make a decision on“, but Robbie Brady, Steven Defour, Anders Lindegaard and Nick Pope are unavailable.
Opta stats
Burnley will be the eighth different English team to face Olympiakos in European competition, but the first outside of the Champions League since 2005, when Newcastle lost both legs against them in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.
Burnley are unbeaten in their four European games under Sean Dyche (W2 D2), keeping a clean sheet in both legs of the previous round against Istanbul Basaksehir.
English sides have won just two of their last 10 away games in Greece in European competition (D4 L4), however those have come in the most recent two.
Olympiakos have lost just one of their 10 games in UEFA Cup/Europa League qualifying, winning nine of those, including both games in 2018-19 (4-0 and 3-1 v FC Luzern).
On home soil, Olympiakos have a 100 per cent record in UEFA Cup/Europa League qualifying, winning their five games by an aggregate score of 15-3.
Jack Cork is Burnley’s top scorer in the current Europa League qualifying campaign (2), including netting the winning goal in the previous round against Istanbul Basaksehir (1-0).
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