- 1 OFI Crete vs Hoffenheim: four home games, four wins, no goals conceded
- 2 OFI Crete: a fortress that still has not been breached
- 3 Hoffenheim: always scoring, always leaking
- 4 Europa League prediction OFI Crete vs Hoffenheim
- 5 First of all, a note on our free picks
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information that can change
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
OFI Crete vs Hoffenheim: four home games, four wins, no goals conceded 
Four home games this season, four wins, no goals conceded. OFI Crete are launching their first ever European league phase with that kind of record.
Kick-off is set for Thursday, September 17 at 18:45 CEST, at the Pankritio Stadio in Heraklion. It is matchday one of the Europa League league phase.
Hoffenheim arrive in Crete as favourites, but their start to the season has been patchy. Two defeats and two wins from four competitive matches is the German side’s early tally.
The Crete club booked their place by winning the Greek Cup, edging PAOK 3-2 in a lively final. That trophy opened the door to the final qualifying round.
They cleared that hurdle without breaking sweat, brushing aside CSKA Sofia 5-0 on aggregate. The 0-2 win in Sofia had already settled matters before the second leg.
Last Saturday, OFI Crete won 1-0 away at Olympiacos thanks to Kenan Kodro. It was their first victory at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium since 1990.
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, are back in the Europa League after a season out. The German club finished fifth in Bundesliga, just one place and one point away from Champions League football.
Christian Ilzer has been handed an opponent it would be foolish to treat lightly. On paper, though, the balance of power is pretty clear.
OFI Crete: a fortress that still has not been breached 
Three straight wins in all competitions and four consecutive clean sheets: OFI are not conceding much at all.
Christos Kontis’s side sit third in the Greek Super League, with nine points from four games.
They have lost just once in nine outings since the start of the campaign, a 2-1 defeat away to Aris Thessaloniki on August 30. Since then, OFI Crete are unbeaten in four and have kept four straight clean sheets.
At the Pankritio Stadio, the goals against column is still blank. Four home games, four wins, and a goalkeeper who has not had to fish the ball out of his net once.
This run is not just about the big result in Piraeus for OFI. It was also built on a tidy 2-0 home win over Kifisia, done without any fuss.
Kontis uses a back three, with two wing-backs stretching the pitch. Lorenzo Dickmann on the right and Nikolaos Athanasiou on the left work those channels.
Konstantinos Kostoulas and Achilleas Poungouras provide the backbone of that defence. A lot of Crete’s defensive numbers rest on their shoulders.
Kenan Kodro scored the decisive goal in Piraeus in the second half. The striker remains the main attacking reference for a side that does not score often, but tends to strike at the right time.
Right-back Nikos Marinakis will miss the game. Centre-back Dimitrios Nikolaou is also a doubt after a hip issue against Olympiacos.
On paper, OFI Crete are the weakest side in the group. On the pitch, they have still not conceded at home this season.
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Hoffenheim: always scoring, always leaking 
Hoffenheim have scored at least twice in each of their four competitive matches. The problem is elsewhere.
The Sinsheim club led against Cologne and Borussia Dortmund, and lost 3-2 both times. Going ahead did them no good whatsoever.
Six points dropped right at the start of the league season — that is the bill from those two nights. The attacking output has never really been the issue.
They bounced back on Saturday against Stuttgart, with Adam Hlozek scoring twice in a 2-1 first Bundesliga win. The Czech forward heads to Crete in good form.
The season began with a straightforward 4-0 win away to Erzgebirge Aue in the opening round of the German Cup.
Christian Ilzer is leaning on a centre-back pairing of Ozan Kabak and Albian Hajdari, shielded by Oliver Baumann. That trio is the spine of the defensive set-up.
Ahead of them, the double pivot of Leon Avdullahu and Wouter Burger keeps things moving. Tim Lemperle and Adam Hlozek share the lead role up front.
Alexander Prass is the only confirmed absentee, sidelined by a muscle injury picked up in early August.
Rotation is expected in Crete: Robin Hranac, Nathan De Cat and Andrej Kramaric are among those who could be handed starts.
In 2024-25, Hoffenheim were out of the Europa League at the league-phase stage. They will not want a repeat and head into this trip as clear favourites.
Probable OFI Crete line-up: Christogeorgos; Kostoulas, Poungouras, Sielis; Dickmann, Androutsos, Bouchalakis, Athanasiou; Fountas, Cantalapiedra; Kodro
Probable Hoffenheim line-up: Baumann; Gendrey, Kabak, Hajdari, Rots; Avdullahu, Burger; Conte, Hlozek, Daghim; Lemperle
Europa League prediction OFI Crete vs Hoffenheim
Our prediction: Hoffenheim to win
Hoffenheim have scored at least two goals in all four games this season. No defence they’ve faced has managed to shut them down, not even Borussia Dortmund’s.
OFI have not come up against an attack of this level yet. Their four home clean sheets have been earned against opposition a long way short of Bundesliga fifth place.
The Crete absences hit in the worst possible area. Marinakis is out, Nikolaou is doubtful: it is the back line, their one real strength, that is taking the damage.
Hlozek’s brace against Stuttgart gave the German attack a timely lift. Hoffenheim get the nod.
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