Anderlecht v Olympiacos background

History suggests there is a 75% chance of a hat-trick for one side or the other as the UEFA Europa League round of 32 brings RSC Anderlecht and Olympiacos FC together for a fifth time.

Previous meetings
• Anderlecht have met Olympiacos on four occasions in UEFA competition with the record W1 D0 L3 (W1 D0 L1 in Brussels – W0 D0 L2 in Greece). Hat-tricks were scored in three of those four games.

• In the second round of the 1974/75 European Champion Clubs' Cup, Rob Rensenbrink hit three as Urbain Braems's Anderlecht beat Lakis Petropoulos's Olympiacos 5-1 at home.

• Maik Galakos scored all three of Olympiacos's goals in a 3-0 win in the return fixture – it was Olympiacos's first European hat-trick.

• More recently, Míchel's Olympiacos defeated John van den Brom's Anderlecht 3-0 away and 3-1 at home in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage, Kostas Mitroglou registering all three goals in Brussels.

• Anderlecht's record in 14 encounters with Greek sides is W5 D5 L4 (W4 D2 L1 at home – W1 D3 L3 in Greece). Olympiacos are the only Greek club to have beaten them in Brussels.

• Olympiacos's record in six matches against Belgian opposition is W4 D0 L2 (W3 D0 L0 at home – W1 D0 L2 in Belgium). Their only previous victory in Belgium was against Anderlecht.

• In addition, Olympiacos prevailed 1-0 against Anderlecht in a pre-season friendly in August 2013.

Form guide
• Anderlecht are unbeaten in five European home games (W3 D2) since a 2-1 loss to Arsenal FC in the UEFA Champions League group stage in October 2014.

• Olympiacos exited the UEFA Champions League group stage after losing their final two fixtures, conceding seven goals and scoring none in the process.

• Anderlecht succumbed 3-1 on aggregate to FC Dinamo Moskva in last season's round of 32.

• Olympiacos have fallen at their first springtime hurdle in their last three European seasons, having last made it to the UEFA Europa League round of 16 in 2011/12. They have twice reached continental quarter-finals – the UEFA Champions League in 1998/99 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1992/93.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Piraeus to Brussels is around 2,100km.

• Olympiacos midfielder Esteban Cambiasso can make his 100th UEFA competition appearance in this game.

• Midfielder Luka Milivojević joined Olympiacos from Anderlecht in September 2014, having won the league title in his only season in Belgium.

• Olympiacos's Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason played in Belgium with KSC Lokeren OV from January 2011 to March 2012.

• Olympiacos goalkeeper Roberto and Anderlecht left-back Ivan Obradović were team-mates at Real Zaragoza in 2010 and from 2011 to 2013.

• Olympiacos are one of five sides in the round of 32 who qualified for Europe this season as domestic champions along with FC Basel 1893 (Switzerland), Galatasaray AŞ (Turkey), FC Midtjylland (Denmark) and Molde FK (Norway), though the latter have since lost their title to Rosenborg BK.

The coaches
• Previously assistant coach, Besnik Hasi assumed sole command at Anderlecht in March 2014. Capped 47 times by Albania, Hasi moved to Belgium in 1994, the midfielder winning a title with KRC Genk and another with Anderlecht, where he returned after seeing out his playing days at Cercle Brugge KSV, leading the Purple-and-Whites to the championship in May 2014.

• Olympiacos coach since July 2015, Marco Silva was a right-back, largely in the second and third divisions in Portugal. He made his name as a coach, leading Estoril Praia to promotion and then a fifth-place Liga finish, and Sporting Clube de Portugal to domestic cup success in 2014/15.