While Olympiakos have been the dominant force in Greek domestic football with a record 40 league titles, that has rarely translated into success in Europe.

Rivals Panathanaikos have historically stolen their thunder in continental competition, but at home Olympiakos have been formidable.

Since their 1997 title win, the Piraeus-based club have only failed to grab the Greek Superleague trophy in two seasons, a time-frame of 17 years.

This season they are almost certain to retain their title as they hold a 20-point lead over PAOK. Then again, they face a distinct lack of competition at home with Panathanaikos slipping backwards and struggling with financial problems and fellow Big Three member AEK Athens relegated to the Greek amateur leagues.

It will be interesting to see how that lack of competition affects the club when they take on Manchester United tonight.

Form

Certainly it did not prevent them progressing from a Champions League group including PSG, Benfica and Anderlecht. However, they only beat Benfica to a last-16 place by dint of a superior head to head record (1 - 0 win in Greece and a 1 -1 draw in Lisbon) and goal difference.

Olympiakos lost twice to PSG, including a 4 - 1 hammering at home.

That's the sort of result they are not accustomed to domestically where they are unbeaten and have conceded just nine goals and scored 74 in 26 games.

I watched one of their recent matches against relegation candidates Veria and Olympiakos won 5 - 0 without really getting out of second gear.

Also to say they are unbeaten is a bit of an understatement given that the team managed by former Sevilla boss Michel has only had to put up with draws in the league on two occasions.

Micahel Olaitan

Players to watch

Kostas Mitroglou who scored a hat-trick against Anderlecht in the group stages is no longer a concern for Man United, seeing as the league's top scorer (he still leads the charts) has decamped to Fulham.

That puts more pressure on the shoulders of former Barcelona, Benfica and Real Madrid striker Javier Saviola. The former Argentina international is the league and club's second top scorer with 11 goals.

However some of the slack is currently being taken up by Nigerian striker Michael Olaitan who has scored six league goals since mid-January. He is likely to play on the left side of a 4-5-1 with Saviola leading the line.

22-year-old centre-back Konstantinos 'Kostas' Manolas who has scored twice in the Champions League this season is also an other player to keep an eye with Premier League scouts - specifically Newcastle - interested.

Arsenal fans should also be aware of Joel Campbell who is on loan at Olympiakos following a spell at Real Betis. The Costa Rican will more than likely operate from the right flank. He has not scored in the Champions League this season but has plundered a healthy seven goals domestically.

Style

According to stats by Squawka, they have average 46 per cent possession in the Champions League this season and have a lower pass completion ratio than United.

They are a threat from set pieces with two goals from corners which ranks them sixth in Europe in that regard.

They have also been among the more direct teams in the competition with one of the Top 5 average pass lengths of any of the 32 teams.