History on PAOK’s side ahead of Northern Derby

The group stages of the Greek Cup don’t often produce headline duels, but that’s not the case this year as Thessaloniki rivals PAOK and Aris do battle at the Toumba Stadium. AGONAsport investigates.

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Over the years, the eternal derby of Thessaloniki has thrown up real thrillers and is always full of raw passion, but as a direct result of Aris’ financial collapse four years ago, this will be their first meeting since the 2013/2014 Super League campaign. Considering that Aris have only just returned to the top flight and PAOK’s flying start to the season, the Dikefalos tou Vorra are overwhelming favourites to emerge victorious at the Toumba Stadium on Wednesday, however an impressive Aris side won’t be willing to give their enemies an easy ride.

In a positive statistic for PAOK fans, their team have only lost to Aris twice at home in the past 20 years, with those defeats coming on 29 August 1998 (1:4) and 3 October 2010 (0:1) in the domestic league. Apart from those setbacks, PAOK have won 11 out of 14 matches against Aris at the Toumba between 1998 and 2018, drawing the remaining three. In the 2013/2014 season - their most recent match-up - PAOK saw off the challenge of Aris 3:1 at home, but at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, they were held to a 1:1 draw.

Overall, if we take a look at the numbers, PAOK have tasted glory against Aris on 50 occasions, while the latter aren’t far behind with 36 victories alongside 45 draws. However, in the Greek Cup, Aris have won eight derbies compared to PAOK’s seven triumphs and will be hoping to increase that to nine and in turn spring a surprise. Interestingly, the two Thessaloniki clubs have twice met in the Greek Cup final, as Aris lifted the trophy in 1970 with a 1:0 victory and PAOK gained revenge in 2003 by the same scoreline.

As expected, both teams have selected full strength squads for the duel, however PAOK goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis is unable to participate after a one-match ban was imposed for his actions in a Super League game against OFI. PAOK are currently in second place of the league while Aris are only one point behind in fourth.

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sdna.gr

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