SLGR Matchday 10 Preview: Athens derby takes center stage
AGONAsport’s George Tsitsonis previews matchday 10 of the 2019/20 Greek SuperLeague.
Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage from AGONASport.com!
Panathinaikos and AEK clash in the Athens derby on Sunday in the highlight fixture of Matchday 10 of the 2019/20 Greek Super League 1.
The local rivals have both had rollercoaster seasons thus far and will be chasing a victory on the back of decent performances last weekend. There should be no shortage of interest in some of the other weekend matches. Defending champions PAOK face a very difficult looking trip to Crete to play OFI while league leaders Olympiacos are at home against Atromitos.
Below is a daily breakdown of the weekend fixtures:
Saturday
Volos - Panetolikos
OFI - PAOK
Matchday 10 action begins in Volos as the newly-promoted side welcome lowly Panetolikos. The Agrinio club are the only team in the division without a victory this season and would be last place if not for Panionios’ six-point deduction. Volos will fancy their chances though they will need to improve their recent form, especially the way they played in last weekend’s defeat at Lamia.
PAOK will be prepared for a tough encounter as they travel to OFI in Saturday’s late kick-off. The defending champions nearly lost their undefeated record last weekend against Panathinaikos only for captain Vierinha to fire home an injury-time penalty to salvage a point. That left Abel Ferreira’s side two points adrift of Olympiacos. The Thessaloniki club will want to stay close ahead of the big derby between the two sides in early December. There was widespread disappointment in the OFI camp after giving up a two-goal last week at Larisa and eventually losing 3-2. Still, that loss cannot hide the fact that OFI have been one of the surprises of the season so far after battling against the drop for most of last season.
Sunday
Aris - Asteras Tripolis
Xanthi - Panionios
Olympiacos - Atromitos
Panathinaikos - AEK
The feature match-up and the AGONAsport Match of the Week on Sunday is undoubtedly the derby at the Olympic Stadium in Athens between Panathinaikos and AEK. Though they share the ground, Panathinaikos will be the home side in this one. Giorgos Donis’ men were ever so close to a massive win away to PAOK last round. The Prasini gave up a late penalty at Toumba, but offered up a display that gave some hope for the rest of the season after a poor start. A similar display and the three points against AEK could certainly be the catalyst for a change in the team’s fortunes.
AEK were also involved in a dramatic encounter in their last match, a topsy-turvy 3-2 win versus Atromitos. That ensures the team enters this derby in a better frame of mind after going down to Olympiacos a fortnight ago. AEK will rest their hopes on the recent form of hat-trick hero Nelson Oliveira. If the Kitrinomavri want to stay in the title race they will need to keep pace with the leaders and not lose any more ground.
Earlier in the day, Olympiacos seek to continue their unbeaten start to the season intact when they host Atromitos. Pedro Martins must get his side to switch gears after a midweek Champions’ League defeat at Bayern Munich. The focus of the club remains firmly on the domestic front and winning the league title this season. In Atromitos, Olympiacos will face a side with few lucky breaks this season. While some performances have been below par, certainly a lack of good fortune has also been a factor in the team languishing in eighth place. This was on show last weekend when they equalized versus AEK a minute from time, only to concede a goal deep into injury-time and lose the game.
Elsewhere, Aris and Xanthi will be expected to prevail in home matches against teams lower in the standings. Aris take on Asteras Tripolis, who are struggling to find consistency and are in ninth place currently. Aris scraped a draw away to Panionios last weekend and are still searching for the form that led them to a European berth a season ago.
Xanthi managed to grab a point against Olympiacos at home in their previous match. At home for a second consecutive game, they will fancy themselves to defeat bottom side Panionios. The Nea Smyrni club are relegation favorites due to their six-point deduction to start the season, but have shown signs of life recently such as last week’s draw against Aris.
Monday
Larisa - Lamia
If results went their way, Larisa could remarkably find themselves as high as third in the Super League standings come Monday evening. That scenario may be unlikely, but another victory, this time at home to Lamia, would continue the team’s impressive start to the campaign. Lamia may be twelfth in the table and third from bottom, however they be on the rise after defeating Volos last time out for their first victory of the season.
