SLGR Matchday 13 Preview: Leaders look to break free

AGONAsport’s George Tsitsonis previews matchday 13 of the 2019/20 Greek SuperLeague.

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Matchday 13 of the 2019/20 Greek Super League 1 commences on Saturday without a major derby in the weekend schedule. Still, there are important fixtures throughout Greece with the focus being on the results of the top two. Olympiacos and PAOK remain joint top of the table after they battled to a 1-1 draw last week in Piraeus. This weekend Olympiacos travel to Panetolikos while PAOK host Xanthi. Elsewhere, there will be interest in and around Athens to see how AEK rebound after another poor outing and the debut of Savvas Pantelidis on the bench at Atromitos against his former club Aris.

Below is a daily breakdown of the weekend schedule:

Saturday

PAOK-Xanthi

AEK-Panionios

Panetolikos-Olympiacos

The 13th round of play in the Super League 1 begins in Thessaloniki as PAOK host Xanthi. Abel Ferreira’s men stood tall last weekend at the Karaiskakis Stadium as they stretched their unbeaten run to an incredible 47 matches in domestic play. They now will seek a return to winning ways against a Xanthi side who are impressively third in the table after last weekend’s 1-0 win over Atromitos.

Later in the day, embattled AEK seek to find some form when they meet up with Panionios at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. Italian manager Massimo Carrera appears in line to take over the Kitrinomavri as the necessity for a permanent coach was made clear after defeat at OFI in their last match. AEK are currently mired in fifth place, ten points off the pace, and with their worst league start since returning to the top-flight back in 2015. Panionios may have began the season with a six-point deduction, but they are showing some real battling qualities in recent weeks. They have erased that -6 start and now are above last place Panetolikos.

Speaking of Panetolikos, they will entertain top side Olympiacos in a worst versus first match-up. Panetolikos are the only winless team in the division after twelve matches. Olympiacos cannot afford to slip-up against the hapless Agrinio side, though they must ensure they do not look ahead to this weekend’s crucial Champions’ League Group Stage finale against Red Star Belgrade.

Sunday

Lamia-OFI

Asteras Tripolis-Larisa

Atromitos-Aris

Volos-Panathinaikos

Four matches mark Sunday’s slate of fixtures. The action begins early on in Lamia as the home side take on OFI. Few may have predicted before the season that a match like this would arouse much interest, however both sides have been impressive coming up to the halfway point of the season. Lamia are on a tear having won three of their last four and did well last weekend to come away with a point at Aris. OFI are joint third in the table and showed their quality again in last Sunday’s defeat of AEK.

Struggling Asteras Tripolis will want nothing more than the three points as they await the arrival of Larisa. Asteras played Panathinaikos close in their last league game, but tasted defeat for the seventh time this season in a 1-0 loss. They are third from the bottom and could use a decent stretch of results to climb up the standings. The Akrites did show real fight in coming back to defeat Platanias and advance to the next round of the Greek Cup in midweek. Larisa are showing to be an unpredictable bunch. They are nothing if not exciting to watch though. Last weekend Michalis Grigoriou’s men did extremely well to come from behind and defeat Volos 2-1 in the Thessaly derby.

The AGONAsport Match of the Week takes place in Peristeri as Atromitos and Aris lock horns. There will be added spice to this one as Savvas Pantelidis takes his place on the bench for the first time for Atromitos against his former club. The season has not gone at all the way Atromitos had expected. The good news is that a top-six finish and a European place is still not beyond this side should Pantelidis be able to improve the team. Aris meanwhile have been blowing hot and cold for much of the campaign. Last week’s 1-1 draw with Lamia was indicative of their form as they had looked to be on a good run in previous weeks. More consistency is needed from the Thessaloniki club if they want to lockdown a top four spot.

The matchday draws to a close with Panathinaikos taking on Volos. Giorgos Donis is trying to raise the expectations of his young side and has called for improvement this weekend after last week’s solid, but unspectacular, 1-0 win over Asteras Tripolis. The Prasini will go up against a Volos side fresh off a derby defeat to Larisa last weekend. After beginning the season very well, the promoted side have since been dropping down the standings. A positive result versus Panathinaikos is needed to stop the slide.

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: gazzetta.gr

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