SLGR Matchday 13 Preview: PAOK And Atromitos Back Home; OLY Away to Xanthi

AGONAsport’s George Tsitsonis previews matchday 13 of the 2018/19 Greek SuperLeague.

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Matchday 13 of the 2018/19 Greek Super League maybe lacking a big derby, but a number of fixtures arouse interest. Leaders PAOK welcome Larisa to Thessaloniki on Sunday, the same that second place Olympiacos are away to Xanthi. AEK and Atromitos are at home this weekend, while Panathinaikos faces the trip to Crete to take on OFI.

Below is a day-by-day breakdown of this weekend’s matches.

Saturday

Asteras Tripolis - PAS Giannina

AEK - Lamia

Just two matches take place on Saturday to begin the weekend proceedings. Asteras Tripolis appear to have rebounded from their poor start to the season. Two consecutive victories have eased the pressure at the club. There is a real chance to make it three in a row in Saturday’s early kick-off against PAS Giannina. The latter have struggled mightily as of late and take a place near the bottom of the form table.

Lamia gave PAOK a tough time last weekend in a 1-0 loss. This week they face another top side in defending champions AEK in Athens. AEK, currently in fourth place, rebounded from recent setbacks with a comfortable victory over Xanthi last weekend.

Sunday

Xanthi - Olympiacos

OFI - Panathinaikos

Atromitos - Aris

PAOK - Larisa

Sunday is the main course of Matchday 13 with four games slated. The day begins in northern Greece where Xanthi and Olympiacos clash. After a streak of four victories in a row, Xanthi have now slumped to consecutive defeats. They will have their work cut out for them to a third loss on the bounce against an Olympiacos side who have shown marked improvement in recent weeks. Six points off the top spot, Pedro Martins’ side know there is room for error this weekend.

OFI and Panathinaikos meet in Crete late on Sunday. Panathinaikos salvaged a late draw against Aris last weekend with an injury-time penalty-kick. OFI meanwhile also picked up an away draw at PAS Giannina.

The AGONAsport Match of the Week takes place at the Peristeri Stadium as Atromitos and Aris meet on Sunday evening. Atromitos followed up a first defeat of the season two weeks ago with a disappointing draw away to relegation battlers Apollon Smirnis. There will be a real desire to win this weekend in order to keep pace with PAOK and Olympiacos above them in the table. Aris have done well in their return to the top-flight, but certainly will believe that they could be even higher up the table than they are.

The quartet of fixtures is brought to a close by league leaders PAOK playing host to Larisa in the late kick-off. PAOK are not giving anything away in the title race even in matches they have not performed well in. One such game was last weekend away to Lamia, but Razvan Lucescu’s men keep finding a way to win. Larisa looked good going forward in last round’s 4-2 victory over Panionios. They are a side teetering between relegation zone and midtable and are still a tough team to predict.

Monday

Panetolikos - Apollon Smirnis

Panionios - Levadiakos

The final two matches of the weekend take place on Monday night. Panetolikos could climb to as high as seventh should they defeat Apollon Smirnis at home. Apollon are still vying for their first victory of the season. The good news is they are coming off a solid performance in holding Atromitos to a draw at home last week.

Finally, Akis Mantzios makes his debut as Panionios manager when his new club host Levadiakos on Monday. Jose Anigo was sacked following Panionios’ 4-2 loss away to Larisa seven days ago. Panionios are still in the thick of it as far as fighting for a European berth goes. Levadiakos on the flip side are relegation favorites at the moment and would do well to pick up a result in Nea Smyrni.

by George Tsitsonis

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