SLGR Matchday 6 Preview: Thessaloniki test for league leaders Olympiacos
AGONAsport’s George Tsitsonis previews matchday 6 of the 2019/20 Greek SuperLeague.
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Matchday 6 of the 2019/20 Greek Super League 1 takes place this weekend. The action begins Saturday with two matches, the main course of fixtures on Sunday with four games, and a single contest on Monday, the first on that night this season. Olympiacos’ trip to Thessaloniki to take on Aris is the highlighted match, but there will be interest in places such as Larisa and Tripoli where AEK and PAOK, respectively, face tricky encounters.
Here is a daily breakdown of the weekend match-ups:
Saturday
Panathinaikos - Xanthi
Larisa - AEK
Saturday’s two ties commence in Athens where Panathinaikos plays host to Xanthi. Ghayas Zahid’s early strike saw Giorgos Donis’ men pick up their first win of the season last week against Panionios. They will have a seemingly tougher task this weekend when second-placed Xanthi come to the capital. Kiko Ramirez has side just a point behind leaders Olympiacos. After being thumped by Larisa a fortnight ago, Xanthi rebounded to record a solid victory over Volos last week at home.
Down 2-0 away to Aris last weekend, it appeared as though Larisa were heading for a sure defeat. Then, inexplicably, the Vissini fought back to record a breathtaking 3-2 win. Coupled with their win over Xanthi the round before, suddenly Michalis Grigoriou’s men have sprung to life in the last two games. The Thessaly club will face a resurgent AEK on Saturday evening at the AEL FC Arena. Despite falling behind twice to PAOK in last week’s derby, AEK came back to grab a point and continue to look like a club on an upward trend after a subpar start to the new campaign.
Sunday
Volos - Atromitos
Asteras Tripolis - PAOK
OFI - Panionios
Aris - Olympiacos
It all begins in Volos on Sunday when four matches are slated. The newly-promoted side, who have made a strong start to the season, take on Atromitos, a club trying to find its feet after a rocky start.
Later in the day, two matches kick-off simultaneously. Defending champions PAOK will be ready to take advantage of Olympiacos potentially dropping points assuming they can go to Asteras Tripolis and pick up a win. PAOK are now a point behind their Piraeus rivals while Asteras are down in eleventh place after a slow start to their campaign.
After Xanthi, OFI are the season’s surprise side. Fourth in the table at the moment on ten points, Giorgios Simos has his team playing some good football and appearing very strong at home. This week the Crete club take on Panionios. The Nea Smyrni side have shown signs of life in recent weeks, picking up four points to take their six-point deduction to -2.
The AGONAsport Match of the Week sees Aris play host to Olympiacos. Aris have actually been one of the more disappointing teams in the early stages of this season. The Thessaloniki club have only five points from five matches and are coming off a shock 3-2 defeat to Larisa, in a game they initially led 2-0. Still, at home this is an extremely tough side and Olympiacos will undoubtedly have their hands full.
Pedro Martins and his team rode the criticism of the midweek defeat at Red Star in the Champions’ League, but as Martins stated, the team’s goal unequivocally remains winning the league title. They will have a chance to prove that is where their focus lies on Sunday evening in a game where Martins is expected to recall up to five players who were left out of the Red Star match.
Monday
Lamia - Panetolikos
Finally, the weekend action concludes in Lamia with the first Monday night match of the season. Lamia host Panetolikos in a battle of two teams rooted near the bottom of the table. Both teams are winless at this stage, with Lamia having drawn three and lost two. Panetolikos, on the other hand, are losers of their first five matches and appear to be in serious trouble already.
