Play Outs & Play Offs Round 3 Preview

Play Outs & Play Offs Round 3 Preview


By Greg Gavalas


The battle for key positions continues in the Super League with Round 3 of the Play Outs and Play Offs due this weekend.


The Round features the Eternal Derby between Olympiakosand Panathinaikos to be played at the Karaiskaki Stadium with the Reds looking to carry on undefeated but the Greens would love nothing more than injecting the Piraeus boys with their first loss.


With critical second leg Greek Cup Semi-Finals due for Wednesday that involved, AEK, Olympiakos, PAOK and Aris, we could see a few key players rested.


In the Play Outs, the Asteras Tripolis v Atromitos clash is a top of the table game with both teams looking to assert their authority on the best of the rest.


Play Offs


PAOK vs OFI


PAOK were one of the big improvers in round 2, against Panathinaikos in Athens, the reigning Champions were the better of the two teams in a match many expected PAO to win, and the end result of 0-0 was really a case of PAOK not converting their chances.


PAOK have two important matches on their deck now, the match with OFI is a match they are expected to win and should win with the Cretans down on form but will also be without key defender Giorgos Koutroumbis and Nikos Marinakis who is one of the few Cretans in good form.


In some better news for the away team, Englishman, Adil Nabi has recovered from his injury and will play in Toumba.


The other important match PAOK have to deal with is the 2nd leg of the Cup Semi Final tie with Olympiakos, PAOK will travel to Piraeus and look to defend a 3-2 first leg lead, with this in mind, Vieirinha will be rested from the OFI match and Dimitris Pelkas continues to struggle with full fitness and he will also not be in the squad.


With the battle for 2nd well and truly on, PAOK will be looking for a repeat of the regular season fixture with OFI at Toumba which was an easy 4-0 win.


Prediction – PAOK 3-0 


AEK vs Aris


AEK had a good return to form in Round 2 with an impressive win in Crete over OFI however the Enosi have been dealt a blow mid-week with drama man, Ognjen Vranjes officially off the books.


The Bosnian International has returned to Anderlecht after been on loan to AEK, whilst his form was not at its best so far in the play offs, the loss of Vranjes means AEK’s centre back parings features slow defenders and 2 of 3 are very injury prone, this could be very costly in AEK’s voyage of second place and a Cup Final appearance.


Much of that will tell in the next half week, AEK is expected to win against Aris in Athens, before travelling to Thessaloniki midweek to play Aris again in the second leg of the Greek Cup Semi-Final, with AEK looking to defend a 2-1 win from the first leg.


Aris is expected to put their energy in that match, with OFI not proving a great threat for 5th place in the Play Offs, it’s all about the Cup, which means it will be very interesting to see what line up Michael Oenning will put out at the OAKA, I say this because we have seen a similar 11 for Aris since the German took over.


Prediction – AEK 2-1 


Olympiakos vs Panathinaikos


High flying Olympiakos host rivals Panathinaikos with one injury concern and that’s to key play maker, Mathieu Valbuena.


The injury is not serious but it’s expected he will be rested from this match so he is ok to play in the Cup Semi Final with PAOK midweek. 


This should see Kostas Fortounis get a start and many will be looking to see the Greek star, notch up some needed form.


Panathinaikos on the other hand have a problem with their right side, during the week Mattias Johansson complained about some pain and it now looks like he will out of action for 2 weeks.


With Joao Nunes also injured and Giorgios Vagiannidis not in the plans, coach Giorgios Donis may have to play Dimitris Kolovetsios or youth player Vagellis Theoharis at right back on debut, it’s expected Nunes will undergo a fitness test as late as possible in order to make the game, and joining him will be Dimitris Kourmbelis who is also not 100% fit and didn’t train with the team on Thursday.


Prediction – Olympiakos 2-0


Play Outs


Asteras Tripolis vs Atromitos


The top of the table Play Outs clash will see both Asteas and Atromitos in search for top table supremacy however both teams have had inconstant form, with the visitors especially suffering an up and down season.


Asteras was surprisingly unspectacular last week against Panionios at home and were held to a 0-0 draw in a match they were expected to win.

Atromitos couldn’t convert their chances with Lamia in Athens and were also held to a draw.


Prediction – Asteras – 1-0  


Xanthi vs Panetolikos


Xanthi have had one drama filled season and after the drama with PAOK and the loss of 12 points compounded with their poor form a new drama has arisen for the team with a rise in Covid-19 cases in the city.


This match was only confirmed on Thursday after there was much talk that it will be postponed but it’s now on, the teams will accommodate outside the prefecture.


Form wise, Panetolikos is coming off an impressive 3-0 win over Larisa and that catapulted the team from Agrinio over Xanthi and out of relegation zone so this match has much writing on it.


Prediction – Draw 0-0 (Xanthi special)


Larisa vs Volos


The Thessaly derby will be a battle of not much really but for major bragging rights.

Larisa it is safe to say have been a huge disappointment in the Play Outs so far with 2 losses from as many games and last week’s performance against Panetolikos was terrible.


Volos on the other hand have been ok, and were rewarded with a win last week at home to Xanthi, their main problem – converting chances, despite good play for the most part they seem to be the best team at missing the unmissable so watch this space in this match.


Prediction – Volos 2-1


Lamia vs Panionios


Not many would have predicted these two teams to be two of the more impressive teams in the Play Outs but it’s true and the historical Panionios will be looking for a big away win to really have a serious bid at avoiding the drop to the Super League 2.


Lamia has been consistent and put up a good game last week away to Atromitos, they don’t have a great deal to play for and you can see they are enjoying their football.


Dimitrios Emmanualidis remains injured for the visitors which hurts their attack considerably but I expect a full blown assault for the win no matter what.


Prediction – Panionios 1-0 


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