Round 24 Preview – Round of Redemption

Round 24 Preview – Round of Redemption

By Greg Gavalas

Only three more match days remain in Greece’s Super League regular season which means there is only weeks left until the new Play-Off System goes live and that means the top 6 will play off for the Championship plus European places, whilst 7ththrough to 14th will play off for relegation safety, although that’s largely a two horse race between Panionios and ever improving Panetolikos.
Whilst the battel for the Championship carries on between Olympiakos and PAOK, and with AEK in a safe third whilst Panathinaikos and Aris sit comfortably in 4th and 5threspectively there is a hug battle going on for 6th place, in what could be a European spot given Panathinaikos’s European ban for one more season, although the greens are looking to get the decision overturned, it’s something UEFA has never done before.
Just three points separate OFI in 6th through to Lamia in 12thso there is so much to play for, let’s look at the round for this weekend.

 Saturday

 Larisa vs PAOK
Larisa host title challenging PAOK at the AEL Arena, an important match for both teams however any anticipation to this match has been drowned with Larisa resting 8 main team players, including their best player Amr Warda and also in loan from PAOK, Ergys Kace. The other 6 players are missing this game due to card suspensions.
Serbian referee Srdjan Jovanovic will call this game in what is expected to be a comfortable win for PAOK in preparation for the huge match with Olympiakos next week.
Prediction – Comfortable to easy win for PAOK 

 Olympiakos vs Panionios
In Piraeus we see the home team who is first in the standings host Panionios who is running dead last and hasn’t moved from there all season. 
Olympiakos have the big match with Arsenal midweek in the Europa League so they will be looking for the quick kill and then resting key players and potentially giving some bench players a run given the reds also had a mid-week cup match with Lamia.
Prediction – Early goal, easy Olympiakos win

 Sunday

 Panathinaikos vs Panetolikos
Panathinaikos have had a week and a half to forget after their 2-0 win over PAOK, first came a 2-0 defeat in Thessaloniki for the Cup, then a 1-0 loss to AEK in Athens which was followed by another defeat at home by PAOK in the return Cup match.
This all came after 6 straight wins and seen the fans come back to OAKA to watch the team so the match with Panetolikos is a real confidence game where PAO must win in what should be the first of decent tests before the playoffs start.
Christos Donis is out injured with Emanuel Insua still a knock out for a further 20 days.
The game is a good test for Panetolikos who will play AEK midweek in the Cup Quarter Finals.
Prediction – A frustrating but needed PAO win

 Xanthi vs Lamia
The match in Xanthi might not look like much on paper but it’s a meaningful game for both teams as they both look to record a win given both teams have not won a game in 6 weeks!
Lamia did put up a much improved fight in their second leg against Olympiakos which will give them some confidence whilst Xanthi couldn’t convert their chances against Panioniosto take a much needed win.
Prediction – Goalless draw

 Volos vs Asteras Tripolis
This should be a good game, both teams play with some flair and open football. Asteras have turned their season around since the second round of games and are now in the hunt for the top 6 which seemed impossible at the start of the season.
Volos on the other hand started so well however have not been the same since their coach left for medical reasons, although they have shown signs of improvement in the last two weeks
Prediction – Asteras with a big away win

 Aris vs AEK
The big match of the round sees the yellow and blacks from Athens and Thessaloniki go head to head.
Both teams are in reasonable form and looking to put more distance on the teams behind them. Both teams are largely unchanged from their last matches although Aris did have a Cup match with Atromitos and whilst there was some travel involved, Aris won their match and are now in the Cup Semi-finals so that will bring confidence to them.
AEK on the other hand will be well rested and coming off the big win over PAO. For AEK it will be looking to improve their attack which was quite lacklustre vs PAO.
Prediction – AEK’s first away win against Aris (league match) since 2010

 Monday

 OFI vs Atromitos
Both teams have had a horrible start to 2020, since the 11th of January, both teams have only registered one win each. OFI who had a little leg on the rest for the 6th place battle are deep in the trenches as results that came in the first round of matches not replicating the second time around.
Atromitos are just not the team of past seasons and they have incredibly gone over 5 weeks without a single goal which includes Cup matches.
Prediction – Close fought win for OFI

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