Playoffs and Playouts Round 6 Preview

Playoffs and Playouts Round 6 Preview

By Greg Gavalas

With Olympiakos claiming the title after their run of wins and the rest all stumbling over each other, it’s really down to who will finish second and claim the second Champions League spot between AEK and PAOK but the big battle is who will avoid relegation as Panionios’s run of wins has made it a three horse race with just 1 point separating the Nea Smirniotes, Xanthi and Panetolikos.

Play Offs

OFI vs PAOK

PAOK will draw first blood this round in their battle with AEK for second place, the Dikefalo Tou Vorra travels to Crete to take on an improved OFI team.

A week can make a big difference in football and since the last preview OFI have shown a much better face in their 0-0 home draw with Panathinaikos last week and in their 2-1 away loss to Olympiakos midweek.

PAOK on the other hand had a comfortable 2-0 win over a depleted Aris last week but was rather poor at home to AEK and went down 2-0 in a crucial match that gives the Athenians the upper hand for now.

With midweek games played, squad depth and fitness will be a huge test and it will be up to PAOK to take the game to the home team.

Prediction – PAOK 1-0

Aris vs AEK

The two kitrinomavri are very familiar with each other having played together already two times in the last two weeks but this game will see a different Aris side that tested AEK in those previous games.

With the transfer ban that FIFA has imposed on Aris, they have seen several important players leave the club, as such Aris is in a position where only 14 players are available and with so many matches this will prove to be a very challenging period for the club, who may even find OFI challenging them for 5th.

AEK on the other hand is coming along well, despite a loss to Olympiakos last week, it was an AEK that was missing up to 5 first team players, and AEK went onto claim a rare 0-2 away win over PAOK midweek.

AEK was able to create many chances against Aris when they were a much stronger team so I expect to see more of that and another good win in Thessaloniki.

Prediction – AEK 2-0

Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos

The two big rivals meet again after playing just two weeks ago at the Karaiskaki Stadium which saw Olympiakos maintain their undefeated run and come out comfortable 3-0 winners.

The match itself has very little meaning in terms of the ladder although Olympiakos are keen to go undefeated and Panathinaikos would like nothing more than land them their first defeat but the difference in class from squad to squad is considerable.

PAO also wishes Emmanuel Insua, Mattias Johansson and Christos Donis good bye, many PAO fans would like to see the younger Greek players get more minutes for the rest of the season.

Prediction – Olympiakos 2-0  

Play Outs

Asteras Tripolis vs Volos

After winning their first match of the Play Outs, many expected Asteras to win some more matches and be crowned the best of the rest but in their last three games the Tripolis squad have only managed 3 draws.

Volos continue to play decent and at times, good football but they are really lacking the killer conversion to secure the 3 points and as such, like Asteras they have been super inconsistent also.

Prediction – Draw 1-1

Lamia vs Xanthi

With Xanthi one of the teams in the big relegation battle, this automatically makes this a very important match.

The home team started the Play Outs well but has only been inconsistent since, whilst Xanthi will be desperate for the win after being dealt with a painful loss last week to Panionios which puts them in real relegation danger now.

A loss for Xanthi will be very painful indeed if Panionios or Panetolikos pick up points.

Prediction – Xanthi 1-0

Larisa vs Panionios

On paper its two teams on opposite paths and I expect much of the same in the his game, however, Larisa President, Alexi Kougias, amazingly, fined his players, 50,000 Euro each after their terrible performance last week against Atromitos, which they lost 3-0.

Panionios on the other hand are buzzing, they beat Xanthi 2-1 which sees them just one point away from Xanthi and Panetolikos, who they have been chasing all season.

Prediction – Panionios 2-1

Atromitos vs Panetolikos

Panetolikos have probably been the unlucky side of the competition, they generally play some good football and create chances, problem is their finishing has been so sub-par.

Last week against Asteras they played very well, but to the previous point, 11 shots at goal saw just one on target, Asteras had 6 shots at goal and 5 on target.

Atromitos returned to winning ways last week with an impressive 3-0 win over Larisa which could have been even more had their finishing being better.

This should be a good open match but could see Panetolikos bottom of the table if they don’t come away with a result.

Prediction – Atromitos 3-2

Hellas Football 

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