Greek Super League Preview: Round 17

Could this be a weekend where the genuine title contenders are marked out?

PAOK's away trip to AEK Athens will be watched with great interest by fans and neutrals alike, as the Thessaloniki outfit seek to establish themselves as the main challengers to Olympiakos' continued dominance of the domestic scene.

The defending champions welcome Xanthi to Piraeus, meanwhile, whilst Panathinaikos have a difficult away trip to Panthrakikos, where they face Emilio Ferrera's in-form side.

Panthrakikos vs Panathinaikos

The last time these two sides met in Athens, Panathinaikos ran out 3-0 winners but were made to work hard for their victory by Emilio Ferrera’s side.

At that point of the season, Panthrakikos appeared to be heading toward inevitable relegation upon their return to the Greek top flight.

However, a stunning run of form in recent weeks has seen the men from Komotini climb their way into an unprecedented seventh place on the Greek Super League table.

Last week, they managed another shock win away against Ergotelis and will rightly be full of confidence as they prepare to host Henk Ten Cate’s Greek giants tonight, despite the recent departure of Turkey international Okan Yilmaz from the club.

Panathinaikos will themselves be weakened by the loss of Alexandros Tziolis on-loan to Werder Bremen, as well as fellow veteran centre-back Giannis Goumas to injury.

Combative midfielder Mate Simao has not been included in the matchday squad, along with Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and Brazilian midfielder Cleyton, who recently arrived late to a training session.

Following their scoreless derby draw against AEK Athens last weekend, Pana simply cannot afford to drop points if they are to keep up their title challenge.

With the pressure on this weekend and Panthrakikos looking more and more like a top-flight side every week, could we be in store for something of a shock in northern Greece?

Panionios vs Panserraikos

Giotis Stamatopoulos has brought something approaching stability to his Panionios side during what has been an otherwise turbulent season at the Nea Smyrni.

They’ve been in decent form in recent weeks, managing a scoreless draw on their difficult trip to Xanthi after beating Asteras Tripolis 3-0 in Athens.

One half of their Uruguayan duo won’t be available this weekend however, with Alvaro Recoba still out and first-team duo Dario Kresic and Michael Delura both suspended.

Now under the leadership of experienced Belgian manager Hugo Broos, Panserraikos will be keen to lift themselves out of the relegation zone and will be boosted by a full squad as they prepare to travel to Athens.

Olympiakos vs Skoda Xanthi

Olympiakos are still without the services of the injured Ieroklis Stoltidis in midfield and Brazilian full-back Leonardo, whilst Tetei’s reportedly imminent arrival from Rosenborg hasn’t come quick enough for their Saturday league clash.

Brazilian striker Diogo has been cleared fit to play, whilst Skoda Xanthi will need to overcome the loss of veteran and captain Stavros Lambriakos, who ended his seven year stay at the club and has since moved on to Aris.

Exacerbating his loss is that of experienced central defender Spyros Vallas, who will not make the trip to the Giorgios Karaiskakis Stadium, where Giorgios Paraschos’ side will be clear underdogs against an Olympiakos side who have won all of their home games this season.

Thrasyvoulos vs Levadiakos

A must win for Thrasyvoulos, even at this early stage of the season.

Sakis Tsiolis’ men have struggled throughout their entire campaign and find themselves in last place on the Greek Super League ladder and will need to find the same motivation that they seem to generate against the league’s more reputable sides when they take on their visitors from Levadia.

Levadiakos are coming off the back of a crucial 2-0 win over Aris at home, with Brazilian forward Leonardo in imperious form for Momcilo Vukotic’s side.

He scored twice last weekend and is reportedly attracting interest from some of the league’s powerhouses and could be the man to give his team another crucial three points as they look to consolidate themselves in their second season in the Greek top flight.

Larissa vs Asteras Tripolis

After a bright start to his tenure at Asteras Tripolis, youthful manager Nikos Kostenoglou has endured a difficult past few weeks, losing three games in a row.

A string of first team absences will make his task all the more difficult in Thessaly this weekend, with leading goal-scorer Danijel Cesarec a doubt.

Larissa, meanwhile, have parted ways with former English Premier League star Nolberto Solano and head into this match with a five-match unbeaten run in-tact.

Marinos Ouzounidis’ are now within three points of fourth-placed AEK after a difficult spell and a win against Tripolis will help any potential push for European football next season – competition is fierce though.

OFI Crete vs Iraklis

An important clash for both sides at the Pankritio this weekend, with Ioannis Matzourakis’ OFI Crete taking on Makis Katsavakis’ Iraklis.

Both managers have only arrived recently at their respective clubs, with the former struggling but the latter contrastingly having inspired something of a resurgence in his team's fortunes.

OFI’s season has been difficult and the somewhat conveniently timed absences of on-loan first-team players from Panathinaikos during their 3-0 loss to the Athenians two rounds ago will only have further angered an already tired fan-base.

A win against Iraklis would ease the pain but a loss could be devastating to club and manager.

Aris vs Ergotelis

Ergotelis manager Nikos Karageorgiou received the dreaded vote of confidence from his president earlier in the week following a poor run of form that has seen the Cretan side slip to eleventh place on the Greek Super League table, just eight points above the relegation zone.

In truth, the apparent pressure surrounding him shows just how high the standard was set during a superb opening to the season for a team who were amongst the early relegation candidates.

If they are to return to the winning ways that characterized the early stages of their campaign, they will need to turn in a resolute performance against an Aris team who have been impressive at home this season – but less so away.

Their 2-0 away loss in Levadia last week ended their unbeaten streak and Enrique Hernandez will be looking to his side to bounce back with a positive performance at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, where they tend to produce some breathtaking attacking football.

However, the home side might be distracted by an approaching Greek Cup clash away to fierce rivals PAOK in mid-week.

AEK Athens vs PAOK

The match of the round sees AEK Athens take on historic rivals PAOK in the ‘Derby of the Double-Headed Eagle’ at the OAKA Spiros Louis Stadium.

Dusan Bajevic’s side are unbeaten under his tutelage, whilst Fernando Santos has already replenished his squad with two January signings as they potentially challenge Olympiakos for the Greek Super League title.

AEK will be without the explosive Nacho Scocco, as well as Panagiotis Lagos and experienced centre-back Giorgios Alexopoulos - all through injury.

In-form striker Zlatan Muslimovic will again start up-front for PAOK, most likely in a loan-striker’s role, whilst Uruguay international and former Real Madrid man Pablo Garcia should be handed a starting berth in midfield.

Whether new signing, veteran French midfielder Olivier Sorlin, makes his debut remains to be seen, as is the case for the recently arrived Brazilian defender Lino from Portuguese giants Poro.

Whilst a title challenge is apparently impossible for AEK this season, PAOK have emerged as surprise contenders to Olympiakos’ crown and a victory in Athens – simply as a result of its rarity – might just confirm the Thessaloniki side as genuine.

Chris Paraskevas, Goal.com