Master PAOK Salonika receives Panathinaikos Athens on matchday nine. The hosts are unbeaten alongside league leaders Olympiakos Piräus as the only team in the Super League. After the grandiose last season, in which for the first time after 34 years the title was brought to Thessaloniki again, the black and white show again strong as a bear.
Despite the departure of master coach Razvan Lucescu, who followed the call of money to Saudi Arabia to Al Hilal in the summer, PAOK is well again in the race for the championship. The advantage is that only the qualification for the Champions League against Ajax Amsterdam and then for the Europa League against Slovan Bratislava was missed.
Although this additional financial income was given away, but at the same time no double burden by the squad must be made. The guests have not been able to build on the comparatively stable performance of the previous year and currently only occupy the fourth-last place in the Greek House of Lords.
In PAOK Thessaloniki against Panathinaikos Athens, the tip therefore includes a home win and at least two hits of the champion.
PAOK Thessaloniki:
The last season, as mentioned, with the first title after more than three decades was a great success for PAOK. Already two years ago, the kickers from the port city were close, but this time it had worked out. A triumph that succeeded despite a deduction point for the then season start.
Thessaloniki won the championship in a very impressive manner, because not a single league game was lost. A performance that was the last time the opponent succeeded more than 50 years ago.
The Rumanian coach Razvan Lucescu played a large part in this exploit, but now, as mentioned at the beginning, he is no longer available. His successor is Abel Ferreira from Portugal. The 40-year-old has previously coached Braga in the Primeira Liga and has done so with great success, as shown by the club’s two fourth places in the last two seasons.
His work at PAOK, however, began little promising. So the qualification for the European business was missed. But at least in the Super League Ferreira continued his predecessor’s philosophy in terms of preventing a defeat: After nine rounds of play PAOK is still without bankruptcy, although it was already against strong opponents such as AEK Athens.
Especially at home Thessaloniki continues to be a power: Already since 22 home games in the Super League no more bankruptcy was collected. The two home games in the Champions and Europa League were not lost, but ended with a 2: 2 against Ajax and a 3-2 draw against Slovan Bratislava.
Furthermore, the offensive is once again the non plus ultra in the Super League. With a cut of two hits she shows the best yield. With the Pole Karol Swiderski, the attack series also has the current top scorer in their ranks.
Panathinaikos Athens:
So far, the Green-Whites still lack the necessary consistency for a better finish than the current eleventh place.
Although the team of coach Georgios Donis defied the Primus of the table in the form of Olympiakos as the only one at least a draw a few weeks ago, but in between there are always hangover as the recent defeats against Xanthi and Larissa.
Teams that actually fall into the beatable category for the 20-time champion. However, the year-end result is still in a phase of consolidation after difficult years in which economic woes threatened the existence of I Prasini, which is why the results are not really surprising.
The squad is weaker compared to the top teams like PAOK or Olympiakos, as funding remains very limited. As in the previous year, only free transfer players could be required. That this is not just a drawback, proved PAO in the past season, when the Italian Federico Macheda was fetched.
The 28-year-old striker came from Serie B from Serie B and immediately hit. With ten goals Macheda scored the top five yield in the top Hellenic league. Currently he is together with the Norwegian Ghayas Zahid again the best scorer at Panathinaikos.
However, scouting in the market for free-lance gamblers is, of course, particularly difficult and not always crowned with such success, as the recent additions this summer have so far only partially proven that they are a reinforcement for the capital cityers.
An exception is the aforementioned Zahid, who was committed by APOEL and has already gained experience in the Champions League. Given the weaker squad cadre is understandable why the PAOK Thessaloniki against Panathinaikos Athens odds turn out quite clearly in favor of the hosts.
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,87
