An afternoon match against a surging Kalamata for Olympiacos!
Less than three days after their Europa League match against Sparta Prague, the “Red-and-Whites” welcome (4:00 p.m.) at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium the team from Messinia, in the match that kicks off Sunday’s schedule for Matchday 8 of the Stoiximan Super League!
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
On Thursday night, the Piraeus side created plenty of chances and ultimately managed to secure a 1-0 victory over the Czechs, thanks to a goal by González in the 78th minute of the match. Thus, Olympiacos made it three wins in a row in the Europa League and celebrated its sixth consecutive victory in European and domestic competition, while today they will seek their fourth consecutive three-point win at home, following victories over Levadiakos, Panathinaikos, and Panetolikos—all games in which they did not concede a single goal. Next up are back-to-back away matches against Marko, Kifissia, and Ren.
On the field, Imanol Alguathil is expected to freshen up his starting lineup, given the fatigue from the match against Sparta, with the only absence being (along with the long-term absences of El Arabi and Yazici) being the suspended Retsos. Fortounis and Bailey are once again available to the Basque coach, having recovered from their injuries.
Olympiacos’ roster: Ortega, Popovic, Stournaras, Saliakas, Smailović, Pirolá, Carmo, Pedersen, Bruno, Tiknizian, Fortounis, Sa, Martins, Puerta, Sipioni, Bailey, Froiler, Tsikinio, Ese, Roca, Yaremchuk, Zota Silva, Gonzalez, Marius.
On the other hand, Kalamata traveled to Piraeus with high morale in the squad, following two consecutive victories in the previous two matchdays. First, they secured a major road win in Thessaloniki, defeating PAOK 3-1, while last week they took a 2-0 and then a 3-1 lead against OFI, and although they saw the Cretans equalize in the 84th minute, they found the winning goal through Sigurdsson in the 90th+4 minute, with Kurminovski as the star of the show, scoring a hat trick!
On the field, Panagiotis Christofileas cannot count on the services of the injured Diarra, while Alonso, Fribong, as well as the players on loan from Olympiacos, Hamza and Liatsikouras, have been left out of the squad.
Kalamata’s roster: Gelios, Vasiljevic, Ginis, Panagiotou, Bakayoko, Stroungis, Rodrigues, Peres, Gesan, Kaloutsikidis, Ignjatović, Hatzitheodoridis, Pinheiro, Martín, Miranda, Kataldi, Bonetto, Sigurdsson, Vargas, Careaso, Moreira, Angelis, Kurminovski, Bolivar.
Olympiacos leads the head-to-head record 12-1-1 in top-flight competition.
The two teams’ most recent matchups took place in January 2020 in the Greek Cup, with the Piraeus side prevailing both at home and on the road (2-0 in Kalamata, 4-1 in Faliro).
Probable starting lineups:
Olympiacos (Alguathil): Ortega – Pedersen, Smaïlovic, Piola, Tiknizian – Esem Puerta – Roca, Sa, Martins – Marius
Kalamata (Christofileas): Vasiljevic – Kaloutsikidis, Rodrigues, Stroungis, Hatzitheodoridis – Cataldi, Pineiro – Vargas, Bonetto, Moreira – Bolívar.
*photo source: AP
