All eyes will be on Toumba for Matchday 4 of the League Phase of the Superbet Greek Cup, as PAOK hosts AEK (8:30 p.m.) in a “Double-Headed Eagle” derby, in which the pressure is on the “black-and-whites.”
Alessio Lisi’s team finds itself in a very difficult situation following the 2-1 loss to OFI in Crete, which was their second defeat in their last three games (preceded by a loss to Kalamata and a narrow victory over Heraklis). The changes made over the summer, the elimination from European competition, and the poor start to the league season have led to a great deal of introspection at PAOK, which is now called upon to bounce back in tonight’s match.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Third straight loss for AEK’s Petrolina in the FIBA Europe Cup
In the standings, the Thessaloniki side sits in 7th place with four points, tied with Aris, Asteras AKTOR, and OFI. The Italian coach has four players out, as he cannot count on the injured Michailidis, Lousé, Pelka, and Despodov. As for the two players born in 2004 or later who must be in the starting lineup, Hatzidis is the favorite for one spot, while the other is being contested by Mythou, Monastirlis, and Bataoula.
On the other side, AEK is clearly going into this game in a much more comfortable position, coming off an impressive 5-0 victory over Panetolikos in Nea Filadelfia, where they had five different goal scorers (Moukounti, Koita, Zini, Varga, Zumbkov) and could easily have scored even more goals.
For Enosis, this will be their first derby of the season, and they want to put on a good showing, securing a victory that would make it 3 out of 3 in the Superbet Greek Cup and cement its place in the top four, which guarantees a spot in the tournament’s Round of 16.
Marko Nikolić only has to deal with the absence of Strakosa, while, as for the two players born in 2004 or later who must be in the starting lineup, the Serbian coach’s top choices are primarily Kaloskamis and Alexiou, but also Christakopoulos, Balamotis, and Argyriou. Nikolić will certainly make changes as part of the rotation, since the derby against Panathinaikos is coming up, with Lykoiannis, Koutesa, and Zumbkov in contention for the starting lineup.
Possible starting lineups:
PAOK (Alesio Lisi): Tsiftsis (Monastirlis) – Kenny, Hatzidiakos (Bataoulas), Diego Costa, Giannoulis – Zafeiris, Jakić – Hatzidis, Ugresić, Zivković – Mythou (Banza).
AEK (Marko Nikolić): Brignoli – Rota, Mukundi, Alexiou, Lykoiannis (Pilios) – Mayer, Marin, Ariaga (Vitalis), Koutesa – Kaloskamis, Jović (Varga).
Referee: Evangelou
; Assistant Referees: Karagkizopoulos, Christodoulou
; Fourth Official: Papapetrou
; VAR: Fabri
; AVAR: Santoro
