The big Athens derby takes center stage in the 9th matchday of the Stoiximan Super League, with Panathinaikos hosting AEK at the OAKA (7:30 p.m.). The home team aims to maintain its lead at the top of the standings, while AEK is looking for a key result in one of its toughest away matches of the season.
The “Clover” is riding a wave of momentum, having recorded five consecutive wins across all competitions. Their latest victim was Aris, whom they defeated 2-1 in the Cup, thanks to a goal by Rastonder in the 89th minute.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Nistrup implemented an extensive rotation, giving many starters a breather ahead of the demanding week ahead, with a Conference League match against CSKA Sofia and an away game against Heraklis on the horizon.
In the previous matchday, Panathinaikos secured a 1-0 win in Volos, with Desers scoring in the 46th minute and against Nikolić’s team, they’ll be looking to replicate their form from home league matches, where they’ve scored at least three goals in each of their previous four games, against PAOK, Kifisia, Panetolikos, and Asteras Tripolis. On the injury front, Ounai, Christiansen, Ingason, and Pantelidis remain sidelined.
The roster: Peña, Chávez, Kotsaris, Calabria, Tsapras, Kyriakopoulos, Salah-Eddin, De Vrij, Van Drongelen, Palmer-Brown, Katris, Kangwa, Louza, Kamara, Tsiriveya, Kontouris, Taborda, Jagiusic, Pelistri, Adino, Levi Garcia, Tetei, Desers, Rastonder.
On the other hand, AEK is looking to put its 3-1 Cup loss to PAOK at Toumba behind it. Marco Nikolić’s team fell behind in the 8th minute, but stepped up their performance after halftime, tying the game with a goal by Jović in the 49th minute. Zini also hit the crossbar before the team conceded two more goals in the final twenty minutes.
The main challenge for Enosis is to improve its performance away from Nea Filadelfia. Although they have scored 30 goals and conceded just one at home across all competitions, in their three away league matches this season, they have celebrated only one victory, against Volos.
The other two matches, against Kifissia and Asteras Tripolis, ended in 1-1 draws. In their most recent league match, however, they secured an impressive 5-0 victory over Panetolikos, and following the match against Panathinaikos, they face a major clash with Real Madrid at the Allwyn Arena in the Champions League.
Probable starting lineups:
Panathinaikos (Jacob Nistrup): Peña, Calabria, De Vrij, Van Drongelen, Salah-Eddin, Kamara, Kangwa, Levi Garcia, Adino, Tetei, Desers.
AEK (Marko Nikolić): Brignoli, Rota, Mukundi, Relvas, Pilios, Marin, Vitalis, Mayer, Koita, Jović, Varga.
Referee: Sven Jablonski
; Assistant Referees: Edward Baitinger, Dominik Karl-Eugen Saal
; Fourth Official: Alexandros Tsakalidis
; VAR: Johan Pfeifer
AVAR: Arne Arning
*photo source: KYPE
