The international break is over, and the return to league action is an abrupt one for Greek teams. For Matchday 6 of the Stoiximan Super League, AEK will host OFI in Nea Filadelfia in a match that promises to be challenging for both sides, just before their European commitments.
AEK will travel to England, heading to London, to face Shakhtar Donetsk at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s home stadium, as part of the Champions League. For their part, the Cretans will travel to France for their Europa League match against Rennes.
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However, neither team can afford to focus on their European matches just yet, as their head-to-head battle for the league title takes precedence.
AEK cannot afford to drop any more points after conceding two draws against Kifisia (1-1) and Asteras AKTOR (1-1), leaving them four points behind Panathinaikos.
One positive for AEK is that they will host OFI at home. The “yellow-and-blacks” have a perfect record at Allwyn Arena across all competitions, having won by particularly convincing margins. Their goal is to continue their winning streak and get back on track in the league.
Marko Nikolić will be without the injured Strakosa and Varga, while Rota is expected to start as usual in the starting lineup.
On the other hand, OFI was in excellent form before the break, with four wins and two draws in its last six games. In fact, one of those draws was a 0-0 tie against PAOK at Toumba in the Cup, while the Cretans defeated Olympiacos 1-0 at “G. Karaiskakis Stadium” and beat Hoffenheim 2-0 in their Europa League opener.
OFI, after all, has become AEK’s nemesis, having defeated them in a penalty shootout in the Super Cup and denied them the trophy. At the same time, the Cretans were the ones who inflicted AEK’s most recent defeat in domestic competitions, eliminating them from last year’s Cup with a 1-0 home loss.
On the field, Aaron Isaka felt discomfort in his adductor muscle during the “Speakers’” training session and was ruled out of Christos Kontis’s lineup, as was Christos Sielis, who continued his rehabilitation. Also absent from the Cretan team’s roster for the match in Nea Filadelfia are Marinakis, Kalafatis, Koutsoupias, Lagoudakis, Hnaris, and Sitmalidis.
In contrast, the 23-player OFI squad includes Christogeorgos, Lilo, Katsikas, Nikolaou, Kostoulas, Pougouras, Krizmanic, Dikman, Apostolakis, Athanasiou, Kainourgiakis, González, Karachalios, Bouchalakis, Androutsos, Kanellopoulos, Fountas, Romano, Nous, Kantalapiedra, Hatzigiovanis, Theodosoulakis, and Kodros.
Possible starting lineups:
AEK (M. Nikolić): Brignoli, Pilios, Relvas, Mukundi, Rota, Marin, Vitalis, Mayer, João Mário, Koita, Jović.
OFI (H. Kontis): Christogeorgos, Nikolaou, Pougouras, Kostoulas, Athanasiou, Bouhalakis, Androutsos, Dikman, Nous, Fountas, Kodros.
*photo source: KYPE
