PAOK-Lamia: Standard procedure with… breaths

A game… of standard procedure between PAOK and Lamia in Toumba.

The two teams face each other on Thursday (13/4, 17:00) in the second leg for the semi-finals of the Novibet Greek Cup. And as much as if we have seen it all in football, the 5-1 in favor of the “double-header of the North” in the first meeting between them, does not leave much room for a -historical, if nothing else- reversal. With the AEK already waiting in the final, after yesterday’s stamping of her ticket to “G. Karaiskakis”.

The game will be televised by Cosmote Sport 4 HDradioed by News Bulletin 247while there will be live updates from sport-fm.gr.

It is reminded that the away goal rule does not apply. Which means that if Lamia wins in regular time with a four goal difference, then a half-hour overtime will follow and if the penalty shootout is necessary.

The “black and white” comes from home dominance (4-2) on it Volos. The result, combined with Olympiakos’ defeat in the derby against Panathinaikos, brought them back to -3 from 3rd place in the Stoiximan Super League Playoffs. In fact, given that they welcome Piraeus in Toumba, they have every reason to hope for their improvement in the standings. Of course, they expect to win the Cup, so that – in addition to strengthening their record – they can also secure the ticket for the Europa League.

On the other hand, Lamia last Saturday (8/4) did not confirm the excellent season it is having (it came from three wins and one draw in its last five matches), as it suffered a heavy defeat with an upset (4-1) at its headquarters OFI. Thus, it returned within the relegation zone, at +1 from Levadeiakos and at -2 from PAS Ioannina and Ionikos.

Inevitably, therefore, due to all of the above, the two teams will seek to give more weight to the championship, if and of course the break for Easter follows.

In the competitive part, Ingason, Augusto, El Kanduri, Sastre, Tzimas and Kurtic were left out for the hosts, while Garavelis, Papadopoulos, Cornezos, Nunes, Tosic and Karamanos were out for the visitors.

Possible lineups:

PAOK (Rasvan Lucescu): Z. Zivkovits – Lyratzis, Kargas, Koulierakis, Vieirinia – Dandas, Schwab – Murg, Constantelias, Tyson – Thomas.

Lamia (Leonidas Vokolos): Koselev – Vasilantonopoulos, Adenzo, Pavlovets, Saramandas – Beharano, Stanko – Askovsky, Slivka, De Vicenti – Manousos.

Referee: Spyridon Zambalas

First Assistant: Theofilos Mousiadis

Second Assistant: George Stefanis

4th referee: Alexandros Tsakalides

VAR: Dimitrios Karantonis