“Yellow-black” overtaking or “green” consolidation at the top?
All the lights are on the great Athens derby of the 18th game between AEK and Panathinaikos tonight (20:30, sport-fm.gr, bwinSPORT FM, Cosmote Sport 1) in New Philadelphia!
The two contenders for last season’s title are ready to face off again with a backdrop the championship leadbut also her reaction after the home draws in the Cup in midweek, against Aris and Olympiacos respectively.
On the one hand, the Union wants to repeat the performance it did in the corresponding match of the first round when it had passed with a score of 2-1 from Leoforo with the goals of Zuber and Pineda, but also to maintain the undefeated streak of four games against the “clover” from which he has not even conceded a goal in OPAP Arenain two matches.
THE Matias Almeidahas prepared his players properly and in addition to the absences of Hadjisafi, Mohammadi, Mukudi, who are in their national teams, he also has to manage the very important absence of Costas Galanopoulos who hasn’t trained in the last few days.
On the plus side, are his returns Petros Mandalos but also his… statement Jibril Sidibe, who will be key in the derby. As usual, the Argentinian coach did not announce his squad, however, not many changes are expected compared to the last two matches with Olympiakos in Karaiskakis and Aris in New Philadelphia.
On the other side, Panathinaikos has to manage absences, fatigue, psychology but also… losses! The “greens” in his fourth game Fatih Terim on their bench they will look for their first derby win of the year, after they failed to “topple” Olympiacos in the midweek Cup match. Panathinaikos comes from 2/2 against PAS Ioannina and Panaitolikos in the league, having returned to the top of the standings, so the motivation is even greater.
Of course the Turk technician, has to manage the very important absences, of Filip Djuricic, by Adam Cherin and Sebastian Palacios, while Alberto Brignoli has now been left out of the team! The Italian goalkeeper caused… a stir in Koropi with his unreliability and behavior and is essentially a thing of the past, having been left out of the squad as expected. Obviously, Magnuson and Palmer-Brown remain out with injury, while the first transfer acquisition of the winter, the Dimitris Limnios.
The team of Panathinaikos consists of the following: Lodgin, Xenopoulos, Margono, Vaiannidis, Huancar, Ruben, Senkefeld, Zeka, Ioannidis, Sporar, Bernard, Limnios, Mancini, Tsokai, Jedvai, Aitor, Mladenovic, Kotsiras, Vilena, Arao, Verbic.
The possible lineups:
AEK (Matias Almeida): Stankovic – Pineda, Vida, Mitoglou, Rota – Szymanski, Jonsson, Gacinovic-Zuber, Ambrabat, Levi Garcia
Panathinaikos (Fatih Terim): Lodingin – Vagiannidis, Arao, Jedvai, Huancar – Zeka, Vilena, Bernard – Mancini, Verbic, Ioannidis
Referee: Al Hakim Mohammed
Assistants: Mehmet Cullum, Fredric Cleaver
VAR: Bebeck, Buxbaum
Fourth: Jealousy
Remember how AEK’s 2-1 victory over Panathinaikos was shaped in the first round in the Avenue match:
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
