Matchday 6 wrapped up with 5 draws, 4 of them with 0-0 scorelines. PAOK, who hosted Panathinaikos in Toumba Stadium, was one of those goalless scorelines. Leaders Olympiakos saw off Panthrakikos in Karaiskaki Stadium by a 2-0 scoreline with Luciano Galletti scoring both goals for his side to keep them at the top of the Greek Super League. AEK conceded a heart wrenching last minute goal to Larissa who equalized through Argentine midfielder Marcelo Sarmiento. AEK had gone ahead earlier through a penalty converted by striker Ismael Blanco. OFI was embarassed at home by Thrasyvoulos 1-3 after Slovakian striker Jozef Kozlej scored a hat-trick for the away team. To wrap things up for Matchday 6, Panionios made a great come back from 0-1 down at home to defeat Aris 2-1 thanks to goals by Giannis Maniatis and Anderson Gonzaga. Both goals were inspired by talented midfielder Alvaro Recoba in his debut game for the club. Matchday 7 kicks off with 3 games on Saturday starting off with PAOK as they aim to return to winning ways against Levadeiakos, Asteras Tripolis v OFI, and Larissa v Panthrakikos. On Sunday, Xanthi hosts Panserraikos at the Skoda Xanthi Arena while Panionios visits Ergotelis at Pankritio Stadium. Panathinaikos will hope to have their scoring boots on as they face struggling Iraklis at the Athens Olympic Stadium while AEK will be favoured to take maximum points away to Thrasyvoulos. Our match of the round, picked just over the Asteras Tripolis versus OFI battle royal, is Aris versus Olympiakos. These two were Cup finalists last season and Aris will be out for revenge after a 2-0 loss on that occasion. The Thessaloniki club might not be in the greatest of form at the moment but they are likely to rise to the occasion here.
Matchday 6 Results
Iraklis 0 - 0 Ergotelis
Panserraikos 0 - 0 Asteras Tripoli
Panionios 2 - 1 Aris Salonika
Levadiakos 0 - 0 FC Xanthi
OFI Crete 1 - 3 Thrasivoulos
AEK Athens 1 - 1 Larissa
Olympiakos 2 - 0 Panthrakikos
PAOK Salonika 0 - 0 Panathinaikos
Saturday, 25th October
PAOK - Levadeiakos
Summary: PAOK has quietly flown under everyone's radar as they continue to stay on the coat tails of league leaders Olympiakos. A draw against Panathinaikos in Toumba Stadium last week can be seen as an acceptable result considering the missed opportunities the away side had. With one win and two draws at home, PAOK coach Fernando Santos will be looking for his side to hit Levadiakos with an early goal and then shut out their opponents, knowing that they have only managed a single goal on the road. Ex-Real Madrid midfielder, Pablo Garcia, will be doubtful for this weekend but could still make the squad for PAOK. For Levadiakos, midfielder Leonardo suffered a light leg injury during Wednesday afternoon's training session but should recover in time to line up for the visitors.
Pick: PAOK to Win (possible result 1-0)
PAOK 3 - 1 Levadiakos
Asteras Tripolis - OFI
Summary: Asteras Tripoli might not be in the best of form after a run of one loss and two consecutive draws, but it is nothing in comparison to the lows suffered by OFI. OFI suffered a shock 3-1 loss, at home to bottom of the table Thrasyvoulos last week, adding to the boardroom unrest and politics that are existant within the club. OFI face low player morale due to unpaid wages whilst the fans have turned on the clubs board over the abismal handling of the matter. Adding insult to injury, OFI have a long list of injuries to contend with as Peter Orosz, Kostantinos Stavrakakis, Giorgos Manousos, Dimitris Arvanitis, Tassos Venetis and Aleksndar Pesic are all doubtful for this match. In the meantime, Asteras will have to make do without Nikolaos Stratakis, Bruno Urribarri and maybe Bulgarian striker Martin Kamburov who is listed as doubtful. A long shot then for OFI to take any points out of this match unless of course Asteras Tripolis continue missing the target up front.
Pick: Asteras Tripoli to Win (possible result 1-0)
Asteras 2 - 2 OFI
Larissa - Panthrakikos
Summary: A last minute goal by Marcelo Sarmiento gifted Larissa a great result away to AEK Athens last weekend after going behind in the 84th minute thanks to Argentinian striker Ismael Blanco scoring from the penalty spot. Larissa will now be riding high on confidence going into this match, knowing that it is the perfect opportunity to gain maximum points against struggling Panthrakikos, who have managed 1 point and only one goal on their travels. Larissa will have a full squad for this match except for recent signing, Ivorian midfielder Did'dy Guela, who is struggling for match fitness. Panthrakikos will be without Xenofon Gittas and Christos Pentsas whilst goalkeeper Jose Manuel Roca Cases is also doubtful. Defender Nikos Zapropoulos will be suspended after receiving a red card in last weekend's loss to Olympiakos. Returning for Panthrakikos are Italian defender Emanuele Troise and Portuguese midfielder Manuel de Jesus Lopes.
Pick: Larissa to Win (possible result 2-0)
Larissa 1 - 2 Panthrakikos
Sunday, 26th October
Aris - Olympiakos
Summary: Aris play host to league leaders Olympiakos this Sunday and Aris will surely be pumped for this match, reason enough being last years Greek Cup final loss against the Greek Super League holders. For Olympiakos it's a chance to lift their spirits after Thursdays loss to Galatasaray (1-0) in the UEFA Cup. Olympiakos suffered greatly against the Turkish side due to many important first team injuries and could struggle in Thessaloniki against an Aris side that will give their all in
this match. No injury worries for Aris coach Enrique Hernandez as both Javito and Mario Regueiro are set to feature at least as substitutes in this match. For Olympiakos Dudu, Leonardo and captain Predrag Djordjevic have returned to regular training and should also play a role in the match with Aris. Doubtful are Paraskevas Antzas, Christos Patsatzoglou and Fernando Belluschi who picked up injuries that could see them out for Sunday's game. Ieroklis Stoltidis and Raúl Bravo have begun light training but will not play any part.
Pick: LAY Aris (possible result 1-2)
Aris 1 - 0 Olympiakos
Skoda Xanthi - Panserraikos
Summary: Xanthi has had a great run so far away from home, gaining 8 of their 11 points on their travels. They have only played 2 games at home so far, winning one and losing the other to league leaders Olympiakos. Panserraikos too have been more productive away from home, taking 6 of their 7 amassed points till this stage. This statistic though is a little misleading as their two away wins came against struggling Iraklis and Thrasyvoulos. On the injury front Xanthi have a full squad going into this match although long term casualty, Francisco Zuela, seems to be still suffering from back problems and is likely to miss out. Panserraikos coach Giannis Papacostas will have a full squad to work with for this tough weekend match.
Pick: LAY Panserraikos (possible result 0-0)
Xanthi 2 - 1 Panserraikos
Panathinaikos - Iraklis
Summary: Iraklis visits the Athens Olympic Stadium to take on Panathinaikos in a game which Irklis will surely hope that they can steal a point as they did in last seasons encounter. Iraklis has been dealt a major blow though losing two of their main strikers Michalis Konstantinou and Anestis Agritis who picked up injuries during todays training preparation for the match ahead. The side will also be without defender Georgios Ioannidis and striker Aggelos Komvolidis. This injuries leave coach Angel Pedraza very thin up front with only two available strikers in Spaniard Kiko Raton and Greek Dimitris Giantsis. For Panathinaikos it's all about putting the midweek draw, at home against German outfit Werder Bremen, behind and focusing on gaining ground on the League leaders. Possible returns to the squad for this weekend are Rodrigo Souza and Nikos Spiropoulos while their only absence will be that of midfielder Sotiris Leontiou due to injury.
Pick: Panathinaikos to Win (possible result 2-0)
Panathinaikos 2 - 2 Iraklis
Ergotelis - Panionios
Summary: Ergotelis seem to have stuck on draws since having a bright start to the season and have now dropped to 7th place in the Greek Super League. A good position nonetheless for the side but two goalless draws in their last two games will start to raise a concern for coach Nikos Karageorgiou. Panionios in the meantime made a fantastic comeback from 0-1 down to beat Aris 2-1 last weekend to delight their home crowd. Atomic training programs then for Georgios Vakouftsis, Emmanouil Pigiakis and Ioannis Kiliaras who are doubtful for the match while defenders Charis Mattheakis and Mario Hieblinger will play no part this Sunday. Panionios seem to have no injury
worries and will travel to Pankritio Stadium with a full squad. Panionios midfield genious Alvaro Recoba showed last week that he can turn a match around as he did by assisting both goals last weekend against Aris to take all 3 points for his new club.
Pick: Panionios +0,0.5 (possible result 1-2)
Ergotelis 2 - 5 Panionios
Thrasyvoulos - AEK
Summary: Thrasyvoulos will come into this game with the greatest of confidence after a brilliant win away at Pankritio Stadium against OFI resulting in the first points gained by the club this year. AEK in the other hand come into this game following a draw at home against Larissa. AEK is certainly no OFI though and this game is could end up being a good morale booster for the AEK squad. Thrasyvoulos come into the game with a full squad, apart from Uruguayan midfielder Carlos Marcora, including striker Jozef Kozlej who scored a hat trick for Thrasyvoulos last weekend. AEK will be without Greek duo Angelos Basinas and Captain Sotiris Kyrgiakos. Brazilian forward Gustavo Manduca will also miss the away match.
Pick: AEK to Win (possible result 0-3)
Thrasyvoulos 3 - 3 AEK
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