Super League resumes after long break

The Greek Super League will return to action this weekend, after a break in play for international fixtures. A handful of teams, including Larissa, Olympiakos, and AEK will look to continue their perfect starts. Meanwhile, Panathinaikos and Panionios will be in search of their first victories.

The weekend starts with four games scheduled for a Saturday kickoff. Iraklis continues its home stay with Cretan club OFI FC visiting Kautanzogleio. Both clubs opened the season with a loss at home, only increasing the pressure for this coming weekend. Allowing a late strike dashed Iraklis’ chances of a successful start, while OFI was overpowered by PAOK.

Kicking off at the same time will be Skoda Xanthi and defending champions Olympiakos. Xanthi welcome the Piraeus giants, and will have a tricky task with the thus far perfect ‘Eruthroleuki’. The home side will be keen to continue their winning streak, after a 1-0 defeat of Panionios gave Xanthi a perfect start. Olympiakos will also be favoured to win, but injuries to club captain Predrag Djordjevic and matchday one MVP Luciano Galletti cause concern amongst the Piraeus ranks. Galletti scored twice in Olympiakos triumph over Asteras Tripolis, but the Argentine is expected to sit this one out. The visitors will look to stay focused, as their sights could linger to their midweek UEFA Cup encounter with Danish side FC Nordsjælland.

After slipping 2-1 in the Athenian derby against AEK, Panathinaikos returns to action and a win against promoted club Panthrakikos is highly expected. The Champions League will provide a distraction for the ‘Tryfilli’, as a meeting with Italian Champions Inter Milan looms midweek. Panthrakikos were robbed a Super League debut victory, as Ergotelis notched a 2-1 away win. The task will be much more draining this weekend against the Athenian giants. However, with no pressure on the visitors, Panathinaikos could be in for a rough match themselves. A win will be crucial for Panathinaikos, not only for the league race, but to boost confidence ahead of their opening Champions League fixture.

Closing out Saturday’s matches is an encounter between Panserraikos and Panionios. Panserraikos sealed an impressive return to the Greek top flight with a win over Iraklis in Thessaloniki. Summer signing, Patrick Zoundi, scored a brace to see the Serres club upset the home side. On the flip side, their second round opponents will be hungry for a win after coming up short against Xanthi in their season opener. Panionios has made a flurry of late transfers to replace the departed Rafik Djebbour. The acquisitions of Alvaro Recoba and Fabian Estoyanoff have boosted the hopes around Nea Smyrni. It is unclear if the two ‘bam’ signings will make their club debuts this coming weekend, nonetheless the match should offer plenty of intrigue.

Matchday two closes out on Sunday, with the remaining four matches taking place across Greece. Thrasyvoulos will look to make up for the destruction left by Larissa’s 3-0 demolition of the newly promoted club. An evenly matched encounter with Levadiakos could see the Super League debutants grab their first points of the season. Their opponents will be enjoying the comforts of their home ground, and they too will be keen to grab their first points of the new term. A 2-0 loss to Aris seemed inevitable, but the meeting with Thrasyvoulos could make up for the club’s matchday one blunders.

Two undefeated clubs look to continue their perfect starts, as Ergotelis welcome Aris to the Pangkritio Stadium. Both teams avoided any opening round shocks, but for Ergotelis the leeway was slim as Panthrakikos gave the Cretan club a real scare. For Aris a disappointing early exit from European competition was quickly brushed aside, and the club nickname ‘God of War’ cruised to a 2-0 victory over Levadiakos. The Thessaloniki based side will be favoured to continue their perfect start, but Ergotelis’ home advantage could prove to be a tricky task for Aris.

Two potential dark horses rekindle their rivalry in Tripoli as Larissa put their winning start on the line against home side Asteras Tripolis. The latter made their home ground a fortress last year, and pulled of shock defeats of Greece’s ‘Big 3′. However, a 3-1 loss to Olympiakos could dampen the team’s spirits but the midweek signing of Cameroon international Roudolphe Douala adds depth to an injury bit side. As for Larissa, a 3-0 win over Thrasyvoulos initiated early season celebrations as the club’s summer facelift proved to be a success on matchday one. Nolberto Solano played a well rounded seventy-five minutes, but Laurent Robert will be hoping for a spike in his minutes after being limited to a mere three minutes.

He weekend and the matchday conclude with a mouth-watering revival of the rich rivalry between PAOK and AEK. PAOK Toumba Stadium will be the venue for this early season derby, and the home side will look to test their revitalized roster. Led by the profitable knowledge of club president Theodoros Zagorakis, and manager Fernando Santos, PAOK pulled off many squad bolstering transfers this past summer. A dominant performance against OFI gave a glimpse of PAOK’s potential, but the Thessaloniki giants will be in tough against a confident AEK outfit. After defeating rivals Panathinaikos at OAKA, AEK will be looking to make it two-for-two in derbies this season as the ‘Enosis’ continued to adapt to Georgios Donis’ tactics. With Greece international Angelos Basinas at full fitness, AEK will be keen to avoid wasting their fine start.

Matchday two looks to top its predecessor in excitement, with several well matched encounters scheduled for kickoff this weekend. In all, eight clubs will look to double their winning streaks, while the remaining eight have their sights on their first wins of the season.