Margins are shrinking for teams that claim to stay in the big leagues. In the build-up to the 4th matchday of the Play Out of the Super League Championship, eyes will be on “Josimetes” and “Michalis Kritikopoulos”.
PAS Ioannina is (and still is) at even-6 as a result of disappointing performances in mini-league action. A heavy 4-0 defeat at Heraklion was accompanied by the dismissal of captain Rodrigo Erasmus. “Ajax of Epirus” has no other result than a win against Asteras Tripoli. The consolation for Michalis Grigoriou's team is that the Arcades have also fallen apart, ending a nine-match winless streak (0-2-7) and coming off a four-match losing streak. Meanwhile, PAS are unbeaten by Asteras in the last two years (home win, away draw).
Also, if PAS looks like the number 1 favorite for relegation, the second, most likely, will come from the Kifisia – Panaitolikos pairing against Kaisariani. Costa Bratsos secured the all-important “three points” with a 2-1 win in Tripoli, making it six games (0-4-2) without a smile. It was found at +1 by the “Canaries” who suffered a painful defeat in Akrinio against Volos (0-1) – a defeat they did not deserve given their image. The bad thing for Yannis Petrakis' team is that they have only one win in the last nine games regardless of the formation (1-4-4), the good thing is that they are undefeated by Kifisia (3-0) this year. 2-2 at Agrinio and at Caesariani in the regular season finale).
In Serres, Panzerraikos and OFI face each other, bearing in mind that they may need a few more points to stay, such as the “X” obtained by the “Lions” in Peristeri (1-1) or the Cretans' win over PAS Ioannina in “Yendi Koule” (4-0). points. During the regular season, both teams took advantage of their home ground (2-1 in Serres in November and 4-0 in Crete in February), while Traeanos Dellas' team was better in comparison (2-4-1). Pablo Garcia's (2-3-4).
In Panthessalikos, finally, Volos has the opportunity to “lock” its presence in the big division for next season – with or without Achillea Pio at its “headship”. All he needs to do is beat Atromidos, making it four straight wins in the play out process. The Thessalians, with Christos Kontis on their bench, are on course for the championship, and perhaps even a point against Peristeriot will be enough. After all, Sasha Ilic's team, which leads the mini-league, on the one hand has not lost to Volos this year (1-1 at home in September and 1-2 away in January) and on the other hand has already completed an unbeaten streak of six matches (2-4-0).
4th Match Day of Play Out:
Saturday 13 April
15:00 Serres Municipal Stadium, Panzeraikos – OFI NovaSports 2
17:30 Panthessaliko Stadium, Volos NPS – Intrepid Cosmote Sport 2
19:30 National Stadium of Ioannina “The Socimates”, PAS Ioannina – Asteras Tripoli NovaSports Prime
20:00 “Mihalis Kritikopoulos”, Kifisia – Panaidolykos Cosmos Sport 1
