Olympiacos awaits confident Cretans

By: Peter Katsiris | October 31st, 2008

After pulling off a stunning midweek win over Panathinaikos at OAKA, Ergotelis travels a few miles south of Athens to Piraeus for a meeting with Olympiacos at the Georgios Karaiskis Stadium. The Cretans will be confident of repeating the feat against the league leaders as the Piraeus clubs struggles to return to its best form. As for Ergotelis, Cretans wouldn’t have expected success at this magnitude - especially after narrow escapes from relegation in recent years. However, Ergotelis is proving to be the dark horse of the current season, and a win against Olympiacos on Sunday would rattle the landscape of Greek football.

After a rare losing streak - initiated by the loss to Galatasaray and extended by Aris’ narrow win - cursed Olympiacos last week, the Greek Champions began the road to recovery win a slim win over Diagoras Rodos in the fourth round of the Greek Cup. Although the win was not impressive, the success ended an offensive drought that had seen Olympiacos shutout for two consecutive matches.

During the two-game skid, It seemed any progress made on the offensive front, was quickly purged by poor coverage by the Olympiacos backline. As injuries continue to take a hefty toll on the availability of the ‘Eruthroleuki’s’ finest, the need to establish a proper rhythm has not been fulfilled accordingly. The midweek cup match with Diagoras displayed unique performances by usual unfavourable players, but it seems manager Ernesto Valverde will have no choice but to call upon the unfavoured candidates. The theme could be applied this weekend, as the list of unavailable players has seen little improvement ahead of Ergotelis’ visit. Fernando Belluschi and Paraskevas Antzas are not probable to be ready by kickoff, and are expected to join the likes of Ieroklis Stoltidis, Christos Patsatzoglou, and Leonardo on the sidelines. Relief comes for the Spanish manager through the news that star midfielder, Luciano Galletti, has been deemed match fit; joining Frenchman, Didier Domi, on the list of returnees.

The visitors are riding high after the defeat of Panathinaikos, but the previous demolishing 5-2 loss to an Alvaro Recoba led Panionios tips Ergotelis as flirting with lady luck.

Ergotelis will look to count on a few standouts to pave the path to success in Piraeus, with names like Patrick Ogounsoto and midweek star, Vassilis Koutsianikoulis, leading the charge. The latter gave a stunning performance against Panathinaikos -netting twice and assisting on the game winner. With Olympiacos expected to be far more comfortable under the microscope known as Karaiskaki, Ergotelis counterattack will have to be effective. The same can be said of the visitor’s defense, as Olympiacos’ offensive line holds the best record in Greece.

Despite any pre-match speculation over the performance of both clubs, the only thing certain is the magnitude of the encounter. Olympiacos will be keen to hold down the fort at the Greek summit, while Ergotelis host ambitions of climbing the Greek ladder.