Olympiacos ready to wrestle with Herculean Iraklis

By: Peter Katsiris | November 22nd, 2008

Olympiacos will attempt to hold down top spot in the Greek Super League when they face Iraklis in Thessaloniki on Saturday night. The Greek Champions carved out a four point lead over their closest competition last weekend, but despite the gap there is little room for error. Their opponents, Iraklis, struggled to kick-start their 2008-2009 campaign but have been in stellar form as of late. With a change in the managerial role, the centenary club has rocketed from the Greek basement in recent weeks to slowly distance itself from the Greek drop zone.

The weekend encounter at Kaftanzogleio marks the beginning of a very important week for the ‘Eruthroleuki’. With the UEFA Cup still holding opportunity for the Super League leaders, the match against Benfica on Thursday, could provide a distraction for a side looking to fight a battle on two fronts. With the intensive battle to hold their spot atop the league standings, Olympiacos has not come out unscathed. Instead a long list of injuries has forced manager Ernesto Valverde’s hand, as the likes of Ieroklis Stoltidis, Leonardo, Kostas Mitroglou, Michal Zewlakow, Mirnes Sisic, and Vassilis Torosidis all remain unavailable. The suspension of Sebastian Leto also provides the Spanish manager headaches, as much of the midfield will have gaps.

On the flip side, much of the side that was available for the match against PAOK last Sunday - a 2-0 win for Olympiacos at the Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium - will be available. After a midweek scare, Christos Patsatzoglou has recovered from a nagging injury to be deemed available for this weekend’s proceedings.

With plenty of holes to fill, Valverde could call upon several youthful replacements to aid the cause. One starlet will be hoping to rise to the occasion, as Giannis Papadopoulos encounters his former club since leaving Thessaloniki for Piraeus this past summer.

Iraklis’ recent form is a worrying point for Olympiacos, as Rodolfo Borel has revived Iraklis in the past three weeks. Few injuries have been issues for Iraklis, as the club named after mythological hero Hercules has been superior to crippling injuries this season. Wojciech Kowalewski has recovered from an injury and should assume his place in goal, while Serge Die has also overcome a nagging injury.

Hungry for redemption, Michalis Konstatinou will look to erase a poor start to the season as he faces his former employer for the first time since his Piraeus release. The Cypriot striker will be keen to punish the Piraeus club in its first visit to Kaftanzogleio since a slim 2-1 victory last year.

Like many trips away from Karaiskaki this year, a match away from the hostile haven known as Piraeus will be a tough task. Without a goal in 309 minutes in their last handful of road matches, the pressure to final score a goal will be mountainous in the home of a club battling relegation. Added to the fact Kaftanzogleio has been nothing but unkind to Olympiacos, the Greek titleholders will need to erase many trends if they are to grab a desirable result on Saturday.