The tragic incident of the death of three people during strike (which lead to riots) in Athens last Wednesday, has forced the Greek Football Federation to reschedule the 3rd Round of the Playoffs. New kick off date for the two games is this coming Sunday.

Standings:

Starting Points: Olympiakos 4, PAOK 3, AEK 1, Aris 0.

Sunday 9th May 2010(rescheduled)
PAOK FC – Olympiakos 
This game has been rescheduled due to the riots in Athens.
PAOK’s performance last Sunday was one of his best in recent years. PAOK totally dominated the local derby against Aris Thessaloniki with a comfortable 2-0 which could have been even higher. The team continues to rely on its solid defense and non-stop pressing on its opponent’s defensive line. Therefore, the team who only conceded 16 goals in regular season, has not seen a single decent attempt on goal against its goalkeeper in 2 matches. Now, they play at home against Olympiakos who seems to be the only team that can take the Champions League spot away from them. Moreover, there is a terrible tradition for them at home against the Piraeus team, who remains undefeated in 13 years. However, the team is more confident than ever and has the momentum to end this tradition. Besides, they beat them a couple of months ago at Piraeus. The team’s players are all available and ready for the match.

Olympiakos bounced back from their very bad performance against Aris and won against AEK in a match that had a terrible referee. Still though, Olympiakos’ performance, especially in the first half was very good and deserved the win. Dudu’s return helped the team a lot offensively along with Datolo’s return on the left flank. Unfortunately, Dudu received his 7th yellow card and that means that he is suspended for 2 out of 4 of next Olympiakos’ matches starting with this one. However, Torosidis is finally available and will replace Dudu in a match that the away team wants a good result and has the tradition in its side. Apart from Dudu’s absence, coach Badovic will miss Diogo, Zairi and Stoltidis who are still injured.
Betting Suggestion: Under 2.5 goals (Home win is a riskier option but maybe worth it. Home Win at 2,37 and Under 2.5 at 1.45 at bet365.com)




Sunday 9th May 2010
AEK Athens – Aris Thessaloniki (rescheduled)
This game has been rescheduled  due to the riots in Athens.
(The match switched day from Wednesday to Thursday due to the strike of the OAKA stadium employees.)
AEK Athens is in the worst position of all 4 teams in the playoffs. They have only 2 points (started the small league with 1 point) in 2 matches and worst of all their performance on the field is not good enough. In last Sunday’s away match against Olympiakos, they were overrun by the home team in the first 20 minutes of the game and if it wasn’t for the ‘’imaginary’’ penalty that referee called maybe they wouldn’t have responded at all. Still though, they managed to level the match with a goal 2 minutes before full time but the goal didn’t count (again wrong decision by the referee). The team and the fans blame the referee for not taking anything from that game but everyone is aware of the problems between some players and the coach and how they affect the team. Coach Bajevic is trying under these very bad circumstances to ready the team for this match, as it’s maybe AEK’s last hope of achieving anything in the playoffs. Besides, anything apart a win here will make them first candidates for bottom place which leads to a Europa League mid July game which no one wants. Suspended Makos is out while youngster Koutroumanos returns.

Aris was even worse against PAOK FC than he was in the Greek Cup final. The team looked like it didn’t come into this match at all. Of course PAOK’s extensive pressing cut the team in half but still the away team didn’t manage to make an attempt on goal. Coach Cuper was very disappointed and prepares some changes for the upcoming class against AEK in Athens. The team is one point over the home team and wants to stay there at least, if they don’t manage to win and join the Champions League race. Several first team players return for Aris, like Nafti and Calvo who are no longer injured while Arano returns from suspension and will replace left back Vaggeli who is out for the rest of the playoffs.
Betting Suggestion: Both teams to score (both to score at 2,25 at bet365.com)