Tikini and Mandi Kamara lead in view of Atalanta

Some of the racing questions that Pedro Martins will resolve over the next few hours is whether Olympiacos will play Atalanta on Thursday (24/02, 7:45 p.m., COSMOTE SPORT 3 HD, Live by Sportish) in a three- or four-man defense, with two or three central midfielders, with Agibu Kamaras on the axis or on the flanks of the attack and whether Tikino Soares or Youssef El Arabi will start at the front of the attack.

In the latter case, the Brazilian center forward seems to be ahead of the pack at the moment. Ticinio scored in the first game against Atalanta in Bergamo, has scored three goals in the last six LaLiga games (with PAS Giannina, PAOK and Ionikos) and appears to be in better shape overall.

Arabi scored in the Red-Whites’ first cup game against Panetolikos in Agrinio a month ago (19/1) and his immediately previous goal was against Lamia in Karaiskaki for the championship two months ago (19/2).

Of course, the Moroccan striker provided the assist for Valbouena’s goal in Volos last Sunday and is a player who can always make the difference for Olympiacos in Europe. He proved that with his 16 goals in the red and white jersey against Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Arsenal (3), Wolves, Eintracht Frankfurt (2), Red Star, Eindhoven, Adraspher (2), Omonia. Slovan Bratislava and Ludogorets.

Arabi has 15 goals and 1 assist in 35 games (1,945 minutes) this season and Ticino has 12 goals in 34 games (1,803 minutes). However, the former has six goals from a penalty while the latter has only one from the white ball.

In any case, Martins will need the services of both players in the decisive game against Atalanta. Regardless of who will be in the starting line-up, whoever comes off the bench will get the opportunity to make a difference and contribute to Olympiakos’ efforts to qualify for the Europa League 16.

As for central midfielders, Mandi Kamara is said to have a lead over Bouhalakis to play alongside Embilas. This of course if Martins opts for a 3-4-3, 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1 system. Because if the Portuguese coach prefers a 4-3-3 formation, then Mandi and Bouhalakis are in the starting XI.

Rodrεςguez is ready

Atalanta will start without a classic centre-forward as both Zapata and Muriel are injured and Gian Piero Gasperini is considering Boga and Malinovski’s solutions at the forefront of attack with Pasalic as an alternative, according to the Italians. It is possible that the absences of the Italian team will make Martins think about the system and the people of the eleven.

After all, Gary Rodrεςguez trained normally with the rest of the team on Tuesday (Feb. 22) and was made available to the red-white coach for the game against Bergamaski. Logically, it will sit on the bench and is likely to be used throughout the game.

Now the Portuguese coach has no competition problems and is convinced that Olympiakos can qualify against Atalanta.