Panathinaikos wants to get back on track with OFI and win the first and informal title of the winter

After two different types of defeats (but… defeats) against Aris and Villarreal within four days, Panathinaikos returns to Leoforos for the first time on Sunday (03/12, 7:30 p.m., , live from Sportish) in five weeks ( !) and five consecutive away games, looking for a victory over OFI that will keep them at the top of the Stoiximan Super League and give them the (first and unofficial) title of the winter.

The first round of the league ends with a very difficult game for the Greens against an opponent who has damaged Panathinaikos’ home not once or twice but five times in recent years. With three wins and two draws in a row at “Apostolos Nikolaidis” in both the 2021/22 season (0:0) and last year (1:1).

Fatigue is a given and great for the players of the “Cloverleaf”, who will play another very important game after a training session and a half on their feet and almost 48 hours of rest from the airport and the journey from Spain to the stadium, but the question cannot be anything else than the three points in the fight for the title, which is now becoming increasingly heated and the gap between the big four is one or two points.

Ivan Jovanovic will make some refreshing changes from the start, with Tin Jedvai also out for this game with a groin problem. Opera means the only ‘pure’ stopper available (with the permanently injured Magnusson and Palmer-Brown out) will be Bart Schenkefeld, with Willian Arao set to play alongside the Panathinaikos captain in defense for one more game.

And Zekas and Yiannis Kotsiras should be considered as emergency options if modification or stopper change is required.

In addition, it is possible that Yurii Lodygin will get a starting jersey under the goalposts as part of the rotation that will take place among the team’s goalkeepers in league games this year, while the defensive duo in defense is expected to consist of 2 players Giorgos Vagiannidis and Philip Djuricic.

In the center of midfield, Toni Villena has a serious chance to take the place of Adam Cerin, who has been playing continuously for some time alongside Ruben Perez, while at the end of the attack the favorites are Sebastian Palacios and Aitor.

At “10” Bernard Duarte has the lead (with Filip Djuricic as an outsider), while Fotis Ioannidis will return to the front of the attack in place of Andraz Sporar.

The 22-man Panathinaikos squad for today’s game (7:30 p.m.) against OFI consists of Brinioli, Lodgin, Xenopoulos, Vaiannidis, Huancar, Ruben, Senkefeld, Zeka, Ioannidis, Sporar, Bernard, Cerin, Mancini, Aitor, Mladenovic , Kotsiras. Geremegev, Djuricic, Palacios, Vilena, Arao and Verbic.