Handball premiere: The Olympiakos derby with Diomedes stands out

The game that dominates the 5th matchday of the handball premiere is the game between Olympiakos and Diomedes (October 26th, 9:00 p.m. behind closed doors). The two teams sit third with six points each, with the common denominator being losses to AEK. Olympiacos have three consecutive victories in the championship, most recently against Aeropos in Edessa on Saturday. On the contrary, Diomedes suffered his first defeat against AEK on Saturday in Argos.

For Olympiacos coach Giorgos Karasavvidis, the goal is for his team to minimize the technical errors they had against Aeropos and show a better competitive profile given their European competitive commitments. As the Olympiacos coach pointed out: “We play with Diomedes, who comes from a very good performance against AEK. We have to be very focused and determined to get the desired result. In attack they use the width of the field very well, we will have to limit that. Our players have done a good job over the past two days and I expect the game will show that. Sure we will miss our crowd but with a good result we hope to attract as many as possible to our European game on Sunday.”

In the Diomedes camp, you keep the positive elements you showed despite losing the game against AEK and work on specific weaknesses. According to regional manager Orfea Tsakalos, “We played a tough game against a very good opponent like AEK at our headquarters and regardless of the result, after every game we try to improve by working on the issues where we fell behind. We’ve done that now that we have the game against Olympiakos ahead of us. Tomorrow we have another strong game against an equally strong opponent. We stay true to our plan and follow the instructions of our trainer. We’re ready to give 110% of our strength in another game.”

The leader of the PAOK table has four wins in as many games, has scored more than thirty goals in every game and shows competitive stability. On Wednesday (October 26th, 6:00 p.m.) a dangerous exit awaits him in Naoussa on the 5th match day of the handball premier.

On Saturday, Zafeirakis clinched their first win at Vrilissi’s home stadium and breathed a sigh of relief after coming off three defeats. Understandably, he wants to make things difficult for PAOK and show that placement in the lower tiers of the table will be something temporary.

At OAKA, AEK welcomes Vrilissia on Wednesday (10/26) at 18:00. The home team is the favorite and the away team is the underdog. AEK is unbeaten in the league so far and has the best defense. Vrilissia is coming off a “tough defeat” at home to Zafirakis Naoussa but has four league points so far.

At the “Home of Handball” in Mikra, AESH welcomes Pylaias Aeropos (10/26, 5 p.m.), with the special feature that the two coaches, Babis Ananiadis and Yiannis Pilalidis, are cousins. For both teams, however, the win will be important for the continuation and a very interesting match can be expected.

Pylaia, who sits seventh in the table with 3 points, comes from the draw in the home of Doukas. They have the second-best defense in the league to date, conceding fewer than 25 goals on average. Aeropos, who have two points, were defeated at home by Olympiakos on Saturday but showed they are gradually gaining consistency and finding a rhythm.

The program of the 5th game

Wednesday 10/26

• Zafirakis Naoussa – PAOK
• AESH Pylaia – Aeropos Edessa ManDynamic
• AEK – ESN Vrilision
• Olympiakos SFP/Omilos Xini – Diomedes Argos

Saturday 29.10

• HANTH – Drama Bianco Monte
• Ionian Affidea – ASE Duka

grading

1. POC 8
2. AK 8
3. Diomedes Argos 6
4. Olympiacos SFP/Omilos Xini 6
5. GS drama ’86 5
6. ESN Virlision 4
7. AESH Pylias 3
8. EGSN Zafiiraki’s 2nd
9. Aeropos of Edessa 2
10. ASE Duke 2
11. HANTh. 2
12. Ionian of New Philadelphia 0

next match day (05/11)

• PAOK-AEK
• Drama Bianco Monte – Zafiraki’s Naoussa
• Ionian Affidea-CHANTH
• ESN Vrilission – Olympiakos SFP/Omilos Xyni
• Diomedes Argos – AESCH Pylaia
• ASE Duka – Aeropos Edessa ManDynamic