ΣΤΗΡΙΞΕ ΤΗΝ ΠΡΟΣΠΑΘΕΙΑ ΜΑΣ & ΓΙΝΕ ΜΕΛΟΣ ΤΟΥ OFICRETE

Oficrete
01/01/2020 - 17:05

Battle for top-six to heat up in 2020

The candidates for the Super League 1 playoffs.

ΣΥΝΤΑΚΤΗΣ

Oficrete
The battle to finish in the top-six and the race for the final two European spots is firmly up for grabs as we enter 2020, with nine teams currently separated by eight points.

Now that all matches for the 2019 calendar year are behind us, it is a good time to assess the current Super League standings. While there is a genuine title race between PAOK and Olympiacos, the battle for the final three spots in the top-six is set to intensify in 2020. At the moment, nine teams are separated by a mere eight points on the ladder.

Fourth-placed OFI are currently sitting on 23 points, and Asteras Tripolis are on 15 points in twelfth position (only three spots off the bottom). This logjam in the middle of the ladder will make for intriguing viewing come 2020 when a lot of these sides will face off against each other.

In this instance, the respective head-to-head records of the teams could well come into play as we can see now between Larissa, Aris, and Panathinaikos. All three teams sit on 22 points, with Larissa ahead due to boasting a superior head-to-head record (this is the first criteria, followed by goal difference in games between the teams in question). Panathinaikos are seventh as they lost to Larissa in the first meeting between the two teams and only took one point off Aris in the two meetings this season.

Finishing inside the top-six this season has become quite significant especially for traditional mid-table clubs as they would seal their top flight status early and possibly compete for a European spot. PAOK, Olympiacos, and AEK will take the first three European spots, but the other two are firmly up for grabs.

A reminder, the top six clubs at the end of the regular season will compete in the playoffs while the remaining eight clubs will fight for Super League safety in the playouts.

Interestingly, there are six municipal sides in the mix - OFI, Larissa, Xanthi, Asteras Tripolis, Volos and Lamia, meaning they come from outside of the big cities in the form of Athens and Thessaloniki.

The primary objective this season for Lamia and Volos would have been to avoid relegation from the Super League, and both are seemingly on course to achieve that. As the season progresses, these two could drop off, so could Asteras Tripolis and Xanthi (whose form has drastically deteriorated from the beginning of the season). Atromitos possess the quality to challenge but have been marred by inconsistency this season.

Realistically, this would leave OFI, Larissa, Aris and Panathinaikos battling for the last two European spots (even though the Greens are still serving a ban from participating in any continental competition, a top-five finish wipes this punishment out for next season). OFI and Larissa have been the surprise packages of the season, especially the former who have caught the eye with their attacking play. OFI are the joint third top scorers in the Championship. Larissa faced a tumultuous preseason in terms of the coaching situation but have been very resilient.

Aris and Panathinaikos boast stronger squads in comparison, especially the former, who participated in the early qualifying rounds of the UEFA Europa League this season. Aris boast an array of talented players in attacking areas but need to become more consistent.

Panathinaikos have developed into a solid unit that is hard to break down but need to find a cutting edge in the final third to find the goals to pull ahead of the rest. They have an inferior head-to-head record against all three sides at the moment (they have already played OFI and Aris twice), so would have to take points off the top sides as they did in the first half of the season - they took five points off rivals Olympiacos, PAOK, and AEK. However, finding a way to break down stubborn defences that sit deep appears to be the issue.

As it can be observed, the race for the European spots is wide open and it is all to play for as we approach 2020 and the 'home run' of fixtures for the Greek Super League.

2019/2020 Super League standings after 16 rounds:

PAOK, 40 points

Olympiacos, 38 points

AEK, 28 points

OFI, 23 points

AEL, 22 points

Aris, 22 points

Panathinaikos, 22 points

Xanthi, 20 points

Atromitos, 19 points

Lamia, 19 points

Volos NFC, 18 points

Asteras Tripolis, 15 points

Panetolikos, 8 points

Panionios, 6 points*

*Panionios deducted six points before season began having not been granted Super League licence

credits: www.agonasport.com

Oficrete