Greek League
2007-03-10 - PAOK vs Egaleo
A Sports Betting Pick by Dimitris
This a very crucial match for both teams as PAOK have to maintain their hopes for UEFA cup qualification but Egaleo have to maintain their hopes for First League football in the next season.PAOK
PAOK lie in the 4th place of the table along with OFI and Aris but they have a very declining form. They have huge financial and administrative problems but they are one of the greatest clubs in Greece and they always play for the win.
However if they are to claim an UEFA cup spot they have to get back to good performances as soon as possible. For this match only midfielder Iliadis will be missing. In the last match they were held in a scoreless draw by Kerkyra.
Egaleo
The club is simply falling apart...
While they used to be a respected and not to be taken lightly opponent the decisions of the chairman are leading the club to destruction. Almost all the top club's players have left the club and been replaced with players of lower quality.
Surely the squad still has some good players but this is not enough.
In the last game they lost 0-2 to Panionios in a game where they showed no passion and no winning spirit at all.
For this match key midfielder and natural leader of the team Skopelitis will be in the squad although he is not 100% fit as well as left winger Nedelkovic.
HEAD TO HEAD
I was able to find really old stats for this game but i will only post results after Egaleo came back in the top league. The only away victory of Egaleo was 2 years ago.
It was the last match of the championship and Egaleo had to win to retain their hopes for UEFA cup qualification. In all the other matches Egaleo lost with 2 goals or more.
2001/02 PAOK-Egaleo 3-1
2002/03 PAOK-Egaleo 4-0
2003/04 PAOK-Egaleo 2-0
2004/05 PAOK-Egaleo 2-4
2005/06 PAOK-Egaleo 2-0
VERDICT
PAOK have to overcome their financial and other problems in order to win this match while Egaleo have to overcome the fact that they are a mediocre team in a really bad form at the moment.
If this match was earlier in the season i would give Egaleo some hope but i believe there is much less now. On the other hand a team that is battling against relegation is always a considerable foe.
The home ground of PAOK is one of the most dreaded in the league although they lost their last away match 1-3 to Larisa.
I am not writting off Egaleo's chances of snatching a point (or all three) here but i would rate this match about 50% probability of home win, thus i cannot ignore the prices of 1.7+ that most bookies are offering.
The best price i could find is 1.80 at Expekt but since this is not a Gooner recommended bookie i would stick with 1.72 of bet365 (of course you can get a higher price at Betfair).
The Pick :
PAOK win @ 1.72, scores 1-0 or 2-0
BEST BETTING TIP :
GOONER ADDS :The Betfair price is 1.87 right now before commission.
