Volos - Panaitolikos predictions and free betting tips [03/02/2024]

 The 21st round is about to kick off in the Greek Super League, which I will meticulously review in my series of posts. Let's start with a faceoff at the Pantessaliko Stadium, where football club Volos, nicknamed the "blue birds", rule the roost. Their visitors are Panetolikos, who are located a short distance from their rivals on the coast of the Pagasetic Gulf of the Aegean Sea.

Volos

Volos FC can't seem to settle in one place, hence they perennially bounce around different positions in the Super League's table, even peeking at the group of leaders in the past championship, taking the 6th place in the Champions Play-offs and missing out on the European cups.
Currently, the "blue birds" are managed by the Spaniard Ángel López, who had a stint with the club during the 2020/2021 season. During his time, Volos found itself close to the average position in the Super League regular stage, and even now, the team is hovering around the table's marshlands.

n the new year, the "blue birds" have yet to claim a victory, mainly stumbling in their matches. But they managed a draw in their last outing against Panserraikos, where Volos typically devoted more to defending rather than going forward. Nonetheless, Ángel López's players appeared even better than their opponents in terms of xG.
The lack of wins, weak momentum from Volos' players explains their deserved place in the outsiders' group. Various problems persist in the squad, with López struggling to find the right manpower to improve the results. Among the leaders, I note the Serbian Miloš Deletić, who effectively pushes forward, but at times, there is no one to pass the ball to in the attack's development. The forward positions see Panagiotis Moraitis and Juan Garcia alternating, while the three-centre back formation prevents them from being fielded together for strengthening defensive battlements.
Volos must strive for winning three points in the clash against Panetolikos to avoid sliding further into the table swap.

Panetolikos

A lot is regularly changing for the club from Agrinio. Confusion arises due to the actions of the coaching staff, who undergo various rotations, sometimes carrying local tasks.
Panetolikos managed to reach the semi-finals of the Greek Cup, recently overcoming OFI with a 3:1 score on their turf, and the first leg of this faceoff also favoured Yannis Petrakis's team. Still, in Agrinio, the "canaries" managed to play more sensibly, in secondary roles, creating enough situations.
In the league, not everything is smooth for Panetolikos, too many losses, and to the very same OFI and Lamia took their 3 points on the "canaries'" stadium. Undoubtedly, all of Yannis Petrakis's team's plans are bound to the Greek Cup, where the 1st game against Aris occurs just a short time after the encounter with Volos in the Super League. However, one cannot abandon the championship, albeit Panetolikos is not a contender for the Championship group.

The squad of the "canaries" evolves continually. There is no certainty with the goalkeeper from the coaching staff, but I believe that owing to overall skills, Stefanos Kapino is superior to his rival, who stands between the sticks in the country's Cup matches. Nonetheless, Antonis Stergiakis has been praise more at the start of this calendar year, although he did not even keep a clean sheet in three Cup matches. The mid-field and attack undergo such changes which are hard to understand if you are uninformed about the internal workings.
We will see how Panetolikos has arrived at Volos, but I believe the "canaries" won’t show anything significant in this match.

Head-to-Head

In the 1st round, Panetolikos managed to defeat Volos with a 2:0 score at their stadium in Agrinio, but everything was decided by the "canaries'" excellent realisation and the opponent's terrible domination, which did not utilise its territorial advantage.

Match forecast: Volos - Panetolikos

Panetolikos looks much more interesting at the start of this year, but only in the Greek Cup. Their league matches are not turning out reasonably well. Volos may not be such a crucial favourite, but home turf always matters. I will stake on the total under 2.5 goals in the match, as I believe this tactical battle will not become a grand spectacle for Greek football fans.