Aleksandar Prijović, the killer
When he arrived in Thessaloniki in early 2017, most people were struck by his resemblance to Zlatan Ibrahimović: tall, striker, sporting a man bun and a blasé look on his face. Other than that, he was a question-mark, because of his tendency to change clubs and his slow development.
Today, less than two years later, Aleksandar Prijović has already a prominent place in PAOK’s history books.
In his first semester in Thessaloniki, he scored 10 goals firing warning shots for all rivals to take notice. Last season, he spearheaded the “Double-Headed Eagle” attack and netted 27 goals –the best performance ever in a single season by a PAOK player.
He has started strongly this season and has already scored 7 goals in 10 encounters. Aleksandar Prijović’s performances get analyzed by paokfc.gr.
Most effective of all
Prijović has 44 goals in 69 encounters, meaning 0,63 goals per match. His ratio rises slightly for the Super League Souroti matches, to 0,64 goals per match (29 goals in 45 encounters).
His performances make him PAOK’s most effective striker among those who have crossed the 40-goal mark. Kostas Frantzeskos is second on that list with 0,42 goals per game, along with Christos Dimopoulos (also with 0,42). Stefanos Athanasiadis (0,41) and Stavros Sarafis (0,38) trail. However the «Caesar’s» mark is special, as it has been achieved in 358 league encounters!
The “victims” of the Serbian striker
With the black-and-white shirt on, Prijović has faced a total of 26 teams so far. Only four have escaped him. Atromitos kept him at bay in three encounters, Olimpik Donetsk (two) and Chelsea and Apollon Pontos (one match each).
Prijović has scored against 22 PAOK rivals, with Panathinaikos and Panionios at the top of his… preferences with four goals against each one. He has netted three goals against Panetolikos, Asteras Tripolis and PAS Giannina and two goals against Östersunds, Kerkyra, Lamia, Basel, Veria, AEK Athens, Eginiakos, Platanias, Levadiakos and Trikala.
His last season’s record
In 2017-18, Prijović scored 27 goals for PAOK, all competitions included. In his first full season at the club, the Serbian forward broke the mark set by Giorgos Koudas with 26 goals. The latter now is second in that list that also includes Stavros Sarafis (25 goals) and Giorgos Kostikos (23 goals).
Prijović also landed the top-scorer award of last season’s Super League Souroti with 19 goals to his name. The top scoring accolade returned to Toumba after 12 years, as Dimitris Salpingidis had won in back in 2005-06 with 17 goals.
