After 18 league games played so far, Olympiacos is at the top of the pile with 46 points, holding a nine-point lead over second-placed PAOK.

Last year ended positively for the Piraeus club, but the start of 2022 has not been ideal. After two draws in the league and one defeat in the Greek Cup, they returned to winning ways in their previous match, prevailing 2-0 against PAS Giannina at the «Georgios Karaiskakis». However, their performances have prompted cause for concern.

,Like PAOK, Olympiacos are battling for honours on three fronts. They have their backs against the wall as far as the cup in Greece is concerned after losing to Panetolikos in Agrinio, and they need to turn the tie around in the second leg to hope to then meet the winner of the PAOK-AEK tie. In Europe, they have progressed to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League and will face Atalanta in February.

January moves

Olympiacos made three transfer moves in January. The most high profile is that of Kostas Manolas, who returned to Greece after 7.5 years in Italy, while the Red and Whites also took Joao Carvalho from Nottingham Forest and acquired Fadiga from Paris Saint-Germain’s reserve team.

At the same time, Olympiacos also renewed the contract of Pedro Martins, who signed up to stay on as head coach until 2024.

The latest news in view of Toumba showdown

For the match in Thessaloniki, Martins can now count on Rodriguez and Agibu Kamara, who returned from African Cup of Nations duty, but not on  Nigerian Henry Onyekuru At the same time, he will also have at his disposal Bouchalakis and Papastathopoulos, who have overcome their injuries, while Manolas, who had felt discomfort in the last match with PAS Giannina, will also be in the squad.

The squad in detail:

Vaclik, Christinson, Tzolakis, Lala, Androutsos, Ba, Manolas, Papastathopoulos, Papadopoulos, Reabciuk, M’Vila, Bouchalakis, M. Kamara, A. Kamara, Fadiga, Masouras, Vroussai, Valbuena, Rodrigues, Lopez, Tiquinho, El Arabi.