AEK Athens vs Aris Match Preview

AEK Athens faces Aris for the 21st round of the Greek Super League.

After the shocking home defeat to PAS Giannina, AEK returned to winning ways in the previous round, prevailing 0-2 over OFI. We've seen quite a lot of improvement back in their defense after the arrival of Manolo Jimenez in their bench and this could help them reach victory on today's game against Aris, as they did 3 weeks ago at Kleanthis Vikelidis, prevailing 0-1 over them.

In the midweek Cup game AEK suffered a 2-1 defeat to Apollon Smyrmis, playing under heavy rotation. Despite this defeat, their overall performance was decent, actually, they managed to equalize 1-1 at some point, securing their qualification, considering the clear advantage they had from the first leg (2-0).

Aris continues their amazing campaign in the Greek Super League, remaining at the 2nd spot of the table, but they have to fight hard to finish there, as both AEK and PAOK are very strong competitors. In the previous round of the league, they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Asteras Tripolis on the road. They manage to open the scoreline but failed to keep their lead and conceded two goals in the second half. Also, I have to mention that Asteras Tripolis was playing without their top scorer in the squad, Jeronimo Berrales. However, Aris got their revenge in the midweek cup game, winning 0-2 over Asteras, an outcome that send them in the next round of the competition. 

AEK are the favorites to win here and I think that based on the offered odds, this is a bet with value. AEK are the better side based on quality and experience and have the upper hand to win here against Aris, who struggles a lot in the last few weeks to maintain their 2nd spot in the standings.