Volos
- Volos are solid home team in the middle of the Super League table with 22 points from 13 games.
- They have netted 16 and conceded 16.
- Juan Ferrando’s men play an attractive, proactive, high-tempo brand of possession soccer that involves plenty of pressing and some nice fluidity and overloads in midfield.
- They have the quality to create opportunities with the ball and the discipline to make it hard for opponents to get it back.
- At the other end, they are well organised and do not concede a lot of goals.
Panetolikos
- Panetolikos trail them in ninth with about 15 points and a negative goal difference.
- The visitors need to take all three points to haul themselves out of lower mid-table mediocrity and bounce back from last weekend’s 0 - 5 loss to AEK Athens.
- Panetolikos are a more compact and reactive side with a style based on sitting deep, absorbing pressure and springing forward when they get the ball on the counter or from set pieces.
- Giannis Anastasiou’s men have been in patchy form of late, recording an impressive 1 - 0 away win at Panserraikos, a dominant 3 - 0 win against Larissa and a shocking 0 - 5 home defeat to AEK.
Head-to-Head
- Volos have the best of the all-time record against Panetolikos with 7 wins to the visitors’ 6 in 21 meetings (8 draws, avg just over 2 goals per game).
- The two sides have split the spoils in the last three Super League meetings with Volos taking two wins away from home and a 3 - 0 win at home while Panetolikos nicked one of the away games with a late goal.
Key Players
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Volos:
- Lazaros Lamprou brings a bit of magic to the wing for Volos with his ability to create something out of nothing and his direct involvement in goals.
- Saïd Hamulić has been the man to benefit from his creativity as their main threat.
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Panetolikos:
- Panetolikos have a couple of different ways to hurt opponents with fast Konrad Michalak on the flanks and Daniel Lajud or other midfielders who can drive at the defence or find passes in behind.
- Facundo Pérez is their late-game danger man, who looks for the moment when he can slot the winner.
Betting Insights
- Volos are the narrow favorites with the bookmakers at 1.93, with Panetolikos around the 4.19 mark and the tie priced at 3.22.
- The under 2.5 goals market looks good value at 1.66 because it is going to be tight and cagey, as the Panthessaliko Stadium’s cool and damp December ambience will suit a more direct, pragmatic game plan - particularly if it rains.
Prediction
- We feel Volos will edge it, although probably by the minimum margin on home turf.
- A single goal may do it for them here with Panetolikos well capable of nicking one as well, but with Saïd Hamulić in form, we are taking a chance on a narrow home win as the pick of the three outcomes.
