Apollon and Ethnikos will aim for the 4th round of phase 2 of the relegation group within the framework of the 2023/24 Cyprus national championship. These two teams have almost run out of motivation because they are both located in relatively safe positions at the moment. The duel in this penultimate round is only a formality, but is somewhat heated up due to the confrontation history of the two sides.
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Asian ratio: 0.84 : 0:3/4 : 0.98
European ratio: 1.60 : 3.85 : 4.25
Over/Under ratio: 0.94 : 2 3/4 : 0.86
Bookmaker’s expert opinion : Unable to be present in the championship match series as well as participate in the European Cup, Apollon’s Cyprus national championship season seems to have come to an end. They created such a safe distance from the relegation group that when entering phase 2, Apollon immediately successfully received a ticket to stay in the highest division of Cypriot football. That led to the “indulgence” of coach Pablo Machin’s team in recent matches. The disappointment is understandable when Apollon has made certain investments and set ambitions before the new season started. In addition, the fact that the bottom half of the rankings did not receive any tickets means that the 8 teams behind will no longer have the motivation to compete if they are successfully relegated.
Apollon’s goal right now is probably just to try their best in the national cup arena, where they have reached the semi-finals and if they win, a ticket to the European Cup will go to this team. Most recently, the Kolossi regional club was unable to subdue their compatriots AEL, losing 1-2 in the end. Sagal put Apollon ahead in the first half, but two goals in the second half of the match from Makris and Andreou caused Pablo Machin’s army to sadly leave empty-handed. This is the 4th loss of points after the last 5 rounds that this team has had to receive, with the only victory being against Nea Salamis. Anyway, Apollon still retains the strongest squad with pillars heading into the next match against Ethnikos.
On the other side of the front line, Ethnikos experienced a difficult 90 minutes against Othellos, the team that is last on the rankings and wants to get more points to stay in the national championship. Most of the first half saw Ethnikos being overwhelmed by the opponent’s efforts, but in just one moment, they had the lead thanks to Cabrera in the 42nd minute. Ethnikos thought it would end the half. 1 with the lead, at the last second before the break, Othellos had an equalizer. In the second half, nothing changed in the match, but the difference was that Ethnikos benefited from the opponent’s defensive mistake, leading to a penalty kick in the 73rd minute that Elia successfully scored to seal the victory.
This is Ethnikos’s third consecutive victory, helping them increase their unbeaten streak to 5 consecutive matches. Compared to Apollon, Ethnikos’ performance proved to be much more difficult as an unexpected start pushed them to the bottom of the rankings. The return in the second leg was not enough to bring this team back to the top half of the rankings, but it was enough to help them stay safe. Currently, Ethnikos is only 2 places higher than the group holding the red light, but with 35 points and a gap of 8 points with only 2 more rounds left, this team has officially successfully survived relegation. Because there is no other arena to aim for, Ethnikos is now only playing to get as many wins as possible, to close out the season.
ODDS
Ethnikos just returned to the national championship this season and relegation is also acceptable. They and Apollon have clashed many times in the past, with a total of 62 matches in all arenas. The home team in the next match won 37 matches and lost only 12 times during that period. However, two encounters this season saw Apollon unable to defeat Ethnikos, splitting both matches with drawn results. The home team currently has no more goals in the last 2 rounds, so we can imagine the prospect of Ethnikos continuing to get positive results. Experts aim for a draw with many goals so that the away team will win the bet due to being the underdog.
PROBABLE TEAMS
Apollon : Leeuwenburgh, Peybernes, Darikwa, Bruno Santos, Malekkides, Valbuena, Coll, Artean, Peretz, Krmencik, Sagal.
Ethnikos : Panayi, Ristevski, Bijker, Artymatas, Ioannou, Spirovski, Mezquida, Drazic, Lomotey, Ilia, Cabrera.
Choose : Ethnikos
Prediction : 2-2
Over/Under : Over
