Round 17 of the Greek Super League, the first for the new year, will be held as scheduled.

After the results of the previous round that saw Olympiacos fall from the top of the ladder, the severe accusations by the club’s leader Evangelos Marinakis and the consequential attack on professional referee Aggelos Evangelou’s house lead the Professional Referee’s Union to announce that they would be striking out of fear for their own personal safety and legal stability.

But a meeting that was held between the men in charge of the Referee’s Union and the main authorities of football in Greece (Super League chairperson Minas Lisandrou and Hellenic Federation chairperson Evangelos Grammenos) during which the match officials were guaranteed their protection, resulting in their decision to continue with their obligations for the rest of the season.

After this brief recess that ended on a positive note, all eyes of football fans in Greece will return to the pitch, with the double-header of Athens and Thessaloniki standing out from the schedule.

In the capital, Olympiacos will take on Panathinaikos at the Karaiskakis Stadium on Sunday, with Pedro Martins’ men desperately seeking a win and a return to form.

The game will be played in front of empty seats due to the penalisation of the club from Piraeus for their supporter’s conduct during the game against PAOK.

But despite the lack of home support this by no means changes the urgency with which the home side will search for the three points as they are now in the chase for first place that gives the playoff advantage.

The Portuguese manager will have further issues to worry about ahead of the game as several key players remain unavailable due to injuries, including Guillherme, Kostas Fortounis, Mathieu Valbuena and even Daniel Podence.

On the other hand, Panathinaikos have no such problems, as their four players that had fallen ill in the past week (Dimitris Kourbelis, Dimitris Kolovos, Christos Donis and Giorgos Vagiannidis) used the holiday season in order to recover and are now anticipating the game as they attempt to begin their season in a positive note.

A good result in the derby would give the “greens” the boost that they need for the rest of the season.

One day earlier, Aris host table-leaders PAOK as they attempt to put a stop to their over-50-game unbeaten run.

The champions seem to be giving a lot of care to their preparations ahead of this match, spending their New Year’s day on the training pitch. Manager Abel Ferreira will not have central defender Angel Crespo available for this match, with Fernando Varela most likely to take his place.

On the other hand, German coach Michael Oenning has most of his players match fit, after the return of striker Nicolas Diguini to full training, yet a small problem with the club’s play maker Martin Tonso has left him doubtful for the encounter.

Meanwhile, AEK and OFI will look to start off the new year on the right foot as they take on Panetolikos and Volos respectively.

GREEK SUPER LEAGUE ROUND 17 SCHEDULE
Saturday 4 January
5:15 pm OFI-Volos
7:30 pm Aris-PAOK
8:00 pm Atromitos-Asteras Tripolis
Sunday 5 January
3:00 pm AEK-Panetolikos
5:15 pm Xanthi-AEL
5:15 pm Panionios-Lamia
7:30 pm Olympiacos-Panathinaikos