Struggling Apollon host table-topping APOEL

The Cypriot top-flight resumes after a busy midweek round of action in Europe, as the defending champions travel to Limassol to face struggling Apollon, while three city derbies also feature in Round 5 of the national football championship.

Apollon’s manager Didier Ole Nicole was criticised after an apparently defensive approach to their last league game against Olympiakos in Nicosia when he fielded three central defenders. But the Frenchman has a very good explanation for his actions: “I just wanted to help my team psychologically by trying not to concede goals. Our psychology is not at the bets level at the moment, and I thought it was wiser to deploy a defensive tactic. It was the first time after 18 years of being a football manager that I did so.”

“APOEL is the best team in Cyprus. It will be a very difficult game for us. We must be well organised throughout and attack with loads of energy,” Ole Nicole added.

“Against Olympiakos we played with three central defenders, because they played with two strikers. With APOEL it’s going to be different as I expect them to have only one striker up front.”

Omonia host rock-bottom Ermis Aradippou at the GSP Stadium this afternoon at 6pm and their manager Neophytos Larkou expressed his hopes for the game: “We have two goals for the match against Ermis. We want to win and to maintain the positive image of the team. However it will be difficult as Ermis is a well trained team and hard to break.”

Elsewhere, Aris face AEL – currently second in the standings with nine points from three games as their third round match against Omonia was abandoned at the half time – in Limassol, with kick-off set for 6pm. An hour later, Enosis Neon Paralimni take on the biggest surprise of the championship so far in Anagennisi Derynias, who are undefeated away from home.

Two city derbies will be played in Larnaca as Alki host Anorthosis Ammochostos tomorrow afternoon at 6pm, while on Monday night Nea Salamina take on AEK. The clash between Ethnikos Achnas and Olympiakos Nicosia completes the Monday night programme.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.