The week PAOK's depth did the talking
PAOK won 0–1 at Atromitos in the third round of the 2026-27 Greek Cup, and the fans handed the man of the match vote to Anestis Mythou, who scored the winner (4). That is the defining result of this week, and it says more about where this squad is going than the league standings do.
The league picture is already settled into a shape. Second place, 9 points from 4 games, goal difference +5. The form line is D W W L W. The only defeat came on September 6 at Panathinaikos, 3–1, and everything around it has been won: Levadiakos 4–0 at home, Atromitos 1–2 away, Aris 2–0 at home last Sunday.
One loss, in Athens, to a title rival. Everything else is points banked.
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Mythou and the Cup as a proving ground
The Cup tie was not a throwaway. PAOK went to the Municipal Stadium of Peristeri and came away with a 0–1 win, and the club's own vote put Mythou on top (4). Keni, Diego Costa and Antonis Tsiftsis were the other names in the mix (4). That is a real signal: the coach has rotated in this competition and the rotation is producing players fans want to see again.
The Cup is also the cheapest route to a trophy, and PAOK are treating it that way rather than treating it as a training session. Three rounds in, and the squad has not blinked.
Iatridis renewed, then lent out
PAOK tied Konstantinos Iatridis to a new deal and sent him on loan to Mykonos Betsson for the season (5). It is a clean piece of business. The club keeps the player, the player gets minutes, and the first-team bench gets shorter without getting weaker.
Depth is the word for this week. A renewal and a loan in the same breath means the sporting department has a plan beyond the starting eleven, and after an August where the squad was thin enough to worry about, that matters.
The national team calls for Michailidis and Zafeiris add to the pile of minutes (8). Both will come back with travel in their legs.
What to watch at Agrinio
PAOK go to Panetolikos on Sunday, September 20 at 20:00 CEST, and the build-up has centred on the starting eleven and the weight of a third straight league win (6).
This is the game that tells you whether the Panathinaikos defeat was a one-off or a warning. Panetolikos away is the kind of fixture where title pushes quietly stall, and PAOK have dropped points in Agrinio before through carelessness rather than quality.
Watch the selection. If the coach rests the national team players and still wins, the depth argument holds. If he cannot, the squad is thinner than 9 points from 4 games suggests.
