Doxa vs Aris prediction 18.12.2023

• Competition: Cyta Championship
• Date: Monday, 18th December 2023
• Kickoff: 17:00 UK / 18:00 CET
• Venue: Makario Stadium (Nicosia)

On Monday afternoon, the last-placed team on the league's table, Doxa, will welcome last season's champs, Aris, in the 15th round of the Cyta Championship. 

Doxa barely secured survival in the Cyta Championship last year, as they were only two points away from the trip to Division 2. However, the current season has been an absolute disaster, and keeping them away from relegation would take a miracle. Currently, they won just one point in 14 rounds, with an embarrassing -31 goal difference.

When new investors came to the club in 2021, Aris quickly became one of the best teams in Cyprus. Last year, they won their first league title in a 93-year history, and they continued to play well this season as they managed to qualify for the Europa League group phase. Yes, they just finished their appearance in the EL as the last-placed team in the group with Rangers, Betis, and Sparta Prague, but their performances were far from bad and will surely help them grow as a club. Also, in the domestic competition, Aris is 3rd, with 29 points in 14 games, just three points away from the top spot. They will now focus on their domestic league, and we expect that they will only improve. 

Doxa vs Aris pick: Aris to win and cover the -1.5 AH spread

Doxa have been terrible this season as they lost 13 of 14 games and scored just five goals - 0.36 per game. Additionally, 11 of those 13 losses came by a difference of two or more goals.

Aris have won nine of 14 games this season - 64.3%. Even though that percentage is fine, we expect them to start playing even better because they finished their European journey. And this game against the worst team in the league is the perfect opportunity to win three points away from home.

In the previous five h2h games, Aris were a lot better team and won on all five occasions. This time, considering Doxa have been absolutely terrible throughout the season, anything but a big win for last season's champs would be a surprise.