Saturday, October 2, 2010

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02.10.2010. 22:00 Valencia - Athletic Bilbao

On The Right Path
 
As pundits in Spain look for a more open title race than in the last couple of seasons, Valencia have quickly become pushed as the team capable of challenging the Real Madrid-Barcelona duopoly. Last term’s distant third placed finishers have started this campaign in superb style, recording 13 points from a possible 15 in league play.

Unai Emery’s men suffered their first significant set-back in midweek, when they were defeated by Manchester United in the Champions League. It was a game that produced few openings and appeared to be heading towards a scoreless draw before Javier Hernandez’s late intervention gave the Red Devils maximum points at the Mestalla.

“We are satisfied with everything except the result,” Emery explained to the media after the midweek battle. “The team played well. There is nothing to criticise because we played to win and we must always have that mentality.

“The team was compact and takes another step in maturity and confidence. This match allows us to look optimistically at the future and we must continue to believe in the path we are on.”

Los Che’s only blemishes this season have both come in front of their home supporters to date. Defeated by the Premier League runners-up, they were also held against Atletico Madrid, meaning three points on Saturday night are all the more important.

Bad Travellers


Already Athletic Bilbao have established themselves as a side on the fringes of the European race, a position they will ultimately hope to enhance before the season is out. With five matches passed, los Leones have suffered two defeats but have equally registered two victories, Mallorca and Hercules their victims.

Last weekend, Joaquin Caparros’ side were out-played by Barcelona on a miserable evening at San Mames. Even on a treacherous pitch that would seem to suit the Basques more than their guests, they slid to a 3-1 loss in a sometimes ill-tempered affair that saw Fernando Amorebieta and David Villa dismissed.

Javi Martinez has looked ahead to the forthcoming challenge against Valencia, and it’s clear he anticipates los Che to be tough opponents. “Valencia are much more solid and compact than last year,” he noted to the press. “We know that this part of the championship is very complicated because now we have to face the league leaders and it will be very difficult to win at their field.”

Unlike last season, the Basques don’t have to wrestle with addition fatigue caused by European participation, so they will hope to better their record against Unai Emery’s side, who chalked up two victories over them last term. Indeed, 15 of Athletic’s last 20 visits to the Mestalla have been lost.


TEAM NEWS

Valencia


Hedwiges Maduro picked up a hamstring problem against Manchester United but could be available at the weekend. Joaquin is still absent, while Ever Banega has returned to training but is unlikely to be involved.

Athletic Bilbao


Fernando Amorebieta has been handed a one match suspension and won’t be eligible to play on Saturday.

Gaizka Toquero has been training normally with the team after nearly a month out through injury and could well be restored to the starting XI alongside Fernando Llorente. 


Prediction
Buoyed by an excellent start to the campaign, Valencia start this match as warm favourites. Unai Emery has the requisite depth in his side to rejuvenate any tired midweek legs, while los Che’s squad is simply brimming with confidence at present. Athletic Bilbao are not a team who should be lightly written off, but after losing their last three against the Mestalla club in La Liga, they’re likely to suffer an unwelcome fourth straight loss.

Valencia 2-0 Athletic Bilbao

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02.10.2010. 21:00 Sent Etjen - Olimpik Marsej

No Playstation In The 70s

Ligue 1 has surprise leaders after seven rounds of fixtures. While the traditional big guns of recent years falter, it’s Saint-Etienne, France’s most successful club of all time domestically, who have taken up the pace this term. On Saturday evening, les Verts face a tough home encounter against Olympique de Marseille, the present champions.

If there were any doubts about the nature of Sainte’s early season rise to prominence, they were dispelled last week with a famous 1-0 success over Olympique Lyonnais in the 100th Derby du Rhone. For long periods the men in green clung on grimly, but a superb late free kick from Dimitri Payet proved the difference.

OL president Jean-Michel Aulas had to comfort supporters of the hosts by noting that in midweek Saint-Etienne’s players would be playing the Champions League on their Playstations, but les Gones would be competing in the real thing.

“He forgets that in the 70s, the Playstation did not exist, but ASSE were already in the European Cup of champions clubs,” co-president of Sainte, Roland Romeyer, said. “With us, there’s a star [for 10 league titles].”

An 11th crown this term may have been little more than a pipedream when the season kicked off in early August, but in October it’s starting to look just a little more realisitic.

Not Firing

Olympique de Marseille travel to the white-hot atmosphere of Le Chaudron on Saturday evening looking to continue their resurgence domestically. After losing their opening two games the press were quick to note that only once in Le Championnat’s history have the future champions claimed the title after such a start, but OM are now only five points from the top, with a win on Saturday capable of pushing them right into the mix with less than quarter of the season played.

Didier Deschamps side are not firing on all cylinders, as was clear when they met Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Not in one area of the field did les Phoceens sufficiently compete with the Blues, leaving them pointless after two European matches.

At home matters are starting to improve. The Provence giants have won three of their last five matches and have drawn awkward fixtures against Girondins de Bordeaux and Monaco, hinting that they yet have the capability to defend their title, especially as none of France’s established clubs are really looking that interested in setting a strong pace.

Last season OM came up short at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, held to a scoreless draw by a primarily defensive Saint-Etienne unit, who had just freed themselves from the shackles of hapless coach Alain Perrin. Grit with evidence in abundance in the home side’s play as they had Stathis Tavlaridis dismissed after just 10 minutes yet they managed to hang on for a commendable point.

Marseille should not expect Sainte to be a great deal more offensive, yet OM will have to watch their hosts quick counterattacking, with Dimitri Payet and Bakary Sako both in great touch.



TEAM NEWS

Saint-Etienne

Christophe Galtier has been handed a handful of set-backs over the last couple of weeks. Boubacar Sanogo will be missing until around Christmas after undergoing surgery, while young defender Yohan Andreu will be absent for a similar period of time after hernia surgery.

Josuha Guilavogui, who has impressed with his tenacity and energy in the midfield when deployed, will be absent for several weeks after picking up a muscular injury against Lyon last weekend.

Marseille


Head coach Didier Deschamps is unlikely to have any issues going into the weekend encounter. Cesar Azpilicueta will be restored to the right back role if his thigh injury allows him to feature, while Taye Taiwo, who scored last weekend against Sochaux, deserves to be restored to the left-back role. Mathieu Valbuena is another face who should be drafted back after the midweek loss.


Prediction
Marseille and Saint-Etienne are coming off wholly contrasting results. There can be little doubt that les Verts rode their luck to beat Lyon, but at home they can frequently be found to be a stronger force. It would be quite a scalp for OM if they were to defeat les Verts on such form, and a draw is probably a more realistic result for Didier Deschamps’ men, who haven’t struck their stride yet this season.

AS Saint-Etienne 1-1 Marseille

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02.10.2010. 20:45 Parma - Milan

Reaching Out For The Mid-Table

Parma are expected to finish in the mid-table in Serie A this season and as per those terms the Ducali have been doing well, although last weekend they went down 2-0 in Florence to a resurgent Fiorentina side.

At the moment Parma are 16th in the league table with five points from five matches and are actually one of a host of clubs on that point.

Parma are strong at home and have defeated Brescia and drawn with Genoa at the Stadio Ennio Tardini this season. A win against Milan isn’t perhaps very likely but it is not impossible either.

Picking Up Form

Milan’s successive draws with Catania and Lazio following a 2-0 defeat to Cesena in Serie A had piled up pressure on coach Massimiliano Allegri but since last weekend things have eased for the Rossoneri.

Milan’s 1-0 defeat of Genoa at the San Siro, thanks to a sensational Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike, saw them climb up the league standings to fifth place. The Diavolo are currently perched on eight points from five matches, just two behind leaders Inter and Lazio.

Milan gained a priceless point in the Champions League group stage in midweek when they drew 1-1 with Ajax in Amsterdam and will attempt to sustain their momentum.

TEAM NEWS


Parma


Galloppa, Paloschi and Giovinco are out injured but the home side will field a 4-3-3 system with Angelo, Bojinov and Marques as the three front-men.

Milan
Ambrosini is still out injured but Pato has returned to full match fitness. Allegri is likely to deploy Robinho in his starting line-up on the right and Ronaldinho on the left. Seedorf could be benched.


Prediction
A win for Milan looks likely but it will not be a very convincing victory for the Rossoneri. Parma will make life tough for Allegri’s side but the Diavolo do have enough quality to see them through.

Parma 1-2 Milan

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02.10.2010. 16:00 Tottenham Hotspur - Aston Villa

Champions League hangover

Tottenham face a rejuvenated Aston Villa side this weekend as Harry Redknapp's men attempt to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at Upton Park last week.

Spurs recovered from their weekend slip by storming to their first victory in the Champions League proper on Wednesday night after demolishing Dutch champions FC Twente 4-1 at White Hart Lane.
That result has assisted the club in attaining a healthy position after two games, in what was always viewed as one of the more difficult groups in the competition, with Rafael Benitez’s Inter one of their opponents, along with Twente and Werder Bremen.

However, it is on home soil where Tottenham must now refocus their efforts, as a season which had been filled with genuine optimism and littered with expectations of seriously competing with the Premier League’s elite, threatens to collapse before the season has truly kicked off.

Spurs have flattered to deceive somewhat during this campaign; Redknapp’s men tore Manchester City apart in the opening game of the season, but were well below par when they crushed to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to struggling Wigan Athletic at home earlier this month.

Rejuvenated Villa

Their opponents this weekend, Aston Villa, have suddenly found a new lease of life under new manager Gerard Houllier, hence, the club’s two straight victories under their new manager, in the League Cup against Blackburn Rovers and away to Wolves last Sunday.

Despite the chaotic beginning to the season, which saw Martin O’Neil depart the club just two days before their opening fixture, Villa find themselves in 5th position with a respectable tally of 10 points from 6 games.
Last weekend’s derby triumph halted a worrying run of away defeats, which had seen them emphatically trounced at Newcastle United before they lost late on against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

With the club now returning to a more stabilised managerial set-up, rather than the awkward uncertainty in which had surrounded the team prior to the Houllier appointment, some of the confidence which saw the club maintain a top six finish in each of the last three seasons, seems to have made a swift return to the Villa team.
As both clubs yet to recapture their form of last season, you get the feeling that the victor of Saturday's match will gain the upper hand and most importantly off all, the momentum for a sustained push up the league table.

Team News

Tottenham
 

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp still has defensive problems with both William Gallas and Michael Dawson sidelined with knee and groin injuries respectively.

Ledley King returned to the side for the midweek win over Twente, but is unlikely to play due to his consistent groin problems, and with Saturday's game coming so soon after his appearance on Wednesday, it is expected that he will be rested.

Younes Kaboul is also out after he tweaked his hamstring in training prior to Wednesday's game, whilst striker Jermain Defoe is still unavailable.

With so many injuries at the heart of the Spurs backline it is expected that Vedran Corluka will continue to deputise in central defence.

Heurelho Gomes replaced stand in goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini in midweek and will continue in between the sticks for Spurs.

Possible starting XI: Gomes; Hutton, Corluka, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Huddlestone, Modric, Bale; Van der Vaart; Crouch.

Aston Villa

New Villa manager Gerard Houllier is set to welcome both Richard Dunne and John Carew back into his squad after the pair recovered from niggling injuries which saw them miss last week's win at Wolves.

The former Liverpool boss also sprung a surprise when he revealed that striker Gabby Agbonlahor has shaken off a groin strain and is in contention to face Spurs, just days after Houllier seemed to rule the striker out of the game.

Possible starting XI: Friedel; L Young, Collins, Dunne, Warnock; Reo-Coker, Petrov; Albrighton, A Young, Downing; Heskey.


Prediction

Tottenham 2-2 Aston Villa