PAOK Saloniki - Tottenham
Hearing the Tottenham coach Redknapp saying that playing in the Europa League is a nuisance, more or less forces me to back the home win. PAOK with, among others, their Greek international forward Salpingidis in their ranks, are no pushovers, at least not at their own place. Georgiadis will not be available.
"My only worry, says Redknapp is which players I will have available for the game with Liverpool this weekend". OK, I would like to see the actual Tottenham line up tomorrow, but till then I am happy backing the home win. Seems like H Kane, J Livermore, T Carroll, all youngsters, will play for Spurs. PAOK then.
Shamrock Rovers - Rubin Kazan
Funny business. Recently Rubin played against Lyon and now they have to play against this semi amateur Irish side. I can see Rubin underestimating Shamrock. It can be dangerous. The the top Irish sides have improved in these last few years.
Anyway I would never touch the odds on the away win. Should I choose to be involved I would bet on the home win. Tough schedule for Shamrock. They played Monday (rested several starters) night against another top side in their league, St Patricks (1-1). Rubin are 10-8-5 in the Russian league, lost their last match vs. Krasnodar.
FC Copenhagen - Vorskla
Vorskla are 4-2-3 in the Ukrainian league. Copenhagen are still very much dominating the Danish league. Nothing has really changed since they were defeated by V Plzen in the Champions League play offs, but they will be a bit weakened defensively, as both their centre backs M Zanka Jorgensen and P Larsson are absentees tomorrow. "We only have two fit stoppers" says their coach. Important playmaker Claudemir returns from injury. Home win, I guess.
Hannover - Standard Liege
Looks like another home winner, although Standard should not be underestimated. They gave the Swedish league leaders Helsingborg a real beating in the Europa League play offs. In their league they are 3-2-1. OK, admittedly Standard have lost most of their big names these last two seasons.
Tchite is their lone striker.
Hannover will have their top striker M Abdealloue back for this game, but it is unclear if Ya Konan or Abdelaoue will start. C Schulz or Chahed in defence and no Pander. Hannover they lost their first league game of the season at the weekend vs. Stuttgart. Backing the home win.
Hapoel Tel Aviv - Rapid Bukarest
Big names including El Zahavi, Be Sahaar and Schechter have left Hapoel and they are not the same force as last season. Good enough to win this match?
Rapid are 4-1-1 in their domestic league. They have to without one of their central defenders for this game. I have not got a clue about this one, but my choice would be the home win.
PSV Eindhoven - Legia Warsawa
All is not well in the PSV camp. A Isaksson, their Swedish keeper, was dropped at the weekend against Venlo. PSV were 2-0 up and then they conceded three goals during a five minute spell. The match against lowly Venlo ended 3-3.
Legia knocked out Spartak Moscow in the play offs. Quite an achievement, in my opinion. Their striker Hubnik is out injured for this match and a colleague of his as well. The home win looks very underpriced.
FC Zurich - Sporting Lisbon
Terrible Zurich domestic campaign this far. They are in seventh place in their league having lost five of their eight league games. Now they will be up against a side much stronger side and I am prepared to back the away win.
Bojinov and D Capel played upfront for Sporting at the weekend and a third new signing, the former Utrecht bomber Van Wolfswinkel, started on the bench. He came on late on and scored for the club. Sporting to win.
Lazio - Vaslui
So far Lazio have been very ambitious playing in Europe. They have outclassed all their opponents and this Romanian middle of the table side should not be able to cause Lazio many concerns.
One of these days Lazio will lose interest playing in Europe, Italian sides usually do, but it is early season and they seem enjoy playing their football. M Klose, among others, will be rested for this game. Marchetti will be back in goal, Rocchi will step in for Klose, Matuzalem and Diakite could also start. Very likely home win.
Besiktas - Maccabi T Aviv
Missing the injured Guti, but including players like H Almeida, Quaresma, Simao, Sivok and M Fernandes, Besiktas lost their opening league game of the season. Guti will not recover for this match.
Maccabi Haifa have won their three domestic league games and they have scored nine goals. Colautti will play upfront, but his colleague Konate will be suspended for this match. Trusting Besiktas does not come natural for this writer and this home favourite will not get my backing. My bet in this match will be the over bet.
Dynamo Kiev - Stoke
Quite a game can be expected. I doubt that the Ukrainians are used to playing a non compromising side like Stoke. The overall D Kiev form is quite good, although they suffered a big disappointment in the Champions League play offs against Rubin Kazan. In the Ukrainian league they are joint leaders with Shaktar (7-2-0 so far).
Stoke have impressed so far in the Europa League fixtures. Well they also remain unbeaten in the Premiership and their season so far has been flawless. T Sorensen will stand between the sticks tomorrow and we can expect to see W Palacios, C Jerome, G Whelan and Kenwyne Jones in the starting line up. None of these players started vs. Liverpool. 1X game.
P S G - Red Bull Salzburg
Last season PSG made a strong impression in the Europa League defeating sides like B Dortmund and Sevilla. Why would it be any different this season with their bigger and much stronger squad.
Salzburg play continually in Europe and they should not be underestimated, but I have to say that PSG are in a different class altogether. The Salzburg form is quite good with 4-3-0 in the Austrian league. S Maierhofer will probably replace the injured Alan upfront. Very likely home win, but very depressing odds.
Slovan Bratislava - A Bilbao
The A Bilbao coach Bielsa accepts his responsibility for the negative start for the Basques. "I have experimented too much" words from Bielsa. So tomorrow we will see a new defensive line with Iraola, Ekiza, Amorebieta and De Marcos. Iturraspe will replace the injured A Herrera and in the front line Llorente will probably be joined by Gabilondo and Muniain.
Slovan are a decent side, no doubt about that, they knocked out Roma in the play offs. They are missing a couple of key players, however, and a fully motivated A Bilbao side should be too strong for the Slovaks. Away winner.
AZ Alkmaar - Malmo FF
Looks like a home banker. I figure that Malmo are on the same level as Aalesund. The Norwegians won at home to AZ, but then they were murdered in Holland (0-6). Same Aalesund that easily dismissed of Swedish Elfsborg, a side stronger than Malmo. Simple mathematics. Very likely home win.
Austria Wien - Metalist Kharkiv
Looking at their respective league campaigns I have to say advantage Metalist. They are 5-4-0 in the Ukrainian league and they impressed in the play offs, winning away to Sochaux 4-0.
A Wien are 3-2-2 in the Austrian league. Barazite has scored eight goals so far in Europe and together with veteran striker R Linz they could be a menace for the Metalist defenders. A Wien are not functioning as a team at the moment despite their relatively strong strike force.
Sosa has joined Metalist from Napoli, joining Taison and Cristaldo, successful foreign players for the club. Metalist, a team on their way up, will get my support.
Birmingham - Sporting Braga
Do they like playing Portugese sides? Birmingham, I mean. They had no problems defeating Nacional in the play offs, but we should know that Nacional are at the foot of the Portugese league table.
Braga, the Europa League finalists from last year, are a much better side, unbeaten in the league with 3-1-0 this far. They have lost some of their best players, but they have also been able to recruit one or two, for instance the Portugese international striker Nuno Gomez.
Marlon King was back for Birmingham at the weekend, starting on the bench vs. Millwall. Birmingham made an improved impression Braga will be happy picking up a point. 1X game.
Club Brugge - Maribor
Unbeaten in the Belgian league with 3-3-0 so far. They will be able to pick from the same squad that played at the weekend. Dirar, Akpala and Meunier will go forward in a 4-3-3 formation. Maribor knocked out Glasgow Rangers in the play offs. It is worth some respect, but not too much. Anyway Maribor have demonstrated these last years that they are fully capable of competing on this level and I think that the home win is a bit underpriced. So C Brugge will probably win the match, but they will not have my financial backing.
Atletico Madrid - Celtic
In from the back door, this Celtic side. They were beaten by Swiss Sion, but Sion was disqualified and here they are, Celtic. Too bad for the Scots that they have ended up in one of the strongest groups.
A Madrid with some exciting new players like Falcao and Adrian will come good this season and they are too strong for Celtic. Fully fit Atletico squad. Home winner.
Udinese - Rennes
The other two group participants, both stronger than Celtic, but probably a bit weaker than A Madrid. Torje was an immediate success for his new club Udinese at the weekend. Both Isla and Armero will be back for this match, Fabbrini as well. Could be that Barreto will be preferred to Di Natale and A Pereyra is a likely starter.
Rennes offered a strong team display, some good defensive stuff away to Marseille and returned home with some useful, but a bit lucky three points. They usually rotate in Europe and I never could trust Udinese either playing in Europe. Can go either way, this one, but OK, the home win is closer to me.
Steaua Bukarest - Schalke 04
The away win will be my choice. Young Unnerstall will probably replace the injured Fahrmann in the Schalke goal, but Fahrmann has joined their travelling party. Offensively they look rather perfect.
Steaua are fifth in the Romanian league and I guess that only their name commands respect these days. Steaua once was a big force in Europe. They have had to move this match to the Cluj home arena. Backing the away win.
Maccabi Haifa - AEK Larnaca
Depressing Champions League play off loss for Maccabi against Genk. It was decided after penalties. How happy are Maccabi to be playing in the Europa League? Motivated question. Maccabi have struggled so far in the domestic league. Larnaca knocked out experienced European side Rosenborg in the play offs. Worth some respect in other words. Too big favouites, Maccabi.
Fulham - Twente
Scoring goals has become a problem for Fulham in the Premiership, but they have had no problems so far in Europe. Up to this day they have not faced any quality sides, but Twente are of course on the same level as Fulham. B Ruiz has been a very successful striker playing for Twente, but he just joined Fulham. He looked very uncomfortable and lost in his first match at the weekend, but the thing is that Twente will definitely miss their chief hit man very much. B Ruiz should know all there is to know about his previous club and also the Fulham coach M Jol is very familiar with the Dutch club.
That is why I have no problems suggesting the home win in this match. B Ruiz will of course not play tomorrow and it looks like B Zamora will be rested. Twente have travelled with their best squad. Home win.
Wisla Krakow - Odense
This polish side is coached by a Dutchman, who plays the Dutch way, using a 4-3-3 formation. They were only some fifteen minutes away from reaching the Champions League group phase, but then Apoel deservedly scored a third goal.
Odense held Villarreal for the first half in the play offs, but then they were swept away in the second half. Odense expect Djiby Fall to make his return for this match, but they will miss the suspended Baskhkin and the injured duo Traore and Schoop. Both sides look OK, but the home side will get my vote.
Anderlecht - AEK Atens
M Jovanovic nowadays plays for Anderlecht and together with Gillet he scored their goals in their last league match. A win it was and Anderlecht are 3-2-1 in the Belgian league. Their squad is filled with familiar faces, Juhasz, Biglia, Deschacht and so on. Lukaku has of course joined Chelsea.
AEK have yet to start their domestic season, but they advanced to this group phase by knocking out D Tiblisi after penalties. Not very convincing, I must say. E Gudjohnsen has signed for the club. I can only say Good luck! Likely home win.
Sturm Graz - Lokomotive Moscow
They lost to Bate B in the Champions League play offs and their domestic campaign is not going well. Sturm are 2-3-2 in the league. Their leading striker Kienast remains on the sidelines and we will probably see Scabicz and Bodul upfront again.
Lokomotive are unbeaten under their new coach and last week they won impressively against leaders Zenit. They were down 0-2, but won the match 4-2. Caicedo and Obinna, well known forwards, among their scorers. This 2.50 on the away win looks like a good price.
Chris
