24.08. (Tue) 20:45 Sheriff - Basel

History In The Making

FC Sheriff might be trailing 1-0 from the first-leg in this Champions League play-off tie but they are far from out of contention for a place in the group stage of Europe's most prestigious club competition. The defeat came in Switzerland and given that it was a narrow one, Andrei Sasnitski's side will still be confident.

No side from Moldova has ever qualified for the Champions League proper and Sheriff are looking to accomplish that feat. Last year Sheriff reached the play-off round too but lost both the home and the away leg to Greek giants Olympiacos. The Moldovan champions will be desperately hoping that history doesn't repeat itself on Tuesday evening.

Moreover, Sheriff will be missing Aleksandr Erokhin, Vladimir Brankovic and Miral Samardzic through suspension, making life tougher for them in the second-leg.

In The Balance

Swiss champions FC Basel are technically in an advantageous position given that they take a 1-0 lead from the first-leg to Moldova on Tuesday evening, but they should know that Sheriff are capable of an upset in their own backyard. Basel did struggle against Sasnitski's team last week and also failed to convert a late penalty.

Vladislav Stoyanov's penalty save against Benjamin Huggel means that Basel have just a one-goal lead and must be aware right from the start against their hosts. A goal for Sheriff could change the complexion of the tie and demolish Basel's dreams of qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League for the third time.

Basel's encounter with Sheriff last Wednesday was their first against a Moldovan side.

Prediction

Sheriff 1-1 Basel

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23.08. (Mon) 21:00 Manchester City - Liverpool

City Hope To Open Account
'Super Mario' came to Manchester City's rescue on Thursday night in Romania, but there wasn't a single moustachioed, red-dungaree-sporting plumber in sight. It was Mario Balotelli, City's latest big money striker, who came off the bench against Timisoara to save his new team the slight embarrassment of returning to England without a first leg advantage in the Europa League.

It took 72 minutes for Roberto Mancini's side to break the deadlock on Thursday and before that, 90 had passed without a goal at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur. At this early stage of the season one goal from two games is hardly drought material but, given the money spent by Mancini in the summer, it wont be long before critics are asking questions of the Italian's acquisitions.

Mancini has conceded it could take a few weeks for City's star-studded line-up to gel and become a genuine force to be reckoned with in the Premier League, but the former Inter boss will be hoping to set the wheels in motion with a victory at Eastlands on Monday.

Taking The Rough With The Smooth

It has been a week of ups and downs for Liverpool; on the pitch they carried the momentum of a draw with Arsenal on the opening day into a midweek Europa League meeting with Trabzonspor where they came out on top thanks to a solitary goal from Ryan Babel, though a one-goal lead could prove difficult to hold on to with the notorious Turkish crowd breathing down their necks.

Joe Cole misses the trip to Eastlands and missed a penalty on Thursday night to round off a disappointing week for him, while Chinese businessman Kenny Huang pulled out of a takeover that would have seen the club free of the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and Alberto Aquilani will be in Italy on Monday ahead of a loan move to Juventus.

Two players who look likely to stay with the club are Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt, though. Both had been linked with moves to Inter, but manager Roy Hodgson believes the European champions will not move for the pair. It is a massive boost for the Reds, who will be keen to prove the City revolution will not prevent them from returning to the top four, and what better way to do that than with a win on Monday night?

TEAM NEWS

Manchester City
James Milner could make his debut for City after completing his switch from Aston Villa this week, but fellow summer signings Aleksandar Kolarov and Jerome Boateng are injured, while Wayne Bridge is also a doubt.

Mario Balotelli looks likely to recover from the knee problem that saw him limping after his first appearance against Timisoara in midweek and could start.

Possible Starting XI: Hart; Richards, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Zabaleta; Yaya Toure, De Jong; Milner; Tevez, Balotelli, Silva.

Liverpool
Roy Hodgson rested a host of first team players on Thursday, many of whom are likely to return to the starting line-up, including Javier Mascherano, who could return after a calf injury. Daniel Agger, however, is struggling with concussion.

Fernando Torres may also get his first start of the season after appearing as a second half substitute against Arsenal and Trabzonspor. Joe Cole begins a three-game suspension after his red card against the Gunners.

Possible Starting XI: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio; Mascherano, Poulsen; Kuyt, Gerrard, Jovanovic; Torres.

Prediction

It's time for City to start winning in order to keep the wolves from the door. Their huge outlay means that their scrappy performance at White Hart Lane was seen as a negative. They should be good enough to get past a Liverpool side who travelled badly last season and who threw away two points to Arsenal last week.

Man City 2-1 Liverpool

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22.08. (Sun) 14:30 Newcastle United - Aston Villa

Time for Toon to shake off relegation tag

Newcastle United eased through the Championship last season, finishing top and earning promotion in convincing style, but their reintroduction to the Premier League didn’t start smoothly.

Paul Scholes was at his best as Manchester United played the Magpies off the park at Old Trafford on Monday night. Chris Hughton’s men rarely threatened in their opening game and went down 3-0 to the Red Devils.

If a poor opening day performance wasn’t enough for Newcastle, Mike Ashley has wound the Toon fans up once again. After splashing out on big money signings and big wages early in his tenure, the owner has been reluctant to hand out transfer funds this summer, giving Hughton just £1.5 million to spend on defender James Perch, although Sol Campbell’s wages won’t be cheap.

Despite going last season unbeaten at home in the league, Newcastle are seen as one of the favourites to go down this year. Their impressive record at St James’ Park could come to an end this weekend against the team that sent them down to the Championship in May 2009. It was Gareth Barry’s strike on the last day of the season that relegated the Magpies, and they’ll be looking for revenge on Sunday.


Caretaker’s chance to strengthen claim for full-time job

Martin O’Neill stunned fans when he resigned as Aston Villa boss just five days before the start of the season. A number of replacements have been linked with the vacant manager’s position, including USA boss Bob Bradley and even Diego Maradona, but it’s caretaker Kevin MacDonald who looks favourite at the moment.

The 49-year-old former Liverpool midfielder enjoyed his first taste of Premier League management last weekend with an impressive 3-0 win over West Ham United, when he gave youngsters whom he had managed in the reserve team a chance to shine, and they repaid him, with both Ciaran Clark and Marc Albrighton impressing in the victory.

He made a brave move in his second game in charge by making eight changes for Thursday’s Europa League play-off with Rapid Vienna, but it worked as youngster Barry Bannan was on target in a 1-1 away draw.

The Scot, who has been on the backroom staff at Villa Park since 1995, has already made his first signing. Stephen Ireland has been brought in as part of the move that saw James Milner join Manchester City and although no more signings appear to be in the pipeline, the caretaker boss may be forced to move in the transfer market if a permanent manager isn’t brought in before the end of the transfer window.


TEAM NEWS

Newcastle United

Chris Hughton has no new injury worries and could name the same team that started against Manchester United.

Sol Campbell is still not match fit, Peter Lovenkrands is doubtful again with a groin injury and midfielder Danny Guthrie is unlikely to feature due to a knee problem.

Leon Best and Danny Simpson (both knee) and Steven Taylor (shoulder) will miss out, while summer signing Dan Gosling (cruciate ligament) will not play again until next year.

Possible Starting XI: Harper; Perch, Williamson, Coloccini, Enrique; Routledge, Smith, Barton, Gutierrez; Nolan; Carroll.

Aston Villa

Stephen Ireland looks set to make his debut after completing his move to Villa Park earlier in the week, and he could take the place of the departed James Milner in midfield.

Luke Young and Ciaran Clark could continue in defence as James Collins and Carlos Cuellar recover from their calf and hamstring injuries, respectively.

Ashley Young will play if he passes a late fitness test, while Villa’s only long-term absentee Fabian Delph will miss out once again with a knee injury.

Possible Starting XI: Friedel; L Young, Dunne, Clark, Warnock; Ireland, Petrov; Albrighton, A Young, Downing; Carew.



PREDICTION

Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa

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22.08. (Sun) 17:30 Borussia D. - Bayer Leverkusen

Red-Hot Ruhrs On Road To Restoring Reputation

It’s been a long time coming, but Dortmund’s policy of investing in young talent is finally coming to fruition. Almost a decade after flirting with bankruptcy, and 13 years after winning the Champions League, the Ruhr side seem ready to reclaim their position among the Bundesliga’s elite. Youngsters such as Marcel Schmelzer, Neven Subotic, Mats Hummels, Nuri Sahin, and Kevin Grosskreutz have come of age in the last year or so, giving rise to a young but tremendously talented team.

Most recently, Dortmund thrashed Qarabag 4-0 in their Europa League play-off. It was never going to be an awfully difficult match to win, but the team’s comprehensive victory is worth noting. Newcomer Shinji Kagawa and goal machine Lucas Barrios, both of whom have been red-hot in pre-season, bagged a brace apiece in that match.

Prior to that, Dortmund thumped Wacker Burghausen in the DFB Pokal 3-0 in their first competitive match of the season. Facing Leverkusen, however, will be an altogether different challenger; die Werkself finished fourth in the Bundesliga last term.

Before the game, coach Juergen Klopp commented on his opponents: “Leverkusen play good football, they have a great team and even added some more good players (during the summer).”

Nonetheless, the Dortmund boss insists that his team are ready: “We are looking forward to it and we will give our all.”

Injury-Hit Leverkusen Aiming For Early Success

Like Dortmund, Leverkusen have stormed out of the gate. In their first competitive match of the season, die Werkself thrashed fifth division minnows FK Pirmasens 11-1. On Thursday, they won a Europa League play-off tie against Ukranian side Tavriya Simferopol by a 3-0 margin. Like Dortmund, however, Leverkusen will have to prepare for a much greater challenge on Sunday.

Coach Jupp Heynckes’ will have to be without striker Patrick Helmes, who will miss the next few weeks with a muscular problem. However, Michael Ballack, who featured for 45 minutes against Tavriya Simferopol and scored a late penalty, should be fit enough to start on Sunday. The Germany international, who is desperate to regain his captaincy on the international stage, will be keen to perform well ahead of next month’s Euro 2012 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Belgium.

Heynckes praised Ballack following the Simferopol match: “I was very impressed with the 45 minutes. Michael has played seamlessly, with impulse, and dominantly designed our play. He also indicated his scoring ability. We could not expect more at this stage.”

Looking forward to the Dortmund clash, Heynckes was respectful of his opponents: “Dortmund have delivered two convincing games in the Pokal and Europa League. This is a young team who are clamorous, powerful and have good footballers.

“But my players know that we meet on Sunday on equal terms.”

TEAM NEWS

Borussia Dortmund

Fullback Dede remains injured, and both Florian Kringe and Mohamed Zidan remain sidelined as they attempt to reach full match fitness. In addition, Jakub Blaszczykowski has suffered a thigh strain, and will be out for two weeks. However, Kevin Grosskreutz has shaken off a knock, and should start on the left wing. Juergen Klopp has a bit of a selection headache in the right-back position, and will have to choose between Lukasz Piszczek and Patrick Owomoyela.

Possible Starting XI: Weidenfeller - Pisczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Kehl, Sahin - Blaszczykowski, Kagawa, Grosskreutz, Barrios

Bayer Leverkusen

Michael Ballack has finally returned to fitness, and featured in Thursday’s Europa League victory over Tavriya Symferopol. Fabian Giefer, Simon Rolfes, and Nicolai Jorgensen are not yet fully fit, and Sami Hyypia and Patrick Helmes have been ruled out with injuries. There remain question marks over Lars Bender, who suffered a severe calf contusion on Thursday, as well as Sidney Sam, who is having minor back problems.

Possible Starting XI: Adler - Schwaab, Friedrich, Reinartz, Kadlec - Renato Augusto, Vidal, Ballack, Barnetta - Kiessling, Derdiyok
 
PREDICTION
This one is too close to call. Both teams are in excellent form at the moment, but I’ll tip it to Dortmund by a hair. They have the home advantage, and at the moment, Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios just can’t stop scoring. I’ll pick Dortmund to come out on top in a thriller, although a draw or even a Leverkusen win would not be the least bit surprising.

Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen

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Tiket 22.08.2010.

Newcastle United - Aston Villa	0-2
Fulham - Manchester United	2
Borussia Dortmund - Bayer Leverkusen	3+
Celtic - Saint Mirren	3+
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Stan James		7.70

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