24-11-2010 20:45 Tottenham - Werder

Race For The Last 16
 

 Tottenham have been superb in the Champions League this season, drawing away at Werder Bremen in their first game in the group stage of the competition for decades, before seeing off FC Twente 4-1. They’ve since had two matches of the highest calibre - matches you don’t often see in the group stage - against Inter, with Redknapp’s men unable to even grab a point despite Gareth Bale’s hat-trick at the San Siro on matchday three. Bale then tormented the Inter defence again, starring in a memorable 3-1 win over the European champions at White Hart Lane.

While Spurs top the group and can secure qualification to the last 16 with a victory on Wednesday night, Werder Bremen are looking to keep their hopes of staying in the competition alive. A loss for the German side would see them have to beat Inter on matchday six to stand any chance of even reaching the Europa League, but if FC Twente beat Inter, their chances of staying in Europe will be over altogether.

Final Straw For Schaaf?

 Werder Bremen were expected to kick on this season after qualifying for the Champions League - that hasn’t been the case. Embarrassing defeats, including 4-1 losses to Hoffenheim and Hannover and a 6-0 hammering away at Stuttgart, have done little to ease the pressure on coach Schaaf.

General manager Klaus Allofs insisted Schaaf is still the right man for the job after the club’s latest defeat - 4-0 at Schalke - before confirming on Monday that the boss of over 10 years had not handed in his resignation, despite reports in Germany claiming that to be the case.

"There was no threat of resignation or the question of a possible resignation in any team meeting," he said.

Players attempted to apologise to their supporters after the defeat to Schalke but were met with a rather damning chant: "Apart from [Tim Wiese], you can all go home."

TEAM NEWS

Tottenham

Jermain Defoe is pushing to start in place of Roman Pavlyuchenko after replacing the Russian in the win over Arsenal at the weekend.

Ledley King and Michael Dawson are still injured, so William Gallas and Younes Kaboul look likely to continue at centre-back.

There are no fresh injury concerns for Harry Redknapp, which means he has the option of naming an unchanged side if he feels Defoe is not yet fully fit to start.

Possible starting XI: Gomes; Hutton, Gallas, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Jenas, Modric, Bale; Van der Vaart; Defoe.

Werder Bremen

Thomas Schaaf has a host of injury problems as his struggling side travel to north London, with Mikael Silvestre (back), Marko Arnautovic (thigh) and Wesley (hamstring) all missing out.

Claudio Pizarro, Clemens Fritz, Naldo, Sebastian Boenisch and Tim Borowski are also on the treatment table.

Bremen will also be without the suspended Torsten Frings, after he was given his marching orders last time out against FC Twente.

Possible starting XI: Wiese; Pasanen, Mertesacker, Proedl, Jensen; Husejinovic, Bargfrede, Marin; Hunt; Arnautovic, Almeida.

Prediction

Tottenham go into the game in terrific form in Europe and off the back of a great comeback against Arsenal at the weekend. And that, coupled with Werder Bremen’s recent woes, means Spurs should have enough to secure their passage to the last 16 with a win at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham 3-1 Werder Bremen

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23-11-2010 Bet Of The Day

20:45 Sporting Braga - Arsenal

Braga are taking the toll of double competition this year, as they currently sit only 10th in Portugal, with their home record of P5 W4 D0 L1 GF12 GA6. Their away form is dismal, they have only gained two points out of six matches.

Arsenal are Premier League title contenders as per usual. Their away record shows P7 W4 D2 L1 GF11 GA6. They have also blasted Braga in their previous encounter, winning 6-0 at the Emirates. Braga will be looking to make amends on home turf.

Arsenal have played eight games in the Champions League in 2010 and ALL of them went over 2.5 goals. Braga have also played eight and five of them went over 2.5 goals. They have virtually secured at least a UEFA Europa League spot as it is highly unlikely that Partizan will win their last two matches against Shakhtar and Arsenal.

Braga have already reached their pre-season goal in the Champions League. They can play freely and without fear and if they manage to beat either Arsenal or Shakhtar even the last 32 is potentially in reach. That is the situation which Arsene Wenger's troops usually convert into goals.

Tip: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.80

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23-11-2010 20:45 Partizan - Shakhtar

All Out Of Hope

Partizan's hopes of furthering their Champions League adventure were tremendously slim at the start of the campaign and after Matchday 4 they evaporated altogether. The Serbian giants have yet to register a single point and are rock-bottom of Group H with four successive defeats.

Aleksandar Stanojevic's side are one of three teams in the competition on zero point and are down and out. Partizan are doing great in the Serbian Super Liga as they are three points ahead of Red Star Belgrade in pole position and have won six matches in succession but in the Champions League they are a mess.

Coach Stanojevic is still hopeful of cheering up his side's supporters with a victory over Shakhtar on Tuesday night and enthuses, "Unfortunately this game doesn't have any competitive meaning for us, but we owe it to our fans, for having supported us in the Champions League, to give our best and get a positive result."

History In The Making

Shakhtar Donetsk have never qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League but heading into Matchday 5 the Ukrainian side are on the verge of doing just that. With nine points from three games, the 2009 UEFA Cup winner are level on points with Arsenal at the top of Group H.

A win in Serbia for Shakhtar and failure of Braga to defeat Arsenal in Portugal in the other game in the group will see Shakhtar go through to the second round. Mircea Lucescu's side will qualify even with a draw provided Arsenal win against Braga, and defender Dmytro Chygrynsky wants the suspense to get over tonight.

The former Barcelona defender told Shakhtar.com: "We are going to Belgrade to settle the issue of our qualification from the group. We need to win. If we claim the victory, then I think our target of going through to the knockout stage will be reached.

"Naturally, Partizan want to please their fans, they have nothing to lose. But we are also seriously preparing for this clash. I think that Shakhtar's motivation is more serious. We still have the chance of qualifying from the group.''



TEAM NEWS

Partizan

The Serbian side have a full-strength squad as Cleo has recovered from a knee injury.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Darijo Srna and Eduardo sat out the weekend game against Zorya Luhansk. Fernandinho is out until 2011 because of a broken leg.

Prediction

Shakhtar are on the verge of qualifying for the second round but winning against Partizan in Belgrade is not going to be easy. There is even the prospect of the Ukrainians losing in Serbia but in most likelihood the game is going to end in a draw.

Partizan 1-1  Shakhtar

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23-11-2010 20:45 Roma - Bayern Munchen

Qualification Dreams Linger

Roma's Champions League campaign started on a horrific note as they went down 2-0 to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in their opening game of Group E. Coach Claudio Ranieri deployed a distinctly ultra-defensive system that even club captain and talisman Francesco Totti complained about. A narrow 2-1 victory over Cluj in Rome was followed by a 3-1 humiliation by Basel at the Stadio Olimpico but since then the Giallorossi have resurrected themselves.

On Matchday 4 Roma won 3-2 in Basel to lift themselves up to second in the group on six points, six adrift of leaders Bayern but three ahead of both Cluj and Basel with just two more rounds of matches remaining in the group stage. A win for the Lupi on Tuesday evening coupled with a draw in the other game between Cluj and Basel will send Ranieri's side through to the knockout stage of Europe's premier club competition.

Totti has already underscored the significance of a win against Bayern and believes that "this game and the match in Cluj will decide our qualification" while Ranieri believes that Bayern will come to Rome to win and says, "Bayern have already qualified and are not having a great time in the Bundesliga, but I'm absolutely sure we will face a team playing with pride and determined to do well in a competition where they are faultless so far."

Roma warmed up for Tuesday's European clash with a 2-0 victory over Udinese in Serie A on Saturday. It was the former Italian champions' fourth win in five league matches and propelled them to fifth in the table, seven points behind leaders Milan. Roma's current robust health will surely inspire confidence and they will head into the Bayern clash eying a win.

Exhibition Match

Bayern Munich have been one of the most impressive teams in the Champions League so far this season and have already qualified for the knockout stage. Four wins out of win along with 11 goals scored mean that Louis van Gaal's side can rest with ease for the final two rounds of matches in Europe's premier club competition.

Indeed, with Bayern still struggling in the German Bundesliga and losing grasp over the title they won last season, the European adventure could eventually prove to be the spar for the Bavarians towards the end of the campaign. Last season Bayern reached the final in Madrid in sensational style and they will be looking to go a step better this time around.

Van Gaal has a number of players unavailable for the trip to Rome, which means that he will give some of his rusty players including midfielder Franck Ribery a chance to get some match practice. Bayern are unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions but the Dutch coach believes that although they are "playing better football, we're scoring goals", it doesn't "feel good when you fail to win".

At the weekend Bayern were held to a 1-1 draw by Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and it pushed the former European champions to 14 points off the pace in eighth and tonight's European venture will be a welcome distraction for the Munich-based side.



TEAM NEWS
 
Roma
 
Midfielder Daniele De Rossi is fit again and is part of the squad for Tuesday's match. Centre-back Juan and striker Adriano returned from their respective thigh and ankle injuries at the weekend and have included by Ranieri. Rodrigo Taddei, though, remains sidelined with a calf problem.

Bayern Munich

Mark van Bommel, Holger Badstuber, Arjen Robben, Miroslav Klose and Ivica Olic have been left behind in Munich because of respective injuries, while Bastian Schweinsteiger is suspended. Centre-back Martin Demichelis has recovered from a hamstring strain and is fit to play. Franck Ribery, Diego Contento and David Alaba all have been included in the squad despite being short of match practice. 

Prediction

Roma are in good form at the moment and are also on a resurgent run. The Italian side have lost at home in the Champions League already this season but they have learned their lessons. Bayern Munich have already qualified for the first knockout stage and will be less forceful and less urgent, and this will play into the hosts' hands. A narrow win for Roma looks a very likely result.

Roma 2-1 Bayern Munich

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23-11-2010 20:45 Chelsea - MSK Zilina

Blues Eyeing Top Spot
 

 Chelsea have a 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League, and are currently at the top of Group F having already qualified for the last 16 of the tournament.

However, manager Carlo Ancelotti would undoubtedly want to finish at the top of the group to ensure that his side have a comparatively easier path in the knockout stage. To accomplish this, his side needs only one more point with two games left.

So the former AC Milan boss has decided to hand some of his younger players a run out in Europe’s premier club competition, and has confirmed that young midfielder Josh McEachran will start the game.

This is probably in the confidence that his younger players, coupled with some experience, will be enough to secure the vital point needed to progress as group winners.

But the real opponents on the day will be the hosts themselves, as they are currently battling a poor run of results. The Londoners have lost three of their last four games, which has threatened to see them dethroned from the top of the Premier League table.

So the Slovakian side come along at just the right time, so as to prove to be a confidence booster for the Stamford Bridge outfit.

Playing For Pride

 The champions of Slovakia began as the minnows, and have proven to be nothing more as one team after another steamrolled past them. And their last encounter, against Olympique Marseille, saw them fall to a heavy handed 8-0 defeat at home.

And their coach Pavel Hapal was left apologising to the fans for a lousy performance, as he said: "To be honest, I did not want to come to the press conference after the match.

"Not just because we lost by this much but also because the guests from Marseille were clearly the better team during the whole match.

"Our performance today was very, very weak. I would like to apologise in this way to our fans."

Mathematically speaking, Zilina still have an outside chance of finishing third and qualifying for the Europa League. But they will have to make history and score a plethora of goals and register two victories in the remaining two games and hope that either Marseille or Spartak Moscow lose their next two games, perhaps by huge margins. But realistically speaking, they might as well look to salvage some pride in a campaign that has gone all wrong.

TEAM NEWS

Chelsea 

Yossi Benayoun (Achilles), Frank Lampard (groin) and John Terry (hamstring) will all be missing for this game, with Didier Drogba still only just returning from a bout of malaria.

Alex could delay his surgery and continue to play for the Blues, but with qualification having been assured he may sit this one out. Yury Zhirkov (calf) also remains a doubt for this encounter.

In the meantime, manager Carlo Ancelotti has also assured young midfielder Josh McEachran of a start, with Gael Kakuta, Patrick van Aanholt and Jeffrey Bruma also expected to be involved.

Possible starting XI: Turnbull; Bosingwa, Bruma, Ivanovic, Van Aanholt; Essien, McEachran, Malouda; Anelka, Drogba, Kakuta.

Zilina

Zilina have nothing to lose from the encounter at Stamford Bridge, as they wouldn't have been expected to win it in the first place.

And having been eliminated from the Champions League already, they could go in for an attacking 4-1-3-2 formation to put pressure on a defensive line that has not looked at its best in recent times.

Possible starting XI: Dubravka; Angelovic, Piacek, Pecalka, Mraz; Guldan; Bello, Jez, Skvarka; Rilke, Oravec.

Prediction

Chelsea may be off the mark in terms of getting the right results, but Zilina are unlikely to pose any real threat at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea 3-0 MSK Zilina

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