26-01-2011 17:30 Sampdoria - Milan

Smelling The Aroma Of Adventure

Sampdoria commenced the 2010-11 campaign plotting a place in the top six in Serie A and qualifying for Europe next season. In 2009-10 the Blucerchiati finished fourth in the Italian top flight and made it to the qualifying rounds of the Champions League but failed to progress into the group stage.

Subsequent departure from the group stage of the Europa League, failure to sustain consistency in the domestic arena, the much publicised and almost radical fall-out between club president Riccardo Garrone and talisman Antonio Cassano all contrived to drag Samp into mediocrity, and as one encroaches upon the second half of the season, it can be safely assumed that Samp will eventually finish somewhere around a mid-table position.

Which is why the Coppa Italia provides Domenico Di Carlo's side with a sense of adventure that they need to keep on going for the remainder of the season. The Italian Cup is not exactly a competition that is held in high regards but the lure of a trophy and the consequent European spot it assures are incentives that should seduce the Genoese side to give their all against Milan in the quarter-final tie today.

Samp got the better of Udinese in the Round of 16 on penalties after they let a one-goal lead slip in normal time and were then forced to come from behind in extra-time. Playing at home will give the former Italian champions an advantage and given their encouraging goalless draw with Juventus at home at the weekend they will aspire to get the better of Milan and qualify for the semis.

Hunting For The Treble

Approaching the business end of the season, Milan remain in the hunt for the treble. After watching arch-rivals Inter conquer Italy and Europe in scintillating fashion last season, the Rossoneri are aiming to design a similar conquest this campaign and will take the trip to Genoa today basking in hope and expectations.

Massimiliano Allegri's side, though, have struggled in the new year and despite remaining one of the most entertaining and enjoyable teams to watch not only in Italy but in entire Europe, the Diavolo have not always been effective and have looked uncertain at the back.

After back-to-back draws with Udinese and Lecce, Milan returned to winning ways last week when they brushed aside Bari 3-0 in the Round of 16 of the Coppa Italia and at the weekend defeated Cesena 2-0 at San Siro to maintain their four-point advantage at the top of the table in Serie A.

Problem is that Lecce, Bari and Cesena all are serious relegation candidates and defeating these poor teams was always going to be a formality. Sampdoria in Genoa would provide a different (and difficult) test altogether and they would know this perfectly from their 1-1 draw with Samp at the Marassi in the league earlier this season. The game will also mark Cassano's return to his old club since leaving them under acrimonious circumstances in the winter.

Milan coach Allegri knows that despite Milan's attacking prowess they cannot take Sampdoria with ease and said on Tuesday, "Tomorrow there is a lot at stake. We will be up against a team that knows how to play football, but we are starting to score goals again. We need to continue playing this way and give 100%".

TEAM NEWS

Sampdoria

Di Carlo has named winter signing Massimo Maccarone in his squad and the Italian striker could make the start alongside Federico Macheda upfront in a 4-4-2 formation. Forward Giampaolo Pazzini is out injured.

Milan

Flavio Roma will start in goal for the Rossoneri in Genoa, Luca Antonini is likely to start at left-back while Urby Emanuelson is set to make his debut in left-midfield.

Mark van Bommel is also in line to make his debut for Milan but it depends on whether Massimo Ambrosini is passed fit to play.

Antonio Cassano, though, is unlikely to start but could make an appearance from the bench later on in the match against his old club.

Prediction

Milan are likely to start as favourites in Genoa but Sampdoria do have a strong and formidable form at home. It will be a very hard fought match that could go into extra-time, but one suspects that a single goal in normal time could settle the affairs.

Sampdoria 0-1 Milan

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26-01-2011 21:00 Liverpool - Fulham

Return Of 'El Nino'

Fernando Torres is back to his scoring self it seems with three goals in two games for Liverpool and has shown solid signs of his early days at the Anfield outfit where ‘The Child’ was scoring goals for fun.

The two goals he scored at the weekend against Wolves marked his 62nd and 63rd on his 100th league appearance for the Red half of Merseyside. However, Torres has quite a bit to go to even start thinking about breaking into the top 10 goal scorers for the team with Jack Parkinson occupying 10th place with 130 goals and current team-mate and captain Steven Gerrard in ninth with 140.
New Year, New Fulham

The opening month to 2011 has seen the west London club collect three wins and one draw in the five games that they have played so far since the New Year and is easily the best form they’ve had all season (even if one of the games was a 6-2 thrashing of League 1 side Peterborough).

Striker Andy Johnson has found himself some form after his comeback from injury and is playing some good football which included a goal against Wigan, his first in the Premier League for almost two seasons.

New signing Steve Sidwell made his debut on Saturday and impressed new manager Mark Hughes, but will have to wait until he begins to break into the Fulham midfield with squad staples such as Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu. However, don’t be surprised to see him feature at some point during the game.

Ten Of The Best For Liverpool

Liverpool’s second highest win in their history came against Fulham when they met in the second round of the League Cup in September 1986 with a final score of 10-0.

Steve McMahon scored four of the goals on that day with Ian Rush and John Wark both scoring two each and Ronnie Whelan and Steve Nicol scoring the other two.

The win remains Liverpool’s best performance in any domestic competition and is still Fulham’s worst ever defeat in their history.

TEAM NEWS

Liverpool

The home team have an almost full bill of health with just Milan Jovanovic (illness) and Jamie Carragher (shoulder) unavailable.

Captain Steven Gerrard returns from suspension and will be hoping to carry on the Merseyside club’s positive progress since the second coming of club legend King Kenny.

Possible starting XI: Reina; Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson; Kuyt, Lucas, Meireles, Maxi; Gerrard; Torres.

Fulham

The visitors for the rescheduled match are without four players, all with long-term injuries, and include Dickson Etuhu (hamstring), Matthew Briggs (ankle), Bobby Zamora (broken leg) and Philippe Senderos (Achilles).

Also, Mark Schwarzer’s Australia are through to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup and play on Tuesday night against Uzbekistan and so will not be available either, leaving goalkeeper David Stockdale to once again fill his boots.

Possible starting XI: Stockdale; Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Baird; Dempsey, Murphy, Etuhu, Duff; A Johnson, Dembele.

Prediction

Liverpool simply have too much quality in their squad not to win this game, particularly as they are playing at home.

Liverpool 2-0 Fulham

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26-01-2011 20:45 Birmingham City - West Ham United

Blues Hope To Bounce Back From Old Trafford Drubbing

Alex McLeish is confident that his players can use the distraction of the cup and the lure of a final at Wembley to forget the 5-0 drubbing they received at the hands of Manchester United last weekend.

Whilst United were in scintillating form, Birmingham were poor and McLeish will need his team to forget their terrible Premier League form if they are to turn around the 2-1 deficit from the first leg and progress to the final.

St Andrew's has not been as much of a fortress this season as the previous campaign - with the Blues looking to win at home for the first time since their quarter-final victory over rivals Aston Villa back in the same competition in December.

The home side do have some history in the competition, in fact you could argue it is the only history they have - with the 1963 League Cup triumph being the only major trophy in the club's history.

Hammers Hoping Impressive Run Continues

West Ham fans will travel to St Andrew's confident that their side can hold on to their 2-1 lead and progress to a Wembley final. The Hammers have been a totally different side in cup competitions this season, winning their last six straight games in the cups - that's two more than they have managed in the Premier League season so far.

The Hammers like playing against Birmingham - Avram Grant's men have won five of their last nine fixtures against the Blues, losing just once.

And their travelling supporters will be hoping that their impressive record against McLeish's team cancels out their poor record in semi-finals - with the London side losing five of their previous seven semis.

TEAM NEWS

Birmingham City

Loan signing David Bentley is unavailable for selection after featuring for Tottenham earlier in the competition, but there is some good news for manager Alex McLeish with striker Cameron Jerome expected to play after shaking off a hamstring strain that saw him only make the bench for the 5-0 defeat at Manchester United.

Birmingham are also without long-term absentees James McFadden (knee) and centre-back Scott Dann, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with the hamstring injury he picked up in the first leg at Upton Park.

Possible starting XI: Foster; Carr, Johnson, Ridgewell, Murphy; Larsson, Gardner, Ferguson, Hleb; Jerome, Zigic.

West Ham

Suspensions to key players could harm the Hammers' chances of holding on to their slim 2-1 lead at St Andrew's. Victor Obinna misses the game after receiving a straight red card in the first leg whilst forward Frederic Piquionne is unavailable after his dismissal in the 2-2 draw against Everton at the weekend.

West Ham are also without defender Manuel da Costa (ankle) and midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger (thigh).

Possible starting XI: Green; Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Bridge; Hines, Spector, Parker, Noble, Sears; Cole.

Prediction

Birmingham 1-1 West Ham  

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26-01-2011 20:30 Alemannia Aachen - Bayern Munchen

Aachen Hope To Be Bayern’s Waterloo

Aachen may be in mid-table in the 2. Bundesliga, but the Rhine club has still managed to turn heads in the DFB Pokal. In October, they knocked out Mainz, who at the time were leaders in the first division. A month ago, Aachen fought to a gritty 1-1 stalemate with Frankfurt before edging die Adler in a penalty shoot-out. They now enter the quarter-finals, but have a difficult test ahead if they are to advance.

Aachen’s performance in the Pokal this year is not without precedent, and of this Bayern are well aware. Just over four years ago, in late 2006, the Kartoffelkaefer knocked their upcoming opponents out of the Pokal with a 4-2 win.

In that match, now-retired winger Laurentiu Reghecampf netted a brace before Marius Ebbers made it 3-0. The Bavarians mounted a comeback, but future Bayern man Jan Schlaudraff put the game away at the death. Now a very different side will play in a match that may offer the biggest stage some Aachen players will ever see.

“I will assume that Aachen will be Bayern’s Waterloo,” sporting director Erik Meijer told DFB.de.

Those may be rather bullish words, but the Dutchman does indeed know a thing or two about Bayern. in 2004, he headed in the winning goal for Aachen in a 2-1 victory against Bayern.

Van Gaal Anticipates 'Big Challenge'

Bundesliga fans got a glimpse of what Bayern are capable of on Saturday as the Rekordmeister hammered Kaiserslautern by a 5-1 margin. Mario Gomez netted a hat-trick, but the real catalyst on the day was Arjen Robben, who did not in the slightest way look as though he was just coming back from a six months injury lay-off. The message from Louis van Gaal’s men as they moved third in the Bundesliga was clear: Bayern are back.

Now Van Gaal will have to decide how to handle Wednesday’s Pokal match against 2nd division side Aachen. With the majority of a long and gruelling spring campaign still yet to be played, he may opt to rest some of his stars, especially Robben, who was withdrawn after 74 minutes in the Kaiserslautern match.

At the same time, the Dutch coach will be keen to build the momentum and confidence his side lacked throughout a rather disappointing fall campaign.

Bayern will have a somewhat different look about them on Wednesday following the departure of Mark van Bommel for Milan. Van Gaal will have to be careful to find the right formula for his team, and has been careful not to underestimate the task that awaits in Aachen.

“It’s yet another big challenge,” he told reporters before adding, “We have to win it.”

TEAM NEWS

Alemannia Aachen

Following last weekend’s 4-2 win against Karlsruhe, Peter Hyballa is expected to name a similar line-up including talented youngsters Tolgay Arslan and Shervin Radjabali-Fardi. The coach may opt to change his system from 4-3-1-2 to 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 in order to provide more width in defence.

Probable Starting XI: Hohs – Demai, Stehle, Feisthammel, Achenbach – Hoeger, Junglas, Radjabali-Fardi – Arslan – Auer, Stieber

Bayern Munich

Arjen Robben is expected to recover from an illness ahead of Wednesday’s match, and is a bit luckier than Daniel van Buyten, who has been left out due to a similar cold. Also staying in Munich are Diego Contento (back), Toni Kroos (foot), and Franck Ribery (knee), as well as long-term casualty Ivica Olic. In the absence of Van Bommel, Van Gaal will have to change his starting eleven once again. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is tipped to start in place of the former captain.

Probable Starting XI: Kraft – Lahm, Breno, Badstuber, Pranjic – Tymoshchuk, Luiz Gustavo – Robben, Schweinsteiger, Mueller – Gomez

Prediction

History says Aachen should be given a considerable chance to win this, but if Bayern play a full-strength squad, it is hard to imagine the visitors being knocked out. Robben and Mueller have enough strength to ensure that they cannot simply be fouled out of the game; their form on the day will be important, but the Bayern wingers should decide the match.

Aachen 1-3 Bayern Munich

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26-01-2011 DFB Pokal Quarter-Finals Preview

Energie Cottbus – Hoffenheim

Fueled by Nils Petersen’s 13 goals in 18 appearances, Cottbus are closing in on their promotion back to the 1. Bundesliga. The East German club beat Wolfsburg in the last round, and also edged first division club Freiburg in the Round of 32. Cottbus have vowed to take a defensive approach, and will play with hopes of entering a penalty shoot-out.

Hoffenheim battled back from a goal behind to earn a late point against St Pauli on Sunday, but the Sinsheim club is still unlikely to qualify for the Europa League, at least from their Bundesliga record. The Pokal offers a good opportunity to earn a first-ever European berth, and the village side will be favourites as they head to Cottbus. Chinedu Obasi and Manuel Gulde will be missing, but Hoffenheim should otherwise be at full strength.

Duisburg – Kaiserslautern

Like Cottbus, Duisburg are in good position to be promoted to the 1. Bundesliga. The Zebras beat Koeln last round, and should favour their odds while at home against a Kaiserslautern side that was only recently promoted, and could drop back to the second division at season’s end. MSV will hope to prove their readiness for 1. Bundesliga football with a convincing performance against ‘Lautern. Srdjan Baljak will have to miss out on the action due to a calf injury.

Minus the services of top scorer Srdjan Lakic, Kaiserslautern were battered on Saturday in a 5-1 loss to Bayern. The promoted side will face familiar opposition in Duisburg, and will have their work cut out as they head into a rather hostile environment. The Westphalian side will have a huge boost in the form of Lakic, who returns following his suspension. Jan Simunek, Stiven Rivic and Iliyan Mitsanski, however, are expected to be unavailable due to injuries.

Alemannia Aachen – Bayern Munich

Aachen beat Karlsruhe in their last match, but nonetheless remain in the anonymity of mid-table in the 2. Bundesliga. In late 2006, they beat Bayern, though, and may be able to pull off another upset on Wednesday. The Rhine side has pledged to hold onto a clean sheet for as long as possible in an attempt to wear down their illustrious visitors.

Thanks to a hat trick from Mario Gomez and the brilliant work of Arjen Robben, Bayern signaled their return to form with their 5-1 win against Kaiserslautern on Saturday. Louis van Gaal may choose to shuffle his line-up to offer his stars a break, but will be keen to spur his team on for a rare away win. Franck Ribery, Toni Kroos and Ivica Olic have definitely been ruled out, while Robben and Daniel van Buyten are questionable due to illness.

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