29-10-2010 20:45 Genoa - Inter

Climbing Up The Table

Genoa have already started to crop up the table in Serie A and have commenced to climb up the charts. Last week’s 1-0 win has propelled the Grifone to ninth in the league standings, with 11 points from eight matches.

The victory last weekend did ease pressure on coach Gian Piero Gasperini but the Genoa tactician should know that his side will have to carry on winning or else pressure will be back again on him. Genoa have won just four times against Inter in the past 50 years but playing at home on Friday evening will give them an advantage.

An added incentive for the Grifone is that they lie just four points behind the Italian and European champions – a win will see them close the gap and make them believe in themselves even more.

Closing In On Lazio

Inter’s 1-1 draw with Sampdoria last weekend means that the Beneamata cannot go top of Serie A come what may. At the moment Rafael Benitez’s side are third in the table with 15 points from eight matches.

However, a win will see the Italian and European champions close the gap between them and leaders Lazio to just a point and also leapfrog city-rivals Milan to second.

But Inter need to improve and rediscover their scoring touch. In their last four league fixtures, the Beneamata have scored just twice. Their away form in the league has not been exceptional either, as they have scored just thrice in four matches, winning twice.


TEAM NEWS
   
Genoa

Jankovic, Rudolf, Veloso, Palacio, Kharja, Sculli and Palladino have been ruled out because of injuries. Gasperini is likely to opt for a 4-4-2 formation with Toni and Destro as the two strikers.

Inter

Chivu, Stankovic, Mariga, Thiago Motta and Suazo are out injured. Benitez will opt for a 4-2-3-1 system that will have Eto’o as the main striker with Pandev, Sneijder and Coutinho as the three attacking midfielders behind him.

Prediction

This promises to be an exciting match and will be very competitive. Genoa will make it very tough for Inter and will fancy a win too. However, one is tempted to go for a narrow win for Inter but it could eventually ended in a draw.

Genoa 1-1 Inter Milan

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29-10-2010 20:30 Bayern Munchen - Freiburg

Bayern Face Another 'Do-Or-Die' Situation

It took just over a minute for Bayern to concede the opening goal in Tuesday’s DFB Pokal clash with Werder Bremen. However, after a somewhat fortunate equaliser, the reigning champions earned a 2-1 victory through a tremendous, 30-yard strike from Bastian Schweinsteiger.

The result was received as a stroke of luck. Bremen defender Sebastian Proedl had a seemingly legitimate goal called back, and the Hanseaten failed to convert on a half-dozen other opportunities. Nonetheless, Bayern were winners on the day, and advanced to the next round of the Pokal.

Heading into this weekend, Bayern will hope to build some momentum and ease the burden posed by an ever-steepening gap between their table position and the leaders. On Wednesday, vice-captain Philipp Lahm revealed that their league standing has weighed heavily upon the shoulders of his team-mates.

“The mental effort is destroying us, because the distance to make up is 12 points,” he told Sport-Bild.

Ahead of Friday’s encounter, coach Louis van Gaal demanded that that his team concentrate for the full 90 minutes, and not just in phases.

” The match is another 'do-or-die' situation," he said.

Injury-Hit Freiburg Favour Odds

With 15 points from nine matches, Freiburg have enjoyed a very impressive start to their Bundesliga campaign. Considered relegation candidates before the start of the season, they are nearly halfway to the near-certain safety of 40 points. In fact, the team from Germany’s southwestern corner currently stands just a point behind a top three standing, even though their goal difference is a mediocre zero.

Freiburg’s success has come as quite a surprise, but can be explained by the absolutely scintillating form of striker Papiss Cisse. The Senegalese striker has netted eight of his team’s 14 Bundesliga goals; Freiburg’s next highest scorer, Jan Rosenthal, has scored just three times.

Cisse’s league-leading tally may have nearly led Freiburg out of the woods already, but there remains plenty to be done if the Breisgau-based side are to avoid the drop. Their 2-1 loss to second division side Energie Cottbus on Tuesday was more than a little suggestive of Freiburg’s shortcomings.

In that match, Cisse equalised midway through the second half, but even he couldn’t win the game; Emil Jula netted a late winner, and Cottbus advanced.

Heading into Friday’s clash, Freiburg are facing a bit of an injury crisis. Cedric Makiadi and Kisho Yano are questionable after sustaining midweek knocks, and there are more than half a dozen other players missing from Robin Dutt’s squad. However, the coach has not been discouraged by his shortage of personnel, and reckons his side have a chance:

“Bayern are missing a few really important players, so it is a duel of equals.”

TEAM NEWS

Bayern Munich
Daniel van Buyten is expected to return to the starting line-up, meaning that either Andreas Ottl or Anatoliy Tymoshchuk will be sacrificed. Miroslav Klose injured his hamstring on Wednesday, and is expected to be out for three weeks. Diego Contento and Franck Ribery, meanwhile, are approaching full fitness but will need at least another week to recover. Long-term casualties Breno and Arjen Robben are still well short of match fitness.

Probable Starting XI: Butt – Lahm, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Pranjic – Ottl, Schweinsteiger – Altintop, Kroos, Mueller – Gomez

Freiburg

As mentioned above, Cedric Makiadi and Kisho Yano are questionable, but may well play on Friday. Jonathan Jaeger, Johannes Flum, Simon Pouplin, Heiko Butscher, Jan Rosenthal, Pavel Krmas, and Tommy Bechmann, on the other hand, are definite absentees.

Probable Starting XI: Baumann – Mujdza, Barth, Toprak, Bastians – Schuster – Nicu, Makiadi, Caligiuri, Abdessadki – Cisse

Prediction

Given his form, Cisse can be expected to score at some point. This means that in order to win, Bayern will need to score two or more goals, which has become a rarity. Schweinsteiger was heroic in midweek, but the Bavarians’ lack of a reliable striker continues to be a huge problem. A goal may come, but it would be ill-advised to expect more.

Bayern Munich 1-1 SC Freiburg

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29.-31.10.2010. BOJAN JORGAČEVIĆ, GOLMAN GENTA (BELGIJA 1)

Eupen jeste poslednji, ali na svom stadionu mogao bi da savlada Lirs, doskorašnjeg rivala iz Druge lige.
EUPEN - LIRS 1

Ipak, sigurniji sam u trijumf Beršota, jer Sent Truden u gostima retko uspeva da stigne do bodova.
BERŠOT – ST. TRUDEN 1

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29.-31.10. 2010. BOJAN ISAILOVIĆ (ZAGLEBJE, POLJSKA)

Legija je gostovala u prethodna dva kola, a izgleda da je “proradila”, pošto je osvojila svih šest bodova. Čeka je bunker koji će da postavi Gornjik, ali uveren sam da će domaćin da ga probije.
LEGIJA – GORNJIK Z. 1

Ruh je, takođe, dvaput zaredom gostovao, vratio se sa četiri boda, pa sada ima lepu priliku da protiv prosečne Arke nastavi uspešnu seriju.
RUH – ARKA 1

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30.10.-01.11. 2010. ZORAN MANOVIĆ (ŠVEDSKA)

Prošlogodišnji šampion AIK je još ugrožen, a domaćin je jakom Elfsborgu. Zanimljivo je da Gefle, jedan od konkurenata u borbi za očuvanje prvoligaškog statusa, dočekuje Đurgarden, ekipu koja se ni malo ne voli sa AIK-om. Ne bi trebalo da iznenadi ukoliko fudbaleri Đurgardena sa nešto manje “žara” uđu u ovu utakmicu.
AIK – Elfsborg 1X
Gefle – Đurgarden 1X

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