01.10. (Sat) 20:45 Inter - Napoli

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PROBABLE LINEUPS

INTER Julio CesarNagatomo, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu Zanetti, Cambiasso, Obi ForlanZarate, Milito

NAPOLI De Sanctis Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Aronica Maggio, Inler, Gargano, Dossena Hamsik, Pandev Lavezzi

Claudio Ranieri will be without the services of influential midfielders Wesley Sneijder, Dejan Stankovic and Thiago Motta who are all out injured. Maicon, Ivan Cordoba and Emiliano Viviano are still sidelined with knee problems while Andrea Poli is not yet ready to feature for the first team. Andrea Ranocchia is suspended for picking up a red card against Novara. Giampaolo Pazzini will have to pass a late fitness test to face Napoli on Saturday.

Walter Mazzarri will be unable to call on his star striker Edinson Cavani, who limped off in the second half of the Champions League win over Villarreal midweek with an ankle injury. Defender Miguel Britos and midfielder Blerim Dzemaili will also miss the crunch class at San Siro.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Inter are unbeaten in their last 14 Serie A matches at San Siro.

• The Nerazzurri have won two games in a row in all competitions since Claudio Ranieri replaced Gian Piero Gasperini as coach.

• Napoli have failed to score in two of their first four Serie A encounters this season.

• The Coppa Italia holders beat Walter Mazzarri's men 3-1 at San Siro before playing out a 1-1 draw at the San Paolo during the 2010-11 campaign.

• The southern Italians have only win in their last five league games away from home (W1 D1 L3).

• Inter have scored 10 goals in their last five home Serie A matches (W4 D1 L0).

Prediction

Claudio Ranieri's appointment seems to have stabilised Inter and they will continue to climb up the Serie A table with a crucial win over Napoli thanks to goals from Milito, Forlan and Lucio.

Editor's Prediction

Inter Milan 3-1 Napoli

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01.10. (Sat) 20:00 Valencia - Granada

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PROBABLE LINEUPS

VALENCIA GuaitaMiguel, Ruiz, Rami, Mathieu Abelda, Banega Canales, Costa, PiattiSoldado/Jonas

GRANADA RobertoNyom, Diakhate, Mainz, Jaime Moises, Yebda Jara, Geijo, BenitezUche

Roberto Soldado, after scoring midweek against Chelsea, may start but Unai Emery could opt for Jonas to give his star striker a rest.

Vicente Guaita will likely return as goalkeeper despite Diego Alves' stellar performance against the English giants.

Adil Rami, who has shown quality in his first season in Spain, should start in defence days after earning a call-up to the France national team by Laurent Blanc.

For the visitors, on-loan attacker Franco Jara will be called upon to contribute in the attack, especially to send balls forward to Ikechukwu Uche if they have any hope of knocking of the home side.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Valencia have not lost at home this season in four fixtures, three in La Liga and one in the Champions League.

• Soldado is the team's leading scorer in the league this campaign with five goals, three behind La Liga's top marksman Lionel Messi.

• Emery's men are in seventh place in the league, two points behind leaders Real Betis. The Mestalla club were near the top of the table for most of the season before falling to Sevilla last week 1-0.

• Granada are in 17th place in the league with four points. 

• In the promoted club's five league fixtures, they have failed to score three times, only netting once in the other two match. Coach Fabri Gonzalez (pictured right) has yet to see his men score away from home this term. 

• Dutch legend Johan Cruyff made his Barcelona debut against Granada, bagging a brace in a 4-0 victory on October 28, 1973.

Prediction
Editor's Prediction 


Valencia 2-0 Granada 

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01.10. (Sat) 16:00 Blackburn Rovers - Manchester City

PROBABLE LINEUPS

BLACKBURN ROVERS Robinson Givet, Samba, Dann, Petrovic N’Zonzi, Grella Rochina, Formica, Hoilett Yakubu

MANCHESTER CITY Hart Richards, Kompany, Lescott, ClichyYaya Toure, BarryMilner, Silva, Nasri Aguero

BLACKBURN ROVERS

Steve Kean not only has to pick his side up following their disappointing 3-1 defeat at Newcastle, but he'll need to apply bandages to his back four.

With the experienced Michel Salgado sidelined with a hamstring injury picked up at St James' Park, Gael Givet is set to feature at right back - albeit that the Frenchman has impressed in the centre-back role of late, particularly against Arsenal.

This spot will be reserved for Scott Dann, who despite nursing a knee injury from last weekend, is expected to start at Ewood Park.

Kean will be without Martin Olsson however, following his sending off for two bookable offences at Newcastle.


MANCHESTER CITY

One absentee is certain this weekend... Carlos Tevez will be nowhere near Ewood come kick-off on Saturday, having been suspended by the club.

Edin Dzeko is also expected to start from the bench, as the Bosnian serves the final stretch of his punishment following his own, albeit less controversial, petulance in Munich.

Joleon Lescott, dropped for the returning Kolo Toure in midweek, is expected to rejoin captain Vincent Kompany in defence, while Owen Hargreaves and Nigel de Jong will both have to settle for a place alongside Roberto Mancini at best, with the Italian awaiting the midfielders returns to full fitness.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Rovers have managed to keep only one clean sheet in their last eight matches at Ewood Park.

• City meanwhile have already scored 19 league goals this season, with 10 of them netted on their travels.

• Joe Hart is set to make his 47th consecutive Premier League appearance for City Since returning from his successful loan spell at Birmingham.

• Manchester City’s biggest triumph in this fixture was 5-2 victory at Blackburn in 1904.

• For Rovers, their most convincing victory over City at home came three years later, with a 4-0 win in 1907.

Prediction

As with all teams, the good ones still suffer setbacks, but it is the best sides who come back fighting.
Manchester City are, without question, a quality side, and they will show their desire and spirit with a hard-fought, but convincing, victory at Ewood. Don't rule out a moment of magic from Mr Hoilett, however.

Editor's Prediction

Blackburn 1-3 Man City

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01.10. (Sat) 16:00 Manchester United - Norwich City

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PROBABLE LINEUPS

MANCHESTER UNITED De Gea Fabio, Ferdinand, Jones, Evra Nani, Anderson, Fletcher, Young Berbatov, Hernandez

NORWICH CITY Ruddy Naughton, Martin, Barnett, Tierney Bennett, Fox, Johnson, Pilkington Hoolahan Morison

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will miss Wayne Rooney, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Javier Hernandez suffered a dead leg against Stoke City and was substituted during the opening stages of that clash, but some reports point towards the Mexican being ready to return.

Chris Smalling (groin) remains a doubt, while Nemanja Vidic (calf) is still some way from being ready. Rafael is out with a shoulder injury while Jonny Evans (ankle) remains a doubt.

Norwich City boss Paul Lambert also has some worries of his own as defender Daniel Ayala is out due to a knee injury sustained during the League Cup clash against MK Dons. Elliott Ward, James Vaughan (both knee) and Zak Whitbread (hamstring) are also in the treatment room with their respective injury problems.

Ritchie De Laet - who is on loan from the United - will not be able to play.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Manchester United are currently unbeaten in 24 Premier League games at Old Trafford, and have 18 consecutive wins.

• The Red Devils have lost only one of their last 12 league meetings with the Canaries. United lost the last game between the two sides, in 2005.

• United have been highly impressive in front of goal at home, and they have hit the back of the net 71 times in their last 25 league games on their own turf.

• In that same stretch of games, Rio Ferdinand and Co. have only allowed 18 goals.

• Norwich have scored seven goals in their six matches so far in the top flight, which is better than fellow newcomers Queens Park Rangers (five) and Swansea City (four).

• But the Canaries have been far from prolific at Old Trafford, as they have hit the back of the net on only 13 occasions when playing the Red Devils in a league game away from home.

Prediction
Editor's Prediction 

Man Utd. 3-0 Norwich City

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01.10. (Sat) 15:30 Borussia D. - Augsburg

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PROBABLE LINEUPS

BORUSSIA DORTMUND WeidenfellerPiszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer Gungodan, Bender Gotze, Kagawa, PerisicBarrios

AUGSBURG JentzschHosogai, Mohrle, Sankoh, De Jong Brinkmann, Callsen-Bracker Gogia, Baier, BellinghausenMolders

Jurgen Klopp is expected to make some major changes to the team which lost 3-0 to Olympique Marseille on Wednesday, with Sebastian Kehl mostly likely to be relegated to the bench. Ilkay Gundogan is expected to take his place next to Sven Bender, while Ivan Perisic could displace Kevin Grosskreutz, who had poor game in France.

Lucas Barrios already has already made two substitute appearances, and given the fact that his recovery is well on track, he is in the running for a starting place on Saturday. The only absentees for Dortmund are Julian Koch and Marvin Bakalorz, who are both still working their way back to fitness.

Augsburg face an injury crisis as no less than seven players have been ruled out for the match against the German champions. Defenders Paul Verhaegh and Dominik Reinhardt, midfielders Andrew Sinkala, Marcel Ndjeng and Dawda Bah, as well as strikers Torsten Oehrl and Stephan Hain will be forced to watch from the sidelines.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Dortmund are yet to win two league games in a row this season. They can do that on Saturday by beating Augsburg at the Signal-Iduna Park.

• BVB are set to play their 1500th game in the Bundesliga. Only Hamburg, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Stuttgart reached that landmark before them.

• Jurgen Klopp's men have failed to win in their last two home games, drawing 1-1 with Arsenal, and losing 2-1 to Hertha Berlin.

• Augsburg are the only team yet to win in this season's Bundesliga.

• Jos Luhukay's men have achieved four draws, more than any other team in the league.

• Only Kaiserslautern have scored less goals than Augsburg this season. Of the six goals scored by Jos Luhukay's men, three came from striker Sascha Molders, who has not scored a goal since round 2.

Prediction

Editor's Prediction 

Borussia D. 3-2 Augsburg

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