17.03. (Thu) 21:05 Liverpool - Sporting Braga

DID YOU KNOW?

* Liverpool have only lost twice at Anfield all season.

* The Reds have conceded just once in their last four Europa League games.

* In their eight games in the Europa league this season, Liverpool have scored only nine goals.

* Dirk Kuyt and Raul Meireles have scored 80 per cent of Liverpool’s home goals since Kenny Dalglish took charge of the team.

* David N’Gog has scored 66% of the team’s goals in the tournament this season.

* Braga have only won three games away from home all season.

* They have also scored only 17 goals this season away from home.

* The visitors have lost seven of their previous 11 games against English opposition.

* Braga are 34 points behind leaders FC Porto in the Liga Sagres.

* Rodrigo Lima is the club's top scorer in the league this season, having netted six goals.

LAST MEETING

March 10, 2011: Braga 1-0 Liverpool

The first leg of this tie was the first time these two teams have met. A first-half penalty converted by Alan was enough to see off the Reds.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Liverpool: Reina; Carragher, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Johnson; Maxi, Lucas, Meireles, Cole; Kuyt, Carroll.

Braga: Artur; Alberto Rodriguez, Kaka, Miguel Garcia, Silvio; Mossoro, Leandro Salino, Hugo Viana, Paulo Cesar; Lima, Alan.

Prediction

Liverpool 2-0 Braga  

Read More

17.03. (Thu) 21:05 Villarreal - Bayer Leverkusen

DID YOU KNOW?

* Villarreal are undefeated at home in the Europa League this season

* The Yellow Submarine have conceded only two goals in the competition at El Madrigal.

* Giuseppe Rossi is tied for first in the scoring charts with seven goals in the tournament.

* Villarreal have won three of their last five games against German opponents (W3, D1, L1).

* Bayer Leverkusen were riding a ten-game unbeaten streak in the Europa League before falling to the Spaniards at the BayArena in the first leg.

* Bayer have not lost in their last six away matches in the competition (W4, D2)

* The Germans have not given up a goal in their last thee matches on the road.

* Bayer won the UEFA Cup by beating Spanish club Espanyol in penalties in 1988.

LAST MEETING

March 10, 2011: Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Villarreal

Villarreal substitute Nilmar was the hero as he netted a second half brace to give the Spaniards a vital advantage heading back to El Madrigal.

Michal Kadlec opened the scoring for the Germans before Giuseppe Rossi pegged the hosts back. The Yellow Submarine took the lead through Nilmar until Castro found a quick-fire equaliser.

Nilmar then gave the visitors a 3-2 advantage when he popped up to score late in the game.


PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Villarreal: Lopez; Mario, Gonzalo, Marchena, Capdevila; Bruno, Valero, Cani, Cazorla; Rossi, Nilmar

Bayer Leverkusen: Adler; Schwaab, Hyypia, Reinartz, Kadlec; Rolfes, Vidal; Sam, Renato Augusto, Castro; Derdiyok

Prediction

Villarreal have been convincing at home in the competition and should be able to fend off the Germans' inevitable barrage in the second-leg at El Madrigal.

Villarreal 2-1 Leverkusen

Read More

17.03. (Thu) 21:05 Porto - CSKA Moskva

DID YOU KNOW?

* Porto have won six consecutive away matches in the Europa League this season.

* The Portuguese league leaders have scored 13 goals on their road travels in the competition this term.

* Falcao is tied for the lead at the top of scoring charts with seven goals in the tournament.

* Porto have won more corners than any other team in the Europa League (69).

* CSKA Moscow have failed to register a win against Porto in five meetings.

* The Russians have not scored against Porto in their last five meetings.

* The first leg loss against Porto represented CSKA's first setback in 11 Europa League encounters during the current campaign.

* CSKA have won only two matches against Portuguese sides in European play (W2, L3, D3).

LAST MEETING

March 10, 2011: CSKA Moscow 0-1 Porto

After soaking up pressure for large chunks of the first half, Porto grabbed the lead courtesy of Freddy Guarin midway through the second session.

The visitors fended off everything that the Russians threw at them in the final 15 minutes and picked up a vital away win in Moscow.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Porto: Helton; Supunaru, Rolando, Otamendi, Fucile; Fernando, Belluschi, Moutinho; Hulk, Falcao, Varela

CSKA Moscow: Akinfeev; Schennikov, Ignashevich, Berezutsky, Nababkin; Aldonin, Mamaev, Honda, Dzagoev; Doumbia, Love

Prediction

Porto are firing on all cylinders in both domestic and continental play and will continue their good run by shutting out their Russian visitors.

Porto 2-0 CSKA

Read More

17.03. (Thu) 21:05 Rangers - PSV Eindhoven

DID YOU KNOW?

* Rangers have the better of the head-to-head form between the sides. The Glasgow side are undefeated against PSV, winning three and drawing two of the five meetings since their first clash in 1978.

* The last Ibrox meeting between the sides came in the Champions League group stages in 1999. Rangers triumphed 4-1 on a night where Ruud van Nistelrooy scored for the visitors.

* The Ibrox faithful haven’t tasted a home defeat in 10 outings, their last loss on home turf coming at the hands of Celtic in the New Year Old Firm clash.

* The Gers' last foray in the competition took them to a 2008 final. Amazingly, Rangers only won twice on their run to the final, scraping through ties on away goals and penalties before going down 2-0 at the hands of Zenit St. Petersburg.

* Walter Smith’s side have drawn all three of their outings in this year’s competition.

* PSV are undefeated in eight matches. Their last loss was a home defeat to Eredivisie side Ado Den Haag, the visitors scoring in the final minute.

* After a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sibir Novosibirsk in the Europa League qualifying round, PSV have remained undefeated throughout the entirety of the competition. Avoidance of defeat at Ibrox would at the very least force extra-time, while a score draw would take the visitors through.

* In hot pursuit of an away goal, the visitors will take confidence from the fact they have scored in their last eight away matches.

* Fred Rutten’s side currently top the Dutch Eredivisie, a competition they haven’t won since 2008 having won four consecutive titles between 2004 and 2008.

* Hungarian midfielder Balazs Dzsudzsak is the club’s top scorer this season with an impressive 15 goals from midfield. The 24-year-old has six goals from his last eight games.

LAST MEETING

March 10, 2011: PSV Eindhoven 0-0 Rangers

A tame affair in the first leg saw each side only stomach one attempt on target and left the tie precariously poised for the Ibrox return.


PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Rangers: McGregor; Whittaker, Bougherra, Weir, Papac; Davis, Edu, Bartley, Naismith; Diouf, Lafferty.

PSV: Isaksson; Pieters, Bouma, Marcelo, Manolev; Engelaar, Hutchinson, Dzsudzsak; Lens, Berg, Toivonen.

Prediction

Rangers 1-1  PSV  

Read More

17.03. (Thu) 19:00 Manchester City - Dynamo Kiev

DID YOU KNOW?

* Manchester City have not lost a single home game in the Europa League this season.

* Emmanuel Adebayor scored four goals in the European competition before his move to Real Madrid. Mario Balotelli follows closely with three to his name.

* Roberto Mancini’s men have scored 17 goals in the tournament, including the qualifiers against Timisoara.

* But the Eastlands outfit have also conceded eight goals in the process.

* City lost the first leg by two goals, and have it all to do in the reverse fixture. If their opponents score once, then the home side will have to hit the back of the net four times to book a place in the next stage of the competition.

* Dynamo Kiev were founded in 1927.

* The Ukrainian capital club have spent their entire history playing top-flight football, in the Soviet and Ukrainian league.

* Yuri Syomin’s charges have lost only once through the course of their Europa League campaign. This was a shock defeat to Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol in the group stage.

* The Ukrainian outfit are currently on an undefeated streak of 11 games in all competitions.

* They are also in second place in their domestic league, and have scored 39 goals from 21 games with a goal difference of +22. Only Metalist (40) have scored more goals, while Shakhtar Donetsk (+31) remain the only club with a better goal difference.

LAST MEETING

March 10, 2011: Dynamo Kiev 2-0 Manchester City

Andriy Shevchenko and Oleg Gusey hit the back of the net to give the Ukrainian side a healthy two-goal lead ahead of the second leg at Eastlands.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Manchester City: Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta; De Jong, Barry; Silva, Yaya Toure, Balotelli, Tevez.

Dynamo Kiev: Shovkovskiy; Danilo Silva, Khacheridi, Popov, Yussuf; Husyev, Eremenko, Vukojevic, Ninkovic; Shevchenko, Yarmolenko.

Prediction

Manchester City are likely to register a victory at Eastlands, but their sorry showing in the first leg could come back and haunt them - with Dinamo losing the game, but progressing in the tournament.

 

Man City 3-1 Dynamo

Read More

17.03. (Thu) 19:00 Paris Saint Germain - Benfica

DID YOU KNOW?

* Paris Saint Germain are unbeaten in four home games against Portuguese opposition (W3 D1 L0 in Paris)

* Les Parisien's nine games against Portuguese sides have ended W4 D2 L3

* Five of PSG's last seven European fixtures ended in draws

* Antoine Koumbouare's men are unbeaten in 14 European home games at Parc des Princes

* Their last home defeat was a 4-2 loss to Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC on 23 November 2006

* The capital club's last five games in all competitions has seen them win twice, lose twice and draw once.

* Benfica have a record of W10 D5 L6 against Ligue 1 teams.

* Jorge Jesus' men also have a record of W3 D1 L6 in France.

* The Eagles lost all three of their away ties in the Champions League group stage without scoring.

* This run was ended by a 2-0 win away to Stuttgart in the last round of the Europa League.

* Their last league game ended in a disappointing home draw against Portimonese on Sunday albeit with a weakened side.

* The Eagles have won 19 of their previous 21 games in all competitions.

LAST MEETING

10 March 2011: Benfica 2-1 Paris St Germain

Substitute Franco Jara completed a come-from-behind 2-1 win for Benfica over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Europa League last 16.

PSG had earlier gone ahead when Peguy Luyindula beat the offside trap to turn in a precious away goal for the Parisiens. Maxi Pereira equalised for the home side just before half-time after Carlos Martins' assist, before Jara’s late winner in which he lashed in a low shot on the edge of the area to put the home side in the driver's seat ahead of Thursday's decider.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

PSG: Edel, Jallet, Tiene, Armand, Sakho, Makelele, Bodmer, Nene, Erding, Hoarau, Giuly

Benfica: Roberto, Luisao, Maxi Pereira, Coentrao, Sidnei, Aimar, Carlos Martins,Gaitan, Salvio, Cardozo, Saviola

Prediction

Benfica look to be favourites to progress, and following that first leg comeback win in Lisbon last week, the Eagles should be wary of a very unpredictable Parisien outfit. PSG have floundered recently, whilst Benfica rested most of their players last weekend in order to stay fresh for this decider. Les Parisiens will put up a fight, but Jorge Jesus' men will be the most likely names in Friday's Europa League draw.

PSG 1-1 Benfica

Read More

17.03. (Thu) 19:00 Spartak Moskva - Ajax

DID YOU KNOW?

* Spartak Moscow’s 1-0 victory over Ajax in Amsterdam in the first leg last week was their maiden win against a Dutch team in five attempts.

* The Red-Whites are the only Russian opposition Ajax have ever faced.

* Valery Karpin’s side haven’t won at home in their last three European fixtures, having lost twice and drawn one.

* Spartak Moscow striker Ari played in the Netherlands for AZ between 2007 and 2010 and scored against Ajax on 23 November 2008 in a 2-0 victory in the Eredivisie.

* Ajax have won their last two European away matches and didn’t concede in either game.

* The former Dutch and European champions have yet to lose in the Europa League on the road – that’s six away games without a defeat.

* Frank de Boer’s side’s defeat to Spartak last week put an end to their three-game winning streak in Europe. They didn’t concede in any of those three matches.

* Ajax are just two goals away from conceding their 100th goal in the Europa League/UEFA Cup.

LAST MEETING

March 10, 2011: Ajax 0-1 Spartak Moscow

Alex’s second-half strike proved to be the difference between the two sides in Amsterdam in the first leg of this round of 16 tie in the Champions League. The Dutch giants controlled most of the possession in the game and mustered no fewer than 15 shots on target, but had to suffer a one-goal defeat.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Spartak Moscow: Dikan; K. Kombarov, Rojo, Suchy, Makeev; McGeady, Ibson, Carioca, D. Kombarov; Alex; Welliton

Ajax: Verhoeven; Van der Wiel, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Blind; De Zeeuw, Anita, Eriksen; Sulejmani, De Jong, Ebecilio

Prediction

Spartak Moscow have seemingly done their job after winning 1-0 in Amsterdam. The Russian Premier League has just started, which means that they will now have some match practice ahead of their second leg, which should see them win again at home.

Spartak 1-0 Ajax

Read More

17.03. (Thu) 19:00 Zenit - Twente

DID YOU KNOW?

* Zenit St. Petersburg have not lost in 11 European home games since their defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League in September 2008.

* Zenit have won all of their six home matches in Europe this season and have scored on an average three goals in each match since the group stage.

* Luciano Spalletti won the Russian Premier League title with Zenit in November 2010, less than a year after he was appointed their coach.

* Zenit have never featured in a European penalty shoot-out.

* Twente defeated former Russian champions Rubin Kazan 4-2 on aggregate in the round of 32 in the Europa League this campaign.

* The Dutch champions defeated Rubin 2-0 in the Russian city of Kazan in the first leg of that tie.

* The Tukkers have alternated between wins and losses in four European games on the road. If that pattern is to continue, then they should lose to Zenit in St Petersburg.

* Twente midfielder Theo Janssen and Zenit’s Danko Lazovic were team-mates at Vitesse in 2006-07.

LAST MEETING

March 10, 2011: Twente 3-0 Zenit St Petersburg

Twente virtually secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League after a 3-0 victory over Zenit at home. Luuk de Jong opened the scoring after 25 minutes and Denny Landzaat added a second 11 minutes into the second session. Then in injury time De Jong netted his second and wrapped up the win.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Zenit St. Petersburg: Malafeev; Anyukov, Meira, Bruno Alves, Lukovic; Shirokov, Denisov, Zyryano; Lazovic, Danny; Kerzhakov

Twente: Mihaylov; Rosales, Wisgerhof, Onyewu, Buysse; Brama, Janssen, Landzaat; Bajrami, De Jong, Chadli

Prediction

Zenit will be compelled to win against Twente at home to have something to cheer about but they wouldn’t be able to put three past the Dutch champions.

Zenit 2-1 Twente

Read More