10.05. (Tue) 22:00 Real - Getafe

DID YOU KNOW?

* Real Madrid’s record at home this season was perfect until they were defeated by Sporting Gijon on April 2. Since then, los Blancos have failed to pick up a victory in three subsequent attempts.

* Despite stuttering at home, Jose Mourinho’s men have been brilliant on their travels, scoring 12 goals in their last two matches, which were against European chasing Sevilla and Valencia.

* Los Blancos have won all of their last five away matches in the Primera Division.

* Known for their superb defensive record at the start of the season, Real Madrid have only kept one clean sheet in seven attempts in the league.

* Cristiano Ronaldo’s quartet of goals at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan have taken him to 46 goals this season, and the magical 50 is not yet out of sight.

* Getafe languish 16th in the Primera Division table, boasting only one point more than the team at the top of the drop zone.

* The recent form of the Madrid-based side is poor, with only three wins in 19 league matches.

* When el Geta last won away from home, they completed a four-game winning streak by defeating Almeria 3-2 in the final round of matches before Christmas.

* Almeria were also Getafe’s victims as they won 2-0 at the weekend.

* On 13 occasions, the Coliseum Alfonso Perez side have led at the break, but they’ve only managed to turn in seven wins from those encounters.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1):
Casillas; Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Marcelo; Diarra, Alonso; Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria; Higuain

Jose Mourinho will be able to welcome back Ricardo Carvalho and Angel di Maria from one-match bans, and both are likely to go straight into the starting XI for the derby.

Injury problems are thin on the ground, though Sami Khedira and Fernando Gago are still out.

Getafe (4-2-3-1):
Ustari; M. Torres, Diaz, Marcano, Mane; V. Sanchez, Casquero; Pedro Rios, Parejo, Adri; Miku

Jaime Gavilan and Rafa both represent damaging long-term injury concerns in Getafe’s ranks, while muscular problems are also set to keep Manuel del Moral and Juan Albin sidelined once more, further depleting the options available to coach Michel.

Prediction

After such a tour de force at the weekend, Real Madrid won’t hand the title to Barcelona by slipping up on Tuesday evening. Though their home form has been relatively poor in recent times, los Blancos should be able to score a resounding victory against their city-rivals. 

Real Madrid 4-0 Getafe

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10.05. (Tue) 20:45 Palermo - Milan

DID YOU KNOW?

* Palermo's only clean sheet in their last 15 Serie A games came against Milan in March.

* Delio Rossi's men have scored six goals in their last three home encounters.

* Palermo have suffered only four league losses at home this season.

* The Sicilian side have conceded more goals (59) than they have scored (55) this term.

* AC Milan secured their 18th Scudetto following the 0-0 draw with Roma on Saturday.

* Massimiliano Allegri's men have scored seven goals in their last three Coppa Italia matches.

* Milan are the only Serie A side that have three players with 10 or more goals this season.

* The San Siro outfit have only conceded two goals in their last five games away from home.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Palermo (4-3-2-1)
Sirigu; Cassani, Munoz, Bovo, Balzaretti; Bacinovic, Migliaccio, Nocerino; Ilicic; Pastore, Hernandez

Palermo coach Delio Rossi has no major injury worries or suspensions to deal with ahead of the crunch clash in Sicily. Armin Bacinovic, Cesare Bovo and Fabio Liverani are one booking away from an automatic one-game suspension

AC Milan (4-3-1-2)
Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta; Ambrosini, Van Bommel, Seedorf; Boateng; Robinho, Pato

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri will be without the services of Gennaro Gattuso who is serving a ban. Massimo Oddo was not included in the squad for the second-leg encounter while Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have to pass a late fitness test to feature on Tuesday.

Prediction

Milan will squeak by Palermo at the Renzo Barbera to give the newly crowned champions a chance to grab a domestic double.

Palermo 1-2 AC Milan

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10.05. (Tue) 20:45 Manchester City - Tottenham Hotspur

DID YOU KNOW?

* A win for Manchester City will not only confirm a top four finish, it will also see them move just two points behind Arsenal with two games left to play.

* Roberto Mancini’s men will be confident of victory having lost just twice at home in the league all season. The two defeats came last year to Everton in December and Arsenal back in October.

* Joe Hart is the only player to feature in every Premier League game for Manchester City this season.

* Striker Carlos Tevez has not played since April 11 but has already scored more league goals (19) than Tottenham strikers Jermain Defoe (4), Peter Crouch (4) and Roman Pavlyuchenko (8) combined (16).

* The two sides' previous fixture was on the opening day of the season, when they shared a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane. That game saw Yaya Toure, David Silva and Aleksandar Kolarov make their City debuts and the point halted a run of six straight defeats at White Hart Lane.

* However, Tottenham have a good away record this season, with six wins. Only Arsenal, Chelsea & Manchester City have won more games on their travels this term.

* Yet Harry Redknapp's men have become draw specialists in recent weeks. Of their last eight league matches, they have drawn six.

* Indeed Spurs have not tasted victory on their travels in the league for almost three months. Their last away win came on February 12 when they beat Sunderland 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.

* Of course Tottenham have good memories of Eastlands. On their last visit, almost exactly a year ago, a single goal by Peter Crouch was enough for victory and to confirm the Londoners' place in the Champions League, at the expense of Mancini’s men.

* The visitors have not lost to Manchester City in their last five fixtures. Their last defeat at Eastlands in the league came on March 16, 2008 when goals by Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha secured victory after Robbie Keane had opened the scoring.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Manchester City (4-2-3-1)
Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Vieira, Barry; Johnson, Y Toure, Silva; Dzeko.

Manager Roberto Mancini has few injury problems but is likely to have one eye on Saturday’s FA Cup final when it comes to selecting his team, so he could make changes from the side that lost to Everton at the weekend.

Captain Carlos Tevez has reportedly been informed he must prove his fitness if he is to feature at Wembley and the Italian has admitted the Argentine has a 50 per cent chance, meaning he may play some part on Tuesday.

Tottenham (4-4-2)
Gomes; Kaboul, Dawson, Gallas, Corluka; Lennon, Modric, Sandro, Van der Vaart; Pavlyuchenko, Defoe.

Gareth Bale is expected to miss Spurs’ last three games after being stretchered off in the 1-1 draw with Blackpool at White Hart Lane.

Jermain Defoe may keep his place after hitting a late equaliser against the Tangerines on Saturday but Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Tom Huddlestone are both expected to miss out again due to injury.

Prediction

An intriguing match awaits at Eastlands with Manchester City now heavy favourites to secure Champions League qualification ahead of Spurs, who also have the added distraction of Liverpool breathing down their necks, meaning they could even miss out on the Europa League unless they finish the season on a high.

However, City’s recent record against Spurs is poor and they may be distracted by the prospect of the FA Cup final on Saturday. Yet the visitors have suffered from far too many draws in recent weeks and another stalemate does not look out of the question.

Man City 2-2 Tottenham

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