24.09. (Sat) 22:00 Barcelona - Atletico Madrid

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PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Barcelona (4-1-2-3): Valdes; Alves, Mascerano, Puyol, Abidal; Xavi, Busquets, Thiago; Messi, Fabregas, Villa

Barca centre-back Gerard Pique is back in full training following his calf injury and after the defensive frailties against Valencia, it is touch and go as to whether the Spaniard will make the starting XI. Alexis Sanchez and Andres Iniesta are still sidelined with hamstring injuries. Meanwhile, Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay damaged his cruciate knee ligament in training and will miss an estimated six months of the season.

Atletico Madrid (4-4-2): Coutois; Silva, Perea, Dominguez, Filipe; Koke, Assuncao, Gabi, Turan; Salvio, Falcao

Atletico Madrid are still sweating over the fitness of Diego, who completed light training on Thursday but it is unsure whether the Brazilian will feature against the champions. However, the Madrid outfit have been boosted by the return of Diego Godin, who has recovered from his injury and is expected to make the squad against Barcelona.

DID YOU KNOW?

• In their last four meetings at Camp Nou in La Liga, Barcelona have scored 17 times against Atletico Madrid, conceding just three in reply.

• Cesc Fabregas has already had more assists in this season (four) than Andres Iniesta accumulated in the whole of 2010-2011 (three).

• Expect goals in this encounter, as both Barca and Atletico netted over 2.5 goals in 24 of their 38 league games last season, a 63 per cent success rate.

• Atletico Madrid's last victory at Camp Nou was in December 2006, where they emerged as 3-1 victors.

• Atletico have won their last two league games 4-0 at home, against Racing and Sporting Gijon, with Radamel Falcao netting five times.

• Indeed, this match showcases La Liga's two leading goalscorers, Falcao and Lionel Messi, who along with Roberto Soldado have netted five goals in four matches.

Prediction

Given Atletico's recent misfortunes at Camp Nou, it is difficult to see them grabbing a sensational result, but Barca's recent defensive frailties suggest the encounter might be closer than previous victories for the hosts.

Editor's Prediction

Barcelona 3-1 Atletico Madrid

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24.09. (Sat) 20:45 Milan - Cesena

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PROBABLE LINE-UPS

AC Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta; Nocerino, van Bommel, Seedorf; Aquilani; El Shaarawy, Cassano

The injury list at Milan keeps on growing by the day as Alexandre Pato has been ruled out for a month after picking up a thigh injury against Udinese on Wednesday. Defenders Luca Antonini, Philippe Mexes and Daniele Bonera are not fit to feature against Cesena while midfielders Mathieu Flamini, Gennaro Gattuso, Massimo Ambrosini and Kevin-Prince Boateng will also miss out. Attackers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho are sidelined but Pippo Inzaghi may see some action off the bench on Saturday.

Cesena (4-3-3): Ravaglia; Ceccarelli, Von Bergen, Rossi, Lauro; Parolo, Colucci, Guana; Eder, Mutu, Candreva

Cesena coach Marco Giampaolo almost has a full squad at his disposal but will be unable to call on Francesco Antonioli and Vincenzo Rennella who are out due to injury.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Milan are winless in the first three games of the new campaign.

• The players currently on the treatment table for the Rossoneri accounted for 50 Serie A goals last season.

• Massimiliano Allegri's men were held to four draws at home last term but have already picked up two in two matches at San Siro this season.

• The Serie A champions conceded 12 goals in their own backyard last year.

• Cesena beat Milan 2-0 in the second game of the 2010-11 campaign.
  

• The Seahorses suffered 10 defeats on their travels last season.

• Cesena lost 10 games by a one-goal margin last term.

• Marco Giampaolo's men conceded 29 goals away from home during the last campaign.

Prediction

The injuries for Milan keep piling up but the Serie A champions should still have enough firepower to squeak past Cesena at San Siro.

Editor's Prediction

AC Milan 1-0 Cesena

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24.09. (Sat) 20:00 Real - Rayo Vallecano

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PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Casillas; Ramos, Carvalho, Varane, Marcelo; Xabi Alonso, Khedira; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema

Sami Khedira returns for Jose Mourinho's side after serving a one-game suspension and is expected to replace Lassana Diarra in centre midfield. Sergio Ramos is also likely to return to the starting line-up in place of Alvaro Arbeloa at right-back.

With Pepe and Fabio Coentrao out injured, Raphael Varane will continue at centre-half while Angel Di Maria may regain his place in the team, with Jose Callejon dropping to the bench.

Rayo Vallecano (4-2-3-1): Gimenez; Tito, Labaka, Figueras, Raul Bravo; Fuego, Movilla; Trashorras, Pacheco, Michu; Piti

The newly-promoted side will be without on-loan Arsenal winger Pedro Botelho, who was sent-off in their 2-1 defeat to Levante on Wednesday. Dani Pacheco, another loanee, is likely to come in for the Brazilian.

Mikel Labaka is expected to continue in defence, leaving Alejando Arribas on the bench while Piti will lead the frontline, despite failing to score this season.

DID YOU KNOW?

• 
  Real Madrid have scored 10 goals in four Liga games so far this season, despite failing to find the net in their last two matches.

• When the two sides last met in the league, Madrid ran out 3-1 winners at the Bernabeu in April 2003.

• Jose Mourinho has one of the youngest squads in La Liga, with Madrid's squad age averaging 24.5 years old.

• Ricardo Carvalho has already accrued three yellow cards in La Liga this season, despite the new campaign only being a month old.

• Rayo Vallecano were promoted to the Primera Division last season, ending an eight-year absence from Spain's top-flight.

• The club are based in the Madrid neighbourhood of Vallecas and are one of Jose Mourinho's men's local rivals.

• Rayo have met Madrid on 14 occasions, winning two, drawing one and losing the remaining 11 encounters.

• Like Madrid, the side's only defeat of the season has come against Levante with Jose Ramon Sandoval's side currently sitting in 10th place.

Prediction

After two disappointing results on the road, it is difficult to imagine Jose Mourinho's men not returning to winning ways at the Bernabeu. Rayo have made a bright start to their first La Liga campaign in eight years but a trip to their more illustrious neighbours will be a different proposition altogether.

Editor's Prediction

Real Madrid 4-0 Rayo Vallecano

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Ligue 1 - Round 8 Preview

Saturday 24th SEPTEMBER	Ko	Sunday 25th SEPTEMBER	KO
Evian - Caen	1900	Auxerre - Sochaux	1700
Lille - Lorient	1900	Brest - Ajaccio	1700
Olympique Lyon - Bordeaux	1900	Stade Rennes - Saint Etienne	2100
Nice - Dijon	1900
Toulouse - Nancy	1900
Valenciennes - Marseille	1900
Montpellier - PSG	2100
all kick-offs in CET

Evian

vs

Caen

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Andersen Djedje, Cambon, Angoula, Mensah Leroy, Tie Bi, Sorlin, Govou Adnane, Sagbo		Thebaux Vandam, Leca, Herteaux, Raineau Seube, Proment Hamouma, Fajr, Bulut Frau
TEAM NEWS
Evian were defeated 2-0 by struggling Marseille in midweek. Bernard Casoni's men are winless in five league games. Fabrice Ehret and Christian Poulsen are on the sidelines for the promoted side, with Guillaume Rippert suspended.		Caen recorded a shock 1-0 victory over Lyon on matchday seven. Les Malherbes have won their last two league matches against promoted teams. Goalscorer Benjamin Nivet is suspended after his red card on Wednesday.

Lille

vs

Lorient

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Landreau Debuchy, Rozehnal, Basa, Bonnart Balmont, Mavuba, Pedretti, Hazard, Sow, Cole		Lecomte Baca, Bourillon, Manga, Mareque Gouffran, Romao, Mvuemba, Autrel Emeghera, Aliadiere
TEAM NEWS
Lille were held to a 1-1 draw with Bordeaux on Tuesday evening. Les Dogues are yet to keep a clean sheet this season. Mathieu Debuchy and Ludovic Obraniak return after suspensions.		Lorient played out a 1-1 draw with Auxerre on matchday seven. Les Merlus are unbeaten in eight of their last nine games at Lille. Christian Gourcuff's men are however yet to win away to a Ligue 1 title-winning side.

 

Lyon

vs

Bordeaux

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Vercoutre Cissokho, Kone, Lovren, Revelliere, Bastos, Gonalons, Grenier, Kallstrom, Briand, Gomis		Keita Sane, Henrique, Ciani, Marange N'Guemo Plasil, Jussie, Sertic Modeste, Diabate
TEAM NEWS
Lyon were beaten 1-0 by Caen in midweek, ending their unbeaten run this season. Les Gones are unbeaten in their last 18 home games in the league. Remi Garde is still without Yoann Gourcuff or Lisandro amongst others. Hugo Lloris is suspended.		Bordeaux held to a 1-1 home draw by Lille on matchday seven, despite Cheick Diabate's late penalty miss. Les Girondins are unbeaten in their last five encounters against Lyon Francis Gillot's men have only prevailed in one of their last nine away games.

Nice

vs

Dijon

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Ospina, Clerc, Pecjinovic, Mabiala, Diakite Fae, Digard, Abriel Mouloungoui, Pentecote, Mounier		Reynet, Bamba, Zarour, Paulle, Souprayen Querbet, Sangare, Altama, Corgnet, Bautheac, Jovial
TEAM NEWS
Nice succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against PSG in their last league game. Les Aiglons have scored all of their Ligue 1 goals from setpieces so far this season. Eric Roy's men are yet to score with one of their strikers.		Promoted Dijon picked up their third win of the campaign with a 1-0 victory over Brest. Patrice Carteron's men are the only side yet to achieve a draw in the league. Dijon have amassed nine points out of a possible 21 so far this season.

Toulouse

vs

Nancy

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Ahamada Ninkov, Congre, Abdennour, M'Bengue Capoue Machado, Devaux, Sissoko, Tabanou Bulut		Gregorini Sane, Sami, Loties, Hadara Andre Luis M'Bile, Karaboue, Traore, Bakar Niculae
TEAM NEWS
Toulouse were held to a 1-1 draw against Saint Etienne on matchday seven. Le Tefece are fifth with a total of 14 points this season. Toulouse have scored in each of their last nine league games.		Nancy drew for the third successive time in midweek against Valenciennes (1-1). Jean Fernandez's men have failed to score a goal in their last seven games against Saturday's opponents. ASNL have failed to win any of their last 19 encounters in the Pink City.

Valenciennes

vs

Olympique de Marseille

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Penneteau Ducourtioux, Mirin, Benjamin, Bong Kader, Nam, Cohade, Pujol, Samassa, Danic		Mandanda Traore, Fanni, Diawara, Azpilicueta Cheyrou, Diarra, Lucho Gonzalez Valbuena, Remy, Ayew
TEAM NEWS
Valenciennes stuttered to a 1-1 draw with Nancy in midweek. Gregory Pujol has scored three goals in three home games against L'OM. An average of five goals a game has been recorded in this fixture.		Marseille recorded their first league win of the season with a 2-0 home win over Evian on Wednesday. Didier Deschamps' men are winless in their last six away league games. L'OM have tasted two 3-2 defeats at Valenciennes in the last two seasons.

Montpellier

vs

PSG

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Jourden Bedimo, Hilton, Yanga-Mbiwa, Bocaly Saihi, Estrada Dernis, Utaka, Marveaux Giroud		Sirigu Ceara, Lugano, Camara, Tiene Matuidi, Bodmer Menez, Pastore, Nene Gameiro
TEAM NEWS
Leaders Montpellier consolidated their position at the top of the table with a 3-1 win over Ajaccio on matchday seven. Abdelhamid El Kaoutari is suspended after his red card in midweek. La Paillade are unbeaten in their last seven home games against the capital outfit.		PSG are joint-second in Ligue 1 with three other teams on 14 points after a 2-1 win over Nice. PSG are winless in their last five games against Montpellier. Indeed, Les Parisiens have only won one of their last seven away games in Ligue 1.

Auxerre

vs

Sochaux

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Sorin Dudka, Boly, Coulibaly, Berthod Cisse, Ndinga Chafni, Traore, Contout Le Tallec		Richert Corchia, Perquis, Peybernes, Sauget Anin, Boudebouz, Martin, Mikari Butin, Maiga
TEAM NEWS
Auxerre drew 1-1 with Lorient in midweek. The Burgundy side are unbeaten in their last five league games. Laurent Fournier's men have only lost once in their last 14 home league games.		Sochaux were dealt a heavy 6-2 defeat at home to Stade Rennes on Wednesday. Sochaux have only won three of their last 25 Ligue 1 games away to Stade de l'Abbe Deschamps. Mehmed Bazdrevic's men have the joint worst defensive record in the league.

Brest

vs

Ajaccio

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Elana Coulibaly, Zebina, Ewolo, Makonda Poyet, Grougi, Culma, Lesoimier Roux, Baset		Ochoa, Lippini, Medjani, Poulard, Mendy, Mostafa, Pierazzi, Cavalli, Sammaritano, Ilan, Socrier
TEAM NEWS
Injury ravaged Brest went down 1-0 to promoted Dijon in midweek. Alex Dupont's men are one of two teams yet to win a match this season. Brest have not won any of their last seven home games		Ajaccio were soundly beaten 3-1 by leaders Montpellier on Wednesday. Ajaccio have won their last four matches away to Brest. Olivier Pantaloni's men have only won once in their last 20 Ligue 1 away games.

Stade Rennes

vs

Saint Etienne

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Costil Danze, Kana-Biyik, Mangane, Catherine Pajol, M'Vila Hadji, Feret, Pitroipa, Montano		Ruffier, Nery, Paulao, Mignot, Ghoulam, Lemoine, Clement Aubemayang, Battles, Sako Saadi
TEAM NEWS
Rennes thrashed Sochaux 6-2 in the season's biggest win so far on Wednesday. Les Rouge Et Noir are unbeaten in their last six league encounters against Saint Etienne. Rennes have scored the highest number of goals this season in the league.		Saint Etienne drew 1-1 with Toulouse in midweek. Les Verts are winless in their last five league games. Before that, they boasted a 100% record. Christophe Galtier's men have failed to score in any of their last seven games away to Rennes.

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Eredivisie - Round 7 Preview

Saturday SEPTEMBER 24	KO	Sunday SEPTEMBER 25	KO
PSV - Roda	1845	AZ - Feyenoord	1230
ADO Den Haag - VVV	1945	De Graafschap - Groningen	1430
Heerenveen - Heracles	1945	RKC - NEC	1430
NAC - Utrecht	1945	Excelsior - Vitesse	1630
Ajax - Twente	2045
		all kick-offs in CET

PSV

vs

Roda

PROBABLE LINE-UP
Isaksson Manolev, Derijck, Marcelo, Pieters Wijnaldum, Strootman Lens, Toivonen, Mertens Matavz		Kieszek Monteyne, Biemans, Wielaert, Hempte Delorge, Donald, Vormer, Fledderus Sutchuin Junker
TEAM NEWS
Goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton is unavailable due to a concussion Atiba Hutchinson is being plagued by a knee problem and won't feature on Saturday Experienced defender Wilfred Bouma missed last week's league game and is doubtful		Bryan Roox and Kenneth Staelens are both doubtful due to injury

ADO Den Haag

vs

VVV

LAST WEEK'S LINE-UPS
Coutinho Ammi, Horvath, Leeuwin, Luksik Immers, Radosavljevic, Toornstra Wesley Verhoek, John Verhoek, Vicento		Gentenaar De Regt, Timisela, Yoshida, Emenike Maguire, Molhoek, Cullen Musa, Nwofor, Uchebo

Heerenveen

vs

Heracles

LAST WEEK'S LINE-UPS
Vandenbussche Janmaat, Zomer, Gouweleeuw, El Akchaoui Kums, Djuricic, Viktor Elm Narsingh, Dost, Assaidi		Pasveer Breukers, Rienstra, Van der Linden, Looms Quansah, Overtoom, Duarte Everton, Plet, Armenteros

NAC

vs

Utrecht

LAST WEEK'S LINE-UPS
Ten Rouwelaar Koenders, Botteghin, Luijckx, Gorter Gudelj, Gilissen, Schilder Bayram, Schalk, Lurling		Rob van Dijk Bovenberg, Heerings, Nilsson, Zullo Martensson, Asare, Sneijder Gerndt, Mulenga, Oar

Ajax

vs

Twente

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Vermeer vd Wiel, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Anita Siem de Jong, Eriksen, Janssen Sulejmani, Sigthorsson, Boerrigter		Mihaylov Cornelisse, Douglas, Wisgerhof, Buysse Willem Janssen, Brama, Fer Rosales, Luuk de Jong, John
TEAM NEWS
Left-back Nicolai Boilesen is sidelined due to a hamstring injury Bruno Silva is unavailable due to a shoulder problem Miralem Sulejmani and Vurnon Anita are doubtful, but expected to feature		Nacer Chadli hasn't recovered from his knee injury yet and is still unavailable Defender Rasmus Bengtsson is doubtful because of a groin problem Sander Boschker is doubtful due to a calf injury

AZ

vs

Feyenoord

LAST WEEK'S LINE-UPS
Esteban Marcellis, Moisander, Viergever, Poulsen Wernbloom, Maher, Rasmus Elm Beerens, Altidore, Holman		Mulder Leerdam, De Vrij, Vlaar, Ramsteijn El Ahmadi, Clasie, Bakkal Cabral, Guidetti, Schaken

De Graafschap

vs

Groningen

LAST WEEK'S LINE-UPS
De Winter Jansen, Van de Pavert, Wormgoor, Evers Rose, De Leeuw, Meijer, Breinburg El Hassnaoui, Poepon		Van Loo Hiariej, Kwakman, Van Dijk, Burnet Kieftenbeld, Sparv Bacuna, Andersson, Tadic Texeira

RKC

vs

NEC

LAST WEEK'S LINE-UPS
Zoet Bandjar, Henrico Drost, Ramos, Van Peppen Sno, Auassar, Braber, Meijers Castillion, Ten Voorde		Babos Will, Nuytinck, Van Eijden, Amieux Foor, Koolwijk, Vadocz George, Platje, Schone

Excelsior

vs

Vitesse

LAST WEEK'S LINE-UPS
De Ruiter Nieveld, Smith, Van Steensel, Eekman Vorthoren, Alberg, De Graaf, Broerse Van Buren, Te Vrede		Velthuizen Yasuda, Kashia, Kalas, Buttner Van der Heijden, Annan, Propper Chanturia, Van Ginkel, Davila

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