Saturday, November 5, 2011

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06.11. (Sun) 20:45 Napoli - Juventus

Antonio Conte - Juventus (Getty Images)
Getty Images

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

NAPOLI

De Sanctis
Cannavaro, Fernandez, Campagnaro
Maggio, Dzemaili, Inler, Dossena
Hamsik, Lavezzi
Cavani
JUVENTUS

Buffon
Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini
Marchisio, Pirlo
Pepe, Vidal, Vucinic

Matri

Switzerland international Blerim Dzemaili will replace the injured Walter Gargano in the centre of midfield while Salvatore Aronica's absence will force coach Walter Mazzarri to reshuffle his back three. Marco Donadel is still nursing a thigh injury which has kept him sidelined since pre-season while Mario Santana is suspended.

Antonio Conte has almost a full squad to choose from, with Emanuele Giaccherini the only player unavailable for Sunday's crunch clash. Alessandro Matri will keep his place up front while Pepe, Arturo Vidal and Mirko Vucinic will be supporting the lone striker.

DID YOU KNOW
  • Napoli have not lost to Juventus in their past four Serie A encounters (W3 D1) and have outscored the Old Lady 11-5 during that span.
  • Walter Mazzarri's men are currently riding a four-game home winning streak against Juve.
  • Napoli scored five goals in their two meetings with the Turin outfit last season.
  • Juventus are the only remaining unbeaten team in Serie A this season (W5 D4).
  • Antonio Conte's men have conceded just two goals on their road travels this term.
  • The Bianconeri have scored in eight of their first nine games to start the 2011-12 campaign.

Prediction
The San Paolo cauldron will be simmering on Sunday but Juventus will do just enough to escape with a point and keep their unbeaten record intact.
Editor's Prediction
Napoli 2-2 Juventus

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06.11. (Sun) 20:00 Athletic Bilbao - Barcelona

Liga BBVA: Granada-Barcelona
Getty


PROBABLE LINEUPS

ATHLETIC BILBAO


IraizozIraola, Martinez, Dominguez, Aurtenetxe
Iturraspe, De Marcos, Ander
Susaeta, Llorente, Muniain

BARCELONA

Valdes
Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal
Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta
Messi, Fabregas, Villa

David Lopez is doubtful for Athletic after spraining a ligament in his right ankle. Borja Ekiz recently recovered from from a similar sprain in his right ankle.


Oscar De Marcos has just returned from a shoulder injury and featured in his side's 1-0 away win over Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League on Thursday.
Pedro is still recovering from a knee injury and trained apart from his team-mates on Friday. Ibrahim Afellay is still a long-term absentee due to a knee cruciate ligament injury.
Alexis Sanchez returned from injury in the Champions League win over Viktoria Plzen and should be in the squad to face Athletic.
Pep Guardiola has the rest of his squad at his disposal for the trip to San Mames.


DID YOU KNOW?
  • The last time Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao met was in February, when goals from David Villa and Lionel Messi ensured a 2-1 victory for Pep Guardiola's side.
  • Athletic have had a mixed record at home so far in La Liga, with 2 wins, 2 draws, and a loss.
  • Athletic have scored just under half the amount of goals that Barca have notched up in the league so far, with 15 goals to 32.
  • In Barcelona's midweek 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen, Victor Valdes set the record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal for his side. He has gone 787 minutes and counting without letting anything past him.
  • Lionel Messi has scored six goals in his last 180 minutes of football.
  • Messi scored a hat-trick in his last match for Barcelona, taking his goal tally for the Catalan side beyond the double-century barrier to 202 in 286 appearances.

Prediction
The last three encounters between Athletic and Barcelona have been very close games. The Catalan side won the last instalment 2-1 but two tight draws preceded that match and expect it to be much the same this time around. The San Mames crowd will be fully behind their team as the champions come to visit, but with Lionel Messi particularly in the form he is in, Barca may just get the win. However, with the attacking quality of Llorente and Muniain in attack, Athletic certainly have the quality to score against Barcelona.
Editor's Prediction
Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Barcelona

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06.11. (Sun) 17:30 Augsburg - Bayern Munchen

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

AUGSBURG


Amsif
Verhaegh, Sankoh, Langkamp, Hosogai
Brinkmann, Sinkala, Davids, Gogia
Baier
Molders

  BAYERN MUNICH

 

Neuer
Rafinha, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Lahm
Luiz Gustavo, Tymoshchuk
Muller, Kroos, Ribery
Gomez


Augsburg have been dealt a huge blow as first-choice goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch has been ruled out with a broken finger and will join Gelios Ioannis, Marcel de Jong, Uwe Mohrle, Dawda Bah, Marcel Ndjeng, Moritz Nebel and Stephan Hain on the sidelines.

Ex-Kaiserslautern man Axel Bellinghausen complained of pain in his knee on Thursday, and has been ruled out for an indefinite amount of time. Torsten Oehrl is suspended for this game after he picked up a red card last weekend in the game against Koln.

Bayern Munich will be forced to shuffle their formation after Bastian Schweinsteiger broke his collarbone in the game against Napoli on Tuesday, and will be out until January.
His replacement in midfield is still unknown, but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is the prime candidate to start in the game against Augsburg.

Jupp Heynckes has admitted that he is unlikely to make major changes, but it is possible that Toni Kroos may deep to partner Luiz Gustavo. The definite absentees for the game on Sunday are Arjen Robben and Breno, who are still recuperating. Jerome Boateng is serving a suspension after his red card against Hannover, and will have to watch from the stands.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • Augsburg face Bayern Munich for the first time in the Bundesliga.
  • The newcomers' coach Jos Luhukay was Jupp Heynckes' assistant at Borussia Monchengladbach in January 2007.
  • Only three of Augsburg's players have ever won against the Bavarians - Simon Jentzsch, Uwe Mohrle and Dominik Reinhardt.
  • Bayern Munich have failed to win in their last three away games.
  • Mario Gomez already has 12 goals after only 11 games in the Bundesliga. This achievement has been matched only once in the last 27 years.
  • For every goal they have conceded, Bayern Munich have scored 10, and already boast an impressive goal difference of +27.
Prediction
Jos Luhukay's side are facing one of the most in-form teams in the world, and will find it really hard to get a good result on Sunday. Even with Bastian Schweinsteiger missing, Bayern Munich can expect a positive outcome.
Editor's Prediction
FC Augsburg 0-4 Bayern Munich

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06.11. (Sun) 15:00 Milan - Catania

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Aleksandr Gutor, FC BATE Borisov, Milan
Getty

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

AC MILAN

Abbiati
Abate, Bonera, Silva, Antonini
Aquilani, Van Bommel, Ambrosini
Seedorf
Robinho, Ibrahimovic
CATANIA

Andujar
Potenza, Bellusci, Spolli, L'aglie, Marchese
Almiron, Lodi, Delvecchio
Bergessio, Gomez

Massimiliano Allegri will be pleased to see Luca Antonini successfully recover from his ankle injury, and he is expected to be given the nod ahead of Taye Taiwo at left-back. However, Alessandro Nesta has picked up a knock and is likely to require two weeks to make a comeback. The defensive lynchpin follows Alexandre Pato and Philippe Mexes to the treatment table, as they all strive for a return in the next fortnight.

Antonio Cassano, Gennaro Gattuso and Mathieu Flamini are long-term absentees for the Rossoneri, with the Italy forward being lined up for a June return, according to reports in Italy. Flamini is expected to be back in contention in around three months' time, while Gattuso's eye injury continues to cause uncertainty.

Kevin-Prince Boateng and Antonio Nocerino are banned for the encounter, so Massimo Ambrosini and Clarence Seedorf should come in for the duo in midfield, while Daniele Bonera is likely to replace Nesta in the backline.

Meanwhile for Catania, they have far fewer absences to contend with, as David Suazo, Pablo Alvarez and Cristian Llama all should be back by matchday 12. Mariano Izco, however, needs a late test to prove his fitness.

However, coach Montella is likely to switch to a 5-3-2 formation for the match, with Alessandro Potenza and Gennaro Delvecchio set to replace midfielders Izco and Adrian Ricchiuti.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • AC Milan earned their fourth consecutive Serie A win against Roma last week.
  • The champions have also remained unbeaten at San Siro this year in the league.
  • Milan boast this season's most prolific attack in Serie A, with 19 goals scored thus far.
  • Catania's last win against the Rossoneri came back in the 1962-1963 campaign, with Milan unbeaten in their last 20 meetings.
  • However, three of the last four meetings between these two sides at San Siro ended in draws.
  • Catania are unbeaten in their last six matches, their longest unbeaten run since 1962-63.

Prediction
Catania should offer Milan a considerable workout, but the winning mentality and inevitable quality of the champions should see them prevail. However, the fluidity of the Sardinians' attack combined with the absence of Nesta in defence for the hosts promises for a potentially mouthwatering game at San Siro.
Editor's Prediction
AC Milan 2-0 Catania

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06.11. (Sun) 12:00 Real - Osasuna

Cristiano Ronaldo (OL v Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (OL v Real Madrid)

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

REAL MADRID


Casillas
Diarra, Ramos, Pepe, Arbeloa
Xabi Alonso, Khedira
Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo
Higuain

  OSASUNA

 
Fernandez
Raitala, Lolo, Sergio, Bertran
Damia, Raul Garcia, Nekounam, Punal
Nino
Balde


Real Madrid will be without Ricardo Carvalho who is not fully match-fit while Fabio Coentrao is a major doubt after a picking up a muscular strain in the 2-0 win over Lyon midweek.

With fellow left-back Marcelo also ruled out, Alvaro Arbeloa is expected to return to the starting line-up after recovering from a niggle, although Kaka is likely to sit out, with Mesut Ozil resuming his role in attacking midfield.

Lassana Diarra could continue at right-back due to Madrid's defensive problems, while Gonzalo Higuain is favourite to be handed the lone striker role after missing the club's Champions League victory on Wednesday.

Jose Luis Mendilibar will be looking to make minimum changes from the side who beat La Liga's former leaders Levante last weekend. However, the coach will be forced into replacing the suspended Alvaro Cejudo, with Damia a candidate to take his place in midfield.


DID YOU KNOW?
  • Real Madrid have lost only two of their 33 La Liga games against Osasuna, winning 26 of these encounters and drawing five.
  • Jose Mourinho's men have won all of their games at home this season, whilst averaging 4.25 goals per match in the Spanish top flight.
  • Mesut Ozil is yet to complete a full 90 minutes for Madrid in La Liga this season.
  • Osasuna suffered their biggest ever defeat in the league against Real Madrid in 1958-59, losing 8-0, the same scoreline by which they lost to Barcelona earlier on this season.
  • Jose Luis Mendilibar's men were the last team to avoid defeat against Madrid after going behind in the league (winning 2-1 in May 2009). The Spanish giants have won 68 games since then.
  • Osasuna have scored the most headed goals in La Liga this season (five), level with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.

Prediction
Despite Osasuna's recent good form, it is hard to imagine anything other than a home victory for Jose Mourinho's men who are in search of a seventh straight win in La Liga. Madrid have a few injury problems, but there should be more than enough quality on the pitch to get the job done in Sunday's early kick-off.
Editor's Prediction
Real Madrid 4-0 Osasuna