04.01. (Wed) 22:00 Barcelona - Osasuna

Alexis Sanchez y Lionel Messi - Barcelona

PROBABLE LINEUPS

BARCELONA Pinto Alves, Mascherano, Pique, Maxwell Xavi, Busquets, IniestaFabregas, Messi, Alexis

OSASUNA Fernandez Bertran, Flano, Sergio, Raitala Cejudo, Punal, Nekounam Lamah, Ibrahima, Masoud

Barcelona start 2012 with a home match in the Copa del Rey against Osasuna and Pep Guardiola may be set to field a strong line-up to get the year off to a good start.

The first training session of the year for the Catalan club took place on Tuesday and a number of players look to have shook off niggling injuries over the festive period.

Andres Iniesta is fit again for Barcelona after recovering from an injury he suffered against Hospitalet in the previous Copa del Rey match. Carles Puyol missed training on January 1 with an abductor injury but should return to training within a few days. Eric Abidal worked out in the gym as he attempts to shake off a flu bug.

Lionel Messi and Dani Alves returned to training on Tuesday after spending Christmas in South America.

However, Guardiola's men are still without David Villa and Ibrahim Afellay, who are absent with long-term injuries.

Jose Luis Mendilibar is sweating over the fitness of a few key Osasuna players going into the match. Brazilian defender Roversio withdrew from training on Tuesday after suffering some discomfort in his right calf muscle. Ion Echaide, Kike Sola, Raul Garcia and Ruben all trained individually and did not complete the full session.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The last time Barcelona played Osasuna, Pep Guardiola's side won the match 8-0 and Lionel Messi grabbed a hat-trick to help the Catalan Club to an astonishing victory.

• Barcelona's first match of 2011 last year saw them defeat Levante 2-1 at Camp Nou, with Pedro bagging a brace to see his side to victory.

• This will be Barcelona's fourth cup match in a row. In their previous match, they defeated Hospitalet 9-0 at Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey. The other two matches saw Barca defeat Al-Sadd and Santos on their way to claiming the Club World Cup title.

• Osasuna defeated Almeria over two legs in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey to make it to this point. A 3-1 away victory and a 1-1 draw at Reyno de Navarra sealed progression.

• Osasuna's first match of 2011 last year saw them lose 1-0 against Sevilla with Freddy Kanoute grabbing the only goal of the match.

Prediction

The last match between the sides ended in a massive 8-0 victory for Barcelona but a number of factors would suggest that such a scoreline may not happen this time. Osasuna have improved a lot since then and find themselves healthily placed fifth in La Liga. Both teams may be slightly rusty after the Christmas break but expect Barcelona to cruise to victory again and bag a few goals in the process. Osasuna must aim not to have a repeat of the shambolic performance in the previous meeting but Barca have enough in their locker for a comfortable victory, but not a win of the magnitude of the match from earlier in the season between the clubs.

Editor's Prediction

Barcelona 4-0 Osasuna

Read More

04.01. (Wed) 21:00 Newcastle - Man Utd.

PROBABLE LINEUPS

NEWCASTLE UNITED Krul Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson, Santon R Taylor, Cabaye, Tiote, Jonas Best, Ba

MANCHESTER UNITED De Gea Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Evra Valencia, Carrick, Park, Nani Rooney Welbeck

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew’s ever depleting squad was hit with another blow on Friday night when right winger Gabriel Obertan was forced off with a reoccurrence of a toe injury during the 3-1 defeat at Liverpool. This opens the door for a variety of different possibilities and formations as regular left-back Ryan Taylor could now take Obertan’s place on the right wing, with Davide Santon coming in to fill the gap in defence. Another option is the return of exciting youngster Shane Ferguson to that right-wing role. Pardew could throw us another curveball, something he isn’t afraid to do after such decisions to play Shola Ameobi on the right, and could reinstate Peter Lovenkrands and put him on the right.
It was a very unhappy birthday for Sir Alex Ferguson on Saturday as he saw his side collapse to a 3-2 defeat to bottom club Blackburn. Strange tactical decisions, such as putting Rafael in centre midfield, and another goalkeeping error from David de Gea did not help matters, but Sir Alex must have thought his selection were good enough to beat Steve Kean’s men.
Wayne Rooney is expected to return after he, Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson were reportedly fined and subsequently dropped from the squad for Saturday’s game after poor training performances following a Boxing Day night out.
Chris Smalling, to quote Sir Alex, “should” be ready for kick-off after overcoming tonsillitis. De Gea should keep his place between the posts despite being at fault for Blackburn’s third goal last time out.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Newcastle have only lost once when Chieck Tiote and Yohan Cabaye have started a game, and that was last Friday’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.

• Demba Ba (pictured right) scored 21 goals in just 26 Premier League starts in 2011.

• Newcastle have won just two of their last 13 home games against Manchester United.

• Newcastle are yet to win in front of their home fans since the stadium was renamed to the Sports Direct Arena, losing two of three games.

• Manchester United haven’t lost their opening game of a calendar year since 1996.

• Manchester United are the only team to score in every game so far this season.

• Wayne Rooney has scored six goals in his last six appearances away to Newcastle.

• The visitors are unbeaten in their last 18 Premier League games against Newcastle, winning 13 of them.

Prediction

Last time these two met, Newcastle managed a fortuitous 1-1 at Old Trafford, with the hosts managing 29 shots to their opponents’ eight. The home side have suffered a slump of late winning just one, and losing four, of their last six games and I cannot see them turning that record around on Wednesday.
The champions suffered arguably the shock of the season on Saturday, losing to bottom club Blackburn at home, but, as is always with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, they right a wrong immediately and will be looking to get back into gear ahead of their FA Cup tie against rivals Manchester City.

Editor's Prediction

Newcastle United 1-3 Man Utd.

Read More