08.04. (Sun) 21:30 Real - Valencia

Adil Rami y Roberto Soldado - Valencia

PROBABLE LINEUPS

REAL MADRID Casillas Arbeloa, Pepe, Albiol, Marcelo Khedira, AlonsoDi Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo Benzema

VALENCIA Guaita Barragan, Rami, Ruiz, Mathieu Albelda, T CostaFeghouli, Jonas, Alba Soldado

Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has shaken off a virus and will be available to face Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Jose Mourinho looks set to welcome back several of his stars who were rested for the midweek Champions League win over APOEL, with Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil and Karim Benzema all in line for starting berths.

Sergio Ramos is suspended, so Raul Albiol may get the nod in central defence alongside Pepe, who returns after completing his two-game domestic ban.

Valencia duo Sergio Canales and Miguel have recovered from their knee and hamstring injuries, respectively, and the latter has a chance of making the bench.

Captain David Albelda and defender Victor Ruiz are likely to be restored to the starting XI after being omitted from the squad for Thursday's Europa League victory over AZ.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Real Madrid have won their last five Liga encounters against Valencia.

• The capital club have scored 100 goals in their 30 league matches so far and, with eight games still to play, are well on course to beat their own record for most goals during a single La Liga season (107 in 1989-90).

• Karim Benzema (pictured right) has struck 15 goals in 19 games in 2012; Gonzalo Higuain has netted seven in his last nine outings.

• Valencia ended a four-game winless run in all competitions with a 4-0 thumping of Dutch side AZ on Thursday.

• Los Che face La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals of the Europa League on April 19 and 26.

• Valencia's last victory at the Bernabeu was a 3-2 success in March 2008.

Prediction

Valencia's emphatic midweek victory over AZ gives them a much-needed boost after a string of disappointing results in recent weeks. Nevertheless, their domestic woes look set to continue on Sunday night against the league leaders, who look to have restored order after a brief wobble to continue their relentless march to the Liga title.

Editor's Prediction

Real Madrid 3-1 Valencia

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08.04. (Sun) 21:00 Paris Saint Germain - Olympique Marseille

Panoramic

PROBABLE LINEUPS

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN Sirigu Jallet, Bisevac, Sakho, Maxwell Sissoko, Matuidi Gameiro, Pastore, NeneHoarau

OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE Mandanda Azpilicueta, Fanni, N'Koulou, Morel Diarra, Mbia  Amalfitano, Valbuena, Ayew Remy

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti has various injury worries to mull over ahead of his first major test as trainer of the nouveau-riche capital club - the visit of bitter rivals Marseille where victory could see them top the Ligue 1 table should leaders Montpellier suffer defeat.
Clement Chantome is out with a hip injury, with Diego Lugano, Alex and Thiago Motta all rated as doubtful for Sunday's match for various reasons. In their absence will be Milan Bisevac, who deputised for Alex in last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Nancy, as well as Blaise Matuidi, who continues his run in the first team.
Jeremy Menez is also rated 50-50 to participate in the crunch clash, with Ancelotti forced to either revert to a 4-3-1-2 with Christophe Jallet moving to the right-hand side of midfield and Ceara slotting in at right-back. Moreover, Kevin Gameiro could fill in Menez's role, supporting Guillaume Hoarau up front.
Nene's public outburst in being dropped last weekend amid discontent in the dressing room has seen him offer an apology, and he should feature, with Mamadou Sakho and Maxwell returning to the side as PSG seek a first league win in four games.
Olympique de Marseille, meanwhile, have problems of their own. Confidence is down at the Provence club after a record 10 games without a win, with reports surfacing of a rift concerning certain players' workrate, which has seen the 2010 champions plummet to ninth place.
Souleymane Diawara is out for the season following knee surgery, with Rod Fanni set to move into central defence as cover. Alou Diarra was suspended for Wednesday's 2-0 Champions League quarter-final defeat to Bayern Munich and returns to the starting XI. Loic Remy was taken off shortly after half-time at the Allianz Arena, but is thought to have overcome his hamstring problem.
Sunday's Clasico will have a bearing on where the Ligue 1 title ends up in May, with L'OM hosting leaders Montpellier in another crunch game on Wednesday.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Paris Saint-Germain sit 2nd in Ligue 1 after collecting 60 points from 30 games.

• Les Parisiens had ironically been held to a 1-1 draw with Bordeaux and lost to Nancy in the matches preceding the first Clasico. The same results have occurred this time.

• Carlo Ancelotti has won only 45% of his Ligue 1 games since taking over, a stark contrast to Antoine Koumbouare's 63% before being sacked.

• PSG have not kept a clean sheet against Marseille in the league since 2006.

• Olympique de Marseille's woeful run of form continues, although they arrested their losing sequence with a 1-1 draw against Nice two weeks ago.

• Didier Deschamps' men sit ninth in Ligue 1 with 40 points, having also suffered Champions League elimination in midweek.

• Marseille thrashed their arch-rivals 3-0 in the reverse fixture at Stade Velodrome earlier this season.

• OM have only lost one of their last six fixtures against the capital club.

• Loic Remy has four goals in his last seven games against PSG, he also scored in the 3-0 win in week 15.

Prediction

Arguably the two biggest clubs in France, both PSG and Marseille are facing times of crisis with rifts and poor performance derailing the sides' season objectives. Marseille are obviously on the worser form, and with a big week ahead of them, something has got to give. History tells us that when a wounded OM side head into the Clasico, they turn out winners. Sunday may just continue that trend.

Editor's Prediction

PSG 1-2 Marseille

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08.04. (Sun) 18:00 PSV - Heracles

YV

PROBABLE LINEUPS

PSV Tyton Hutchinson, Marcelo, Derijck, Pieters Labyad, Strootman Wijnaldum, Toivonen, Mertens Matavz

HERACLES Pasveer Breukers, Rienstra, V/d Linden, Looms Quansah, Overtoom, Duarte Douglas, Armenteros, Everton

PSV coach Phillip Cocu doesn't have any noteworthy injury problems ahead of Sunday's game as defender Abel Tamata is the only absentee.

Cocu is likely to give Atiba Hutchinson the nod ahead of Stanislav Manolev at right-back, while Jeremain Lens will probably have to settle for a spot on the bench as well.

Heracles trainer Peter Bosz meanwhile has his full squad available as well for Sunday's match, meaning that attacking midfielder Marko Vejinovic could miss out on a starting berth.

DID YOU KNOW?

• PSV have kept only one clean sheet in their last 20 official games.

• The Eindhoven side have made it to the final of the Dutch cup on 15 occasions so far, winning the trophy eight times.

• With four goals in four appearances, Tim Matavz is PSV's leading goal scorer in the KNVB Beker this term.

• It's the first time ever that Heracles have reached the final of the KNVB Beker.

• The Almelo side have kept a clean sheet in four out of their five cup games in 2011-12.
  
• Heracles coach Peter Bosz has won the Dutch cup three times during his career.

Prediction

The Eindhoven side start the match as the sky-high favourites, and really should be able to bring home their first trophy since the 2008 Eredivisie title. They were held to a 1-1 draw in their last match against Heracles, but dominated play throughout that game and deserved more. PSV's attacking potency should be too much for the Almelo club's vulnerable defence on Sunday, and even though Cocu's men are by no means impressive at the back either, a win for PSV seems to be on the cards.

Editor's Prediction

PSV 3-1 Heracles Almelo

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08.04. (Sun) 17:00 Arsenal vs Manchester City

PROBABLE LINEUPS

ARSENAL SzczesnySagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs Arteta, Song, RosickyWalcott, Van Persie, Gervinho

MANCHESTER CITY HartZabaleta, K Toure, Kompany, Kolarov Barry, Y Toure Nasri, Aguero, BalotelliDzeko

Sergio Aguero (ankle) believes that he will be fit enough to be at Roberto Mancini’s disposal on Sunday. Joleon Lescott (groin) has recovered from his spell on the sidelines but it would be surprising to see him thrust back into the Manchester City mix for such an important clash.
Micah Richards (head) was forced off at half-time in City's 3-3 draw with Sunderland last weekend and he could be replaced by Pablo Zabaleta at right-back. Samir Nasri (fatigue) is a likely candidate for a starting role against his former club having missed the last match.
Arsenal have a mostly-full-strength squad to choose from ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash, with their injury list gradually shortening as the climax to the campaign approaches. Jack Wilshere (ankle) remains sidelined, as do fellow midfielders Emmanuel Frimpong (knee), Abou Diaby (hamstring) and Francis Coquelin (hamstring). Defender Per Mertesacker (ankle) will also not feature at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Arsenal won six successive games before their 2-1 defeat to QPR last weekend, including victories over Tottenham, Liverpool and AC Milan.

• Manchester City have been poor away from home for a few months now - only five of their last 36 Premier League goals came away from the Etihad Stadium.

• Both matches between these Champions League-chasing teams this campaign have ended 1-0 to Roberto Mancini’s men.

• The Blues have lost all four matches this season when Mario Balotelli (pictured right) and Edin Dzeko have featured in the same starting line-up.

• Although City beat the Gunners in the League Cup at the Emirates Stadium in November, the last time that the club conquered them in the league at Arsenal was October 4 1975.

• Balotelli has scored a goal every 94 minutes this season, the best rate in the Premier League for all players who have played at least 1000 minutes. 

• Theo Walcott gets some stick from Arsenal fans, but the winger has scored or assisted 15 goals in the top flight since the 2011-12 campaign began. Wayne Rooney is the only Englishman with a better record.

• If Manchester City win this weekend then they will close the gap on top-of-the-table Manchester United. The gap in points will depend on the result in Manchester United’s match with QPR, which takes place before the Arsenal-City clash. The current gap is five points.

• Aleksandar Kolarov made 16 crosses in open play last weekend - on only one occasion has a player made more in an English top flight fixture this campaign (Wolves winger Matt Jarvis produced 17 versus Newcastle last October).

Prediction

Both teams head into this match on a bum note, and to get their fans in good song once more a win is required. Failure by Arsenal could mean Tottenham get the upper hand in the third place battle, while failure for Manchester City could effectively end their title challenge with six games still remaining. A pivotal match then and one I can see Roberto Mancini’s men stealing.

Editor's Prediction

Arsenal 1-2 Manchester City

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08.04. (Sun) 15:30 Schalke 04 - Hannover 96

Getty Images

PROBABLE LINEUPS

SCHALKE Unnerstall Uchida, Howedes, Papadopoulos, Fuchs Hoger, Holtby Farfan, Raul, Draxler Huntelaar

HANNOVER Zieler Cherundolo, Eggimann, Pogatetz, Pander Sclaudraff, Pinto, Schmiedebach, Rausch Ya Konan, Diouf

The big news for Schalke is that captain Benedikt Howedes looks set to return to action after a hamstring layoff. And with centre-back regular Joel Matip out through suspension, the skipper looks good to slot into central defence in the 20-year-old's absence.

Jermaine Jones also misses out through picking up too many yellows – another major defensive loss for the hosts – meaning Huub Stevens will look to Marco Hoger or Christoph Moritz to partner Lewis Holtby in defensive midfield. Hoger is the more likely choice to start.

Long-term absentee Ralf Fahrmann remains sidelined with a cruciate ligament tear, while fellow custodian Timo Hildebrand is currently suffering from an elbow injury.

In the opposing dugout, Mirko Slomka's only selection problem is the absence of Lars Stindl, who is struggling with a groin problem. It's likely that Jan Schlaudraff will continue to deputise on the right side of midfield.

DID YOU KNOW?

• In their last three Bundesliga matches played at home - all of which resulted in victory for the hosts - Schalke have scored nine goals and conceded only one.

• Hannover have lost all three of their most recent domestic league matches away from home, conceding eight times and scoring only twice.

• Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is currently tied with Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez for most goals scored in the German top flight this season with 23.

• Of the players likely to feature in this clash on Sunday, Spanish icon Raul is next on the list of top scorers with 12, followed by Hannover striker Mohammed Abdellaoue, who has 11.

• Statistically speaking, Kyriakos Papadopoulos will be the most indisciplined player on the pitch at the Veltins-Arena, with the Greek centre-back having amassed a haul of eight yellow cards and one red so far this season.

Prediction
Editor's Prediction
Schalke 04 1-1 Hannover 96

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08.04. (Sun) 14:30 Manchester United - QPR

PROBABLE LINEUPS

MANCHESTER UNITED De GeaSmalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra Valencia, Jones, Carrick, Nani Rooney, Welbeck

QPR KennyYoung, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Taiwo Mackie, Barton, Derry, Diakite TaarabtZamora

Sir Alex Ferguson has no fresh injury worries ahead of Sunday's clash and will be boosted by the return of Nani, who has missed the last five games with an ankle injury.

The United boss is likely to make some changes as the team embark on a week containing three games. However, he is likely to keep in-form Antonio Valencia in the starting line-up, which could see Ashley Young dropped to accommodate the Portuguese.

Michael Owen (thigh) has not recovered in time to play a part in the game at Old Trafford and therefore Sir Alex's main choice up front is again whether to pair Wayne Rooney with Danny Welbeck or Javier Hernandez.

Other changes could see Chris Smalling come in for Rafael and Paul Scholes drop to the bench for Phil Jones.

QPR boss Mark Hughes is without the suspended Djibril Cisse, who misses his second match from a four-game ban, while Armand Traore and Fitz Hall are still absent.

However, both DJ Campbell and Heidar Helguson return to the squad after prolonged spells on the sidelines.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Manchester United can go eight points clear of rivals Manchester City, at least for a couple of hours, with a win on Sunday.

• The Red Devils have managed 10 wins in their last 11 league games, recording seven in a row and drawing the other. 

• Sir Alex's men have defeated QPR nine times in their last 12 meetings across all competitions, losing none of those fixtures.

• United have lost just two of their last 36 games at Old Trafford, winning on 32 occasions.

• The Premier League leaders have only conceded once in their last five home league matches.

• Antonio Valencia (pictured) has contributed 12 assists and four goals in his 16 league starts so far.

• QPR have lost 15 out of 19 league games at Old Trafford, winning only once.

• Hughes' men have managed pick up just two points from their last nine away fixtures in the league.

• However, they will be buoyed by having ended Arsenal's impressive winning streak with a 2-1 victory over the Gunners at Loftus Road in their most recent match.

• Anton Ferdinand, brother of United defender Rio, has scored own goals in his last two league visits to Old Trafford.

• Rangers have failed to keep a clean sheet in 12 games away from home.

Prediction

United head into Sunday's clash in championship-winning form and will see the game as a great chance to enhance the gap between themselves and Roberto Mancini's men, who face Arsenal later in the day.
Old Trafford has been a fortress for Sir Alex's men, and with QPR pretty dismal on the road it's hard to see anything but a home win. Despite the visitors already haviung beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal at Loftus Road this season the Red Devils will surely have too much for them on home turf this weekend.

Editor's Prediction

Man Utd. 3-0 QPR

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08.04. (Sun) 12:00 Levante - Atletico Madrid

Adrian Lopez - Atletico Madrid

PROBABLE LINEUPS

LEVANTE Munua Venta, Ballesteros, Cabral, Juanfran Torres, IborraValdo, Ghezzal, Barkero Kone

ATLETICO MADRID Courtois Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe Suarez, GabiSalvio, Diego, Turan Falcao

Levante will be without Asier del Horno for the visit of Atletico Madrid on Sunday after the defender injured his hamstring in training, ruling him out of action for up to three weeks.

Midfielder Pedro Botelho could also miss out, having sat out training on Friday due to tonsilitis.

Diego Simeone could choose to rest some of his players who were involved in the 2-1 Europa League victory at Hannover on Thursday.

Defenders Antonio Lopez and Silvio are still unavailable through injury, while midfielder Koke is suspended.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Fifth-placed Levante have won just four of their last 15 matches in La Liga.

• The Granotas have won just one of their last eight encounters against Atletico (D1, L6).

• Levante have triumphed in just two of their last seven Liga games at the Ciutat de Valencia.

• Atletico Madrid have won seven of their last nine matches in all competitions.

• However, Los Colchoneros are on a five-game winless streak away from home in La Liga (D3, L2).

• Radamel Falcao (pictured right) has struck eight goals in his last eight appearances for Atletico.

Prediction

Atletico will be buzzing after dispatching Hannover in the Europa League and setting up a semi-final date with Valencia. However, Simeone's side have struggled to pick up results away from home immediately after their midweek exploits in Europe, and they may suffer again here.

Editor's Prediction

Levante 1-1 Atl. Madrid

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