Tuesday, March 20, 2012

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21.03. (Wed) 20:45 Manchester City - Chelsea


PROBABLE LINEUPS

MANCHESTER CITY

Hart
Richards, Kolo Toure, Lescott, Clichy Yaya Toure, BarrySilva, Aguero, Nasri
Balotelli
CHELSEA

CechIvanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole
Lampard, Essien
Sturridge, Mata, Ramires
Drogba

Carlos Tevez could complete his surprise Premier League return on Wednesday from the substitutes' bench. The Argentine is unlikely to start though, given that he has only played in two games for the reserve team thus far.

Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta are unlikely to return in time for this fixture but the City defence could be boosted if Joleon Lescott becomes available after a groin strain. If not, Stefan Savic should continue alongside Kolo Toure.

Gareth Barry is also in contention for a place in the starting XI – he should be ready to play following a back injury – but faces competition for his spot in the form of Nigel de Jong and David Pizarro.

Roberto Di Matteo is likely to stick with the Chelsea side that beat Napoli 4-1 in the Champions League. Fernando Torres' two goals in the FA Cup will have put him in his manager's thoughts but Didier Drogba will probably get the nod here.

The Blues have no fresh fitness concerns and so remain injury and suspension free.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • Manchester City have not lost at home to Chelsea since September 2008, although they have suffered two consecutive defeats at Stamford Bridge.
  • City will be looking for their 15th home league win of the season on Wednesday, which would leave them four victories away from a perfect record at the Etihad Stadium.
  • Only one team, Tottenham, have scored more than one goal when visiting Manchester City in the Premier League this season, although Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon have done so in cup competitions.
  • Three players – Sergio Aguero (23, pictured right), Edin Dzeko (18) and Mario Balotelli (15) – have outscored Chelsea's top goal scorer, Frank Lampard, who has 13 goals in all competitions.
  • Carlos Tevez will be looking to add to an impressive City goal scoring record of his own. The 28-year-old scored 19 goals in 63 league games for Manchester United but improved dramatically on that figure upon joining City; he has scored 44 in 69 for them so far in the Premier League.
  • Chelsea have won all four of their matches since the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas, scoring 12 goals and conceding three.
  • Their current run is their first four match unbeaten run since they beat West Brom in their second fixture of the season to trigger a similar streak of victories.
  • Ominously, that four match winning run ended in Manchester – the Blues suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford.
  • Fernando Torres scored twice against Leicester City in the FA Cup on Sunday to end a run of 1566 minutes without a goal for Chelsea. His last strike came against Genk in the Champions League in October.
  • Torres hasn't scored in the Premier League since the end of September, when he followed up a goal against Swansea City with a red card.
Prediction
Roberto Di Matteo has put Chelsea in better spirits and they will put up a fight at the Etihad Stadium but Manchester City should have too much for them. There is a lot at stake and Roberto Mancini's team must keep cool under pressure but they should have enough attacking quality to just separate themselves from the Blues and preserve their perfect home record.
Editor's Prediction
Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea

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21.03. (Wed) 20:45 Napoli - Siena

Reginaldo-Aronica - Siena-Napoli - Coppa Italia (Getty Images)
Getty Images

PROBABLE LINEUPS

NAPOLI


De Sanctis
Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Aronica
Maggio, Gargano, Inler, Zuniga
Hamsik, Lavezzi
Cavani
SIENA


Pegolo
Vitiello, Terzi, Rossettini, Del Grosso
Giorgi, Vergassola, Gazzi, Brienza
Gonzalez, Bogdani
Napoli have just one definite absentee in Marco Donadel, who is still around a month away from making a comeback, but coach Walter Mazzarri is set to name a full-strength side for the visit of the Coppa Italia semi-finalists.
Salvatore Aronica, Christian Maggio, Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi all missed the 2-2 draw with Udinese at the weekend, but should start on Wednesday in place of Miguel Britos, Andrea Dossena, Blerim Dzemaili and Goran Pandev.
Meanwhile, Siena are set to name an unchanged XI from Sunday's 2-0 home defeat to Novara. Claudio Terzi's yellow card against Attilio Tesser's side means he has accumulated a one-match ban, but he will still be eligible for the cup contest.
DID YOU KNOW?
  • Napoli had won six on the bounce, but have not won their last two games, losing to Chelsea in the Champions League and drawing with Udinese in Serie at the weekend. 
  • Ironically, their last defeat before the recent winning spree came against Siena in the first-leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie.
  • Napoli have lost all six of their previous away matches in the cup, dating back to 2006.
  • Prior to Sunday's 2-0 loss to Novara, Siena had won three consecutive matches, including keeping two clean sheets.
  • The Bianconeri have the upper hand in 10 previous meetings with Napoli, winning four of them compared to their opponents' three.
  • Interestingly, neither side have not scored more than two goals against each other.
Prediction
Despite their 2-1 deficit, Napoli should find the two goals without reply to put them through to the final of the Coppa Italia at the expense of Siena, who will be weakened without the vision and playmaking talents of Gaetano D'Agostino and the goals of Emanuele Calaio in their XI.
Editor's Prediction
Napoli 2-0 Siena

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21.03. (Wed) 20:30 Borussia MG - Bayern Munchen

Bundesliga: Borussia Mönchengladbach - Bayern Munich, Martin Stranzl and Thomas Müller
Getty Images


PROBABLE LINEUPS


MONCHENGLADBACH


Ter Stegen
Jantschke, Dante, Brouwers, Daems
Wendt, Neustadter, Nordtveit, Arango
Reus
Hanke

BAYERN MUNICH

Neuer
Lahm, Boateng, Badstuber, Alaba
Gustavo, Kroos
Robben, Muller, Ribery
Gomez

The good news for Borussia Monchengladbach is that Tony Jantschke is back to take his place on the right side of defence after missing Satuday's win over Bayer Leverkusen through suspension.

Patrick Herrmann is set to be involved after recovering from a lengthy collar bone problem, but is likely to only take a place on the bench, with Oscar Wendt continuing to fill his berth on the right-hand side of midfield.

Meanwhile, despite scoring a late winner in the weekend's clash, Igor De Camargo is unlikely to start, with Lucien Favre likely to continue with his preferred striking pair of Marco Reus and Mike Hanke.

After encountering problems with who to play in defence all season, Jupp Heynckes' side have found some stability of late with David Alaba at left back, Philipp Lahm on the right-hand side of defence and Jerome Boateng partnering Holger Badstuber in the centre.

However, Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to miss the encounter with a minor ankle injury sustained in his recover from torn ligaments.

Daniel Van Buyten has a broken foot sustained the last time these two sides met, while Breno has a knee injury.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • Borussia Monchengladbach's 3-1 victory over Bayern in January completed the club's first ever league double over the Bavarians.
  • Lucien Favre's side are one of just two clubs, the other being Hannover, to have an unbeaten home record in the Bundesliga this season.
  • Since the Borussia Park club last reached the DFB-Pokal final in 1995, Bayern Munich have won the competition seven times, and were losing finalists on one other occasion.
  • Bayern Munich were victorious in the 1984 edition of this tournament, beating Borussia Monchengladbach in the final.
  • The Allianz Arena club's coach, Jupp Heynckes is a legendary figure around Borussia Park, having scored almost 200 Bundesliga goals across two spells with the club, more than any other player.
  • Bayern have scored 20 goals in their last three games, with Mario Gomez (pictured) and Arjen Robben bagging 15 of those.
Prediction
Bayern Munich's return to form has been well-documented, but Borussia Monchengladbach are a different proposition from Hoffenheim, Basel and Hertha Berlin. Lucien Favre's side are capable of hitting teams on the break with devastating effect, but have stuttered in recent weeks. Accordingly, I'd expect Bayern to win the game, but not by the convincing margin we've seen over the last few matches.
Editor's Prediction
Mönchengladbach 1-3 Bayern

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21.03. (Wed) 20:00 Valencia - Zaragoza

Unai Emery, Valencia
Unai Emery, Valencia

PROBABLE LINEUPS

VALENCIA

Diego Alves
Barragan, Rami, Victor Rui, Jordi Alba
Albelda, Tino Costa
Feghouli, Jonas, Piatti
Soldado/Aduriz
REAL ZARAGOZA

RobertoAlvarez, Mateos, Paredes, Obradovic
Apono, Dujmovic
Garcia, Oriol, Lafita
Aranda

Unai Emery still has several injury woes to deal with, as Sergio Canales and Ever Banega are out with serious injuries, but Hedwiges Maduro may feature in the coming games after missing several months with an ankle injury.

The team is boosted by the return of Tino Costa into the starting XI after the Argentine missed last Sunday's match against Athletic Bilbao due to suspension.

Emery may end up resting Roberto Soldado in this one in favour of Aritz Aduriz, looking to give the former Mallorca a bit more time.

In goal, the rotation of Diego Alves and Vicente Guaita could see either start, but Emery will likely go with the Brazilian after the Spaniard started last time out.

For the visitors, the team seems fairly healthy entering the match, but Paulo da Silva is not fully fit after picking up a small injury and may not play. Defender Maurizio Lazano did not play in the team's last game due to suspension and may see action in this game.

Helder Postiga, who took off his jersey after scoring a goal over the weekend and was awarded his fifth yellow card, is suspended for the match. In addition, fellow Portuguese player Ruben Micael will also miss the clash due to suspension.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • Valencia, coming off a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, sit in third place in La Liga with 47 points, six above Levante.
  • Los Che faced their opponents for Wednesday earlier this season, winning 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Jordi Alba.
  • Soldado entered the match against Marcelo Bielsa's men having only scored three goals away from home all season. The former Getafe star managed to double the number after bagging a hat-trick.
  • Zaragoza are in last place in the league with 19 points and are coming off a draw with Osasuna where they scored the game's opener with just under 10 minutes from time, only to leave with a point after conceding a goal in the dying minutes.
  • The last time the club beat Valencia was last season and in dominant fashion, winning 4-0.
  • Sitting in the relegation zone, the visitors are eight points away from safety.
Prediction
Riding high after thrashing Athletic Bilbao last weekend, Valencia should have no trouble doing the same to the league's last-ranked team at Mestalla.
Editor's Prediction
Valencia 3-1 Zaragoza

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21.03. (Wed) 20:00 Atletico Madrid - Athletic Bilbao

UEFA Europa League - Athletic Bilbao v FC Manchester United, Fernando Llorente
Getty Images

PROBABLE LINEUPS

ATLETICO MADRID

Courtois
Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe
Suarez, Gabi
Salvio, Adrian, Koke
Falcao
ATHLETIC BILBAO

Iraizoz
De Marcos, Amorebieta, Martinez, Aur'netxe
Perez, Iturraspe, Herrera
Susaeta, Llorente, Muniain

Atletico Madrid will be without injured trio Silvio, Diego and Tiago when they entertain Athletic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday.

Diego (thigh) and Tiago (hamstring) trained outside the group on Monday, but are not expected to be fit in time for the clash.

Fernando Llorente could return to the Athletic starting line-up, having missed Sunday's defeat against Valencia with a hip problem.

Fernando Amorebieta and Gaizka Toquero are back from suspension, but Andoni Iraola misses out after his dismissal against Valencia.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • Atletico Madrid's 2-1 loss at Real Mallorca on Sunday was only their second defeat since Diego Simeone took charge of the club in December.
  • Los Colchoneros have won just one of their last seven matches in La Liga - a 2-0 home success over Granada.
  • Atletico face German side Hannover in the quarter-finals of the Europa League on March 29 and April 5.
  • Athletic Bilbao have won just two of their last 10 away matches in La Liga.
  • However, the Basques have emerged victorious on three of their last four visits to the Vicente Calderon.
  • Fernando Llorente (pictured right) has netted eight times in his last nine league appearances for Athletic.
Prediction
The Athletic players looked visibly drained at the weekend and it will worry Bielsa, who does not have the biggest of squads to work with. Atleti were perhaps a little unfortunate to lose at Mallorca on Sunday, but they should make amends against the battle-weary Basques at the Vicente Calderon.
Editor's Prediction
Atl. Madrid 2-1 Bilbao