23.-24. 04. 2011. Bets of the week

23.04. (Sat) 18:30 Chelsea - West Ham UnitedWest Ham will have to get their act together quickly if they want to stay in the Premier League. Games are running out and they seem to have lost some belief and heart in their fight to escape the drop. They play Chelsea at the weekend and I am expecting an entertaining London derby.

Chelsea will feel they have a faint hope of fighting for the title and will show West Ham no mercy. The Blues will almost certainly score so the evens on both teams to get on the mark relies on the Hammers finding their shooting boots. With Cole, Ba and Keane as striking options and each they produce something out of the ordinary and should score at least once.

Match Odds: Chelsea 1.25, Draw 6.0, West Ham 11.0
Tip: Both teams to score @ 2.0

24.04. (Sun) 13:30 Rangers - Celtic
The early kick-off in the Scottish Premier League is an Old Firm affair as Celtic travel to Ibrox. Just four points separate the Bhoys from the Gers with both sides looking for an advantage in the chase for the title.

Rangers go into the derby in good form and an attacking mood, having won their last five games on the bounce, scoring four against Dundee United last time out. Celtic are in an identical spell; winning their last five games and also scoring four goals against Kilmarnock.

All of Rangers' last five home games and four out of Celtic's last six away games have all ended with at least three goals as both sides look to take charge in the run-in.

Match Odds: Rangers 2.25, Draw 3.20, Celtic 2.75
Tip: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.91

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23.04. (Sat) 22:00 Athletic Bilbao - Real Sociedad

DID YOU KNOW?

* Athletic Bilbao have scored the highest number of headed goals (17) in La Liga this season thanks to their towering striker Fernando Llorente.

* Los Leones have negotiated all of their "toughest" fixtures and none of their remaining matches is with a club currently in top seven in the table.

* Caparros’ side have lost two straight games at home; their poorest phase of the campaign at home.

* Out of the last nine league goals from Athletic, only one has come in the first half.

* The match is a good bet to come alive in the last 20 minutes as both the sides have scored around 35% of their goals each in this time.

* Real Sociedad finally broke their string of bad results last matchday when they ended a run of four straight defeats.

* The “Txurri Urdin’s” last win at San Mames came in the about a decade ago. During this period they have collected just one point out of possible 18.

* A heartening statistic for their rivals would be that "La Real" have conceded 17 goals in last 15 minutes: a tendency that may complement Athletic's late scoring nature.

* Lasarte's men have won just one game in last two months and they are just 5 points away from the drop zone.

LAST MEETING

December 5, 2010: Real Sociedad 2-0 Athletic Bilbao

The last time both the sides met, one player decided the outcome of the match: Mikel San Jose; though not quite in the way he would have liked. It was his handball that led to a penalty from which Sociedad midfielder Xabi Prieto had scored.

He also very nearly gave away a penalty before scoring an own goal to extinguish any hopes of a comeback from Bilbao. Overall it was a memorable night for Sociedad and a frustrating one for Athletic who failed to score despite having good chances of their own.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Athletic Bilbao: Iraizoz; Iraola, San Jose, Ekiza, Castillo; Lopez, Martinez, Orbaiz, Gabilondo; Llorente, Toquero

Real Sociedad: Bravo;Martínez, Estrada, González, Ansotegi; Xabi Prieto, Rivas, Aranburu, Zurutuza, Griezmann; Tamudo

Prediction

This is a Basque derby match and thus a certain fieriness can be expected. With the stakes extremely high for both the sides, no one will want to settle for a draw. However, even though Sociedad won the last game it had a certain tinge of fortune to it. 

The simmering cauldron of San Mames, Llorente's physicality and previous history of success against "La Real" should ensure a Bilbao victory.

Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Real Sociedad

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23.04. (Sat) 21:00 Juventus - Catania

DID YOU KNOW?

* Juventus have lost only one of their previous 14 league encounters against Catania.

* The Turin outfit have conceded 25 goals at home this season.

* Alessandro Matri has four goals in his last five games.

* Juve are riding a five-game unbeaten streak.

* Catania's last road win was in February 2010.

* Catania have conceded eight goals in their last five games away from home.

* Maxi Lopez leads the team in scoring with seven goals.

* The Sicilians are coming off a 4-1 thrashing at home to Lazio.

LAST MEETING

December 5, 2010: Catania 1-3 Juventus

Simone Pepe and Fabio Quagliarella led Juventus past Catania in an intense affair at the Angelo Massimino. Pepe opening the scoring before the hosts hit back through Takayuki Morimoto but Quagliarella's brace condemned Catania to defeat.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Juventus: Buffon; Motta, Bonucci, Chiellini, Grosso; Krasic, Felipe Melo, Aquilani, Marchisio; Del Piero, Matri

Catania: Andujar; Alvarez, Silvestre, Spolli, Capuano; Carboni, Ledesma; Izco, Ricchiuti, Gomez; Maxi Lopez

Prediction

Catania have yet to pick up a victory on the road in Serie A and their streak will continue this weekend in Turin as Juve will cruise to a comfortable win in Turin.

Juventus 2-0 Catania

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23.04. (Sat) 20:00 Barcelona - Osasuna

DID YOU KNOW?

* Barcelona’s hopes of a second treble in three years were sunk as they lost the final of the Copa Del Rey in extra-time to their bitter rivals Real Madrid in midweek.

* David Villa is having a barren spell in front of goal with his drought stretching to 11 club games following the cup loss.

* However, Pep Guardiola’s men have a mammoth eight point lead in La Liga and they have a superior head-to-head record against Madrid.

* If the Blaugrana win this game, this will be their 14th consecutive win at home; they have not won 14 in a row since 1993.

* Defender Adriano has picked up a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out for four weeks. He joins Bojan Krkic and Eric Abidal on the sidelines.

* Osasuna's record of eight points away from home this season is the second-worst record in La Liga.

* Jose Luis Mendilibar's men have lost their last three matches in a row, against Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

* Los Rojillos received a big boost when Kike Sola recovered from his stomach problems. He has scored in four of Osasuna’s last five league matches.

* Osasuna are very good visitors for the Catalan side as they have picked up just 16 points out of possible 96 in La Liga.

* Aranda, Ruper and Masoud are out with injuries and Soriano, Punal and Sergio are suspended for this clash.

LAST MEETING

December 4, 2010: Osasuna 0-3 Barcelona

The last time these sides met, initially Osasuna had looked much more threatening than their illustrious visitors and had won two early corners. However, the Navarrans were soon on backfoot after a certain Lionel Messi took control of the proceedings. The Argentine set Pedro up for the opener and then later on scored a brace himself, one of which was a penalty.


PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Maxwell; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi, Villa

Osasuna: Ricardo; Nelson, Flano, Lolo, Monreal; Vadocz, Nekounam, Camunas, Cejudo; Kike Sola, Pandiani

Prediction

Barcelona's squad strength is stretched to its very limit following more injuries and an epic midweek cup final. However, the Blaugrana have seen off sterner challenges than Osasuna before and this situation is not entirely a new one for them. The Navarrans, on the other hand, are struggling with injuries and suspensions and historically they have not done well at Camp Nou. Expect Barcelona to pull through with a good fight from Osasuna.

Barcelona 2-0 Osasuna

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23.04. (Sat) 19:00 Brescia - Milan

DID YOU KNOW?

* Brescia have picked up only one win in their last nine matches.

* Brescia have only beaten Milan once in their last 17 Serie A encounters.

* Davide Zoboli will miss the match through suspension.

* Andrea Carraciolo leads the team in scoring with 10 goals.

* AC Milan are currently riding a three-game winning streak in Serie A.

* The San Siro outfit have scored a joint-high 59 goals this season.

* Milan have scored 10 goals in their last five league matches.

* Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suspended and will miss the encounter.

* The current league leaders have lost only once in Serie A in the calendar year

LAST MEETING

December 4, 2010: AC Milan 3-0 Brescia

Kevin-Prince Boateng opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Milan never looked back as Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic added first half goals to give the hosts a comfortable lead they were never in danger of relinquishing.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Brescia: Arcari; Zebina, Bega, Accardi; Zambelli, Filippini, Zanetti, Hetemaj, Berardi; Eder, Caracciolo

AC Milan: Amelia; Abate, Yepes, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta; Gattuso, Van Bommel, Seedorf; Boateng; Robinho, Cassano

Prediction

Milan should cruise to a comfortable victory even without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Pato in the line-up. The league leaders have enough firepower to brush the minnows aside and continue their title march.

Brescia 0-2 AC Milan

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