03.12. (Sat) 22:00 Valencia - Espanyol

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PROBABLE LINEUPS

VALENCIA Alves Barragan, Rami, Ruiz, Alba Albelda, T Costa Piatti, Parejo, Mathieu Aduriz

ESPANYOL Alvarez Galan, Rodriguez, Moreno, Didac Baena, RomaricWeiss, Verdu, Datolo Alvaro

Pablo Piatti, Dani Parejo and Aritz Aduriz could all feature for Unai Emery's side as Roberto Soldado, Jonas and Sofiane Feghouli may be rested for the decisive midweek encounter with the Chelsea. Valencia need a win or a score draw at Stamford Bridge to secure their place in the Champions League knockout stage. Antonio Barragan could make his Mestalla debut at right-back on Saturday with Miguel finding himself in more disciplinary hot water after reportedly arriving late for training earlier in the week. Ever Banega remains on the sidelines with a knee injury.
With strikers Sergio Garcia and Walter Pandiani still out injured, Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino is likely to retain on-loan Manchester City winger Vladimir Weiss in his starting line-up.
The Barcelona club will also be without the services of injured duo Javier Marquez and Javi Lopez for the trip to the Mestalla.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Valencia have won six of their last seven matches in all competitions.

• Roberto Soldado is the club's top scorer this season with 13 goals.

• Argentina and Valencia legend Mario Kempes will be honoured by the club in a ceremony before kick-off on Saturday.

• Espanyol are on a four-game winless streak in which they have picked up just two points out of a possible 12.

• The Barcelona-based club have won just once in their last five encounters with Valencia.

• The Catalans have scored more than once in just one league game this season - a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao back in September.

Prediction

Valencia are a team high in confidence, while the visitors have struggled for goals all season. Even if the home side rest their big guns, they should have enough to see off Espanyol at the Mestalla.

Editor's Prediction

Valencia 2-1 Espanyol

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03.12. (Sat) 20:45 Inter - Udinese

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PROBABLE LINE-UPS

INTER Julio CesarZanetti, Samuel, Ranocchia, Nagatomo  Cambiasso, Thiago Motta, StankovicAlvarez, Pazzini, Zarate

UDINESE Handanovic Benatia, Danilo, Domizzi Basta, Isla, Pinzi, Asamoah, Armero Floro Flores Di Natale

Inter are likely to be missing key duo Wesley Sneijder and Lucio, with both players nursing muscle strains, while Sulley Muntari and long-term absentee Emiliano Viviano will also sit this match out.

On the plus side for the Nerazzurri, defenders Maicon and Cristian Chivu could return to the squad along with summer signing Diego Forlan, and while none of the trio are expected to start, they could well feature from the bench.

Francesco Guidolin should have a full squad at his disposal for Saturday's encounter, with the only expected change from last week's victory over Roma being the re-introduction of Antonio Floro Flores to the starting line up at the expense of Almen Abdi.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Inter have scored only one less goal than Udinese this season yet are positioned 12 places below the Bianconeri in the table.

• Inter have lost more than twice the amount of goals Udinese have so far in Serie A.

• If Inter emerge victorious on Saturday, they will temporarily climb into the top half of the table for the first time this campaign.

• Udinese have the best defensive record in Serie A, with the Bianconeri conceding only six goals this season.

• If Udinese win on Saturday night they will have won more games in Serie A than any other side this season.

• The Bianconeri have won only one game away from home in 2011-12.

Prediction

Inter have started to find form in the past few weeks, recording succesive league victories for the first time this campaign, and with the Bianconeri's poor away form this season, a slender victory for the hosts could be on the cards on Saturday night.

Editor's Prediction

Inter 2-1 Udinese

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03.12. (Sat) 20:45 Napoli - Lecce

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

NAPOLI De Sanctis Fernandez, Aronica, Fideleff Maggio, Dzemaili, Inler, Dossena Santana, Pandev Lavezzi

LECCE Benassi Oddo, Ferrario, Tomovic, Esposito, Mesbah Strasser, Grossmuller, Obodo Pasquato, Muriel

Unsurprisingly, coach Walter Mazzarri has his eyes firmly set on Tuesday's crunch Champions League encounter against Villarreal, and therefore it is likely he will field a much-changed XI on Saturday. An estimated six alterations should take effect from the side that drew 3-3 with Juventus on Wednesday.
Key performers Paolo Cannavaro, Hugo Campagnaro, Juan Zuniga, Walter Gargano, Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani are all likely to be sacrificed in favour of Federico Fernandez, Ignacio Fideleff, Andrea Dossena, Blerim Dzemaili and Mario Santana. Ezequiel Lavezzi is also set to lead the line, with his fellow countryman Santana ready to take the reins alongside midweek hero Goran Pandev in the hole.
Meanwhile for the visitors, they too are lining up several alterations from the disappointing 1-0 loss to Catania last week. Out of the side go Davide Brivio, Juan Cuadrado, Andrea Bertolacci and the injured Ruben Olivera, with Stefano Ferrario, Djamel Mesbah, Carlos Grossmuller and Cristian Pasquato coming in. A tactical switch to a 5-3-2 formation is also expected.
However, there isn't such luck for Edward Ofere, Guillermo Giacomazzi, Moris Carrozzieri, Souleymane Diamoutene and David Di Michele, who all face further spells on the treatment table

DID YOU KNOW?

• Napoli have won just two of their last eight league meetings against Lecce.

• However, Walter Mazzarri's men have always registered a Serie A goal against Lecce on home soil.

• The hosts have drawn their last three matches, and are winless in their last four in the league.

• At the San Paolo, Napoli have lost just one of their last eight league games, but have won just three.

• Lecce have scored only nine Serie A goals so far this season; only Cesena, with six, have scored fewer.

• Eusebio Di Francesco's side also have the worst goal difference, with -10.

• Seven of Lecce's eight points have been collected away from home thus far.

Prediction

Napoli should prevail and finish the weekend with three more points to their name, but not without a fight as an experimental line-up is in the offing. However, with Lecce looking likely to take a defensive mindset to the San Paolo, the home side should have enough to edge the points.

Editor's Prediction

Napoli 1-0 Lecce

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03.12. (Sat) 20:00 Barcelona - Levante

barcelona-rayo vallecano (homenaje de tito vilanova)

PROBABLE LINEUPS

BARCELONA Valdes Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Abidal Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta Messi, Cesc, Villa

LEVANTE Munua Venta, Ballesteros, Lopez, Del Horno Valdo, Torres, Farinos, Juanlu Vicente Kone

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has a few injury problems going in to the match against Levante. Ibrahim Afellay is still sidelined and will be out for the foreseeable future after injuring his knee ligaments earlier in the season.

Brazilian full-back Adriano is also missing for the Catalan giants after pulling a hamstring in the midweek victory over Rayo Vallecano, and will also miss the Champions League match against BATE Borisov next week. Gerard Pique, meanwhile, picked up a yellow card in the match against Rayo, and so the Barca defender will be suspended.

Levante have a few injury issues of their own. On Thursday, defender Nano trained apart from his team-mates as he battles to recover from the ankle injury he suffered in the latter part of the victory over Sporting.

Manager Juan Ignacio Martinez is also sweating over the fitness of winger Juanlu, who exercised at a lower intensity on Thursday as he aims to shake off an injury to his right leg. However, it looks likely that he will make the grade against Barcelona. Jose Barkero misses the game as he serves a suspension.

DID YOU KNOW

• The last match between Barcelona and Levante ended in a 1-1 draw in La Liga at the end of last season.

• Barcelona have scored nearly double the amount of goals that Levante have notched up in the league this season, with 42 to 23.

• Barca have scored 34 goals at Camp Nou in the Spanish Primera Division this season, without reply.

• If Levante manage to win the match at Camp Nou, they will go just two points behind Barcelona in La Liga.

• Levante's top goalscorer this season is winger Juanlu, who has notched up six goals in 11 appearances.

• Prior to Levante's 4-0 win over Sporting last weekend, Juan Ignacio Martinez's side had lost three games on the bounce, which included losses against Valencia and Atletico Madrid.

Prediction

Levante have acquitted themselves superbly so far this season, with their veteran heads and workmanlike performances grinding out points. However, they come to Camp Nou with Barcelona having scored 34 goals at home in the league this season, and conceded none.  It is difficult to envisage any other outcome than a victory for Pep Guardiola's side.

Editor's Prediction

Barcelona 2-0 Levante

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03.12. (Sat) 18:30 Aston Villa - Manchester Utd

PROBABLE LINEUPS

ASTON VILLA Given Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Warnock Petrov, Herd N’Zogbia, Heskey, Agbonlahor Bent

MANCHESTER UNITED De Gea Jones, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra Nani, Carrick, Fletcher, Young Rooney, Hernandez

Alex McLeish has a wealth of options to choose from in midfield, with Barry Bannan, Stephen Ireland, Fabian Delph and Jermaine Jenas all pushing for a starting place. However, they are going to struggle to replace Australian Chris Herd who McLeish said was worth "his weight in gold".

The Scot also hopes to have captain Stiliyan Petrov back fit after he missed the 0-0 draw at Swansea.

For United, Anderson is out until February with a knee injury whilst Fabio (hamstring) and Dimitar Berbatov (ankle) both suffered injuries against Crystal Palace and had to come off.

Michael Owen (ankle) and Tom Cleverley (thigh) are both out until the end of the year.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Sir Alex Ferguson managed opposite boss Alex McLeish at Aberdeen from 1978-86.

• Ashley Young plays against his former club for the first time since his move to Old Trafford in the summer. He scored 30 goals in 157 games for the Villans.

• Manchester United have only conceded three goals away from home, which is the best in the league.

• They are, alongside Manchester City, the only team not to lose on their travels this season.

• They have scored in every match they have played in all competitions.

• Wayne Rooney hasn’t scored in eight league games after scoring nine in his opening five fixtures.

• Aston Villa have lost nine points from winning positions this season.

• After starting the season unbeaten in seven games they have now only won one of their last six matches – a 3-2 home win against Norwich.

• Villa have 32 wins at home compared to United’s 25, with 21 being drawn in this fixture.

• But they have not beaten United at Villa Park in the league since 1995 – 16 matches ago.

Prediction

There should be lots of creative players on show, but with neither manager likely to go too gung-ho, it is all set up for another classic clean sheet win for United away from home.

Editor's Prediction

Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester United

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