Weekend Soccer

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Betting Previews
Weekend Soccer - By Chris

Serie A

Milan - Fiorentina 1.69 - 6.25
Decent price on the home win. (1.69) Yes, I know, Milan play against Lyon on Wednesday, but then again, this week has been quiet for the club. No matches in midweek, while Fiorentina went to Sardinia for the postponed Cagliari fixture. (0-0) Stam is a major doubt for this game, but Gattuso should be back on the midfield and I only really miss Maldini. Fiorentina will be without the suspended trio, Dainelli, Di Loreto and Donadel, and most likely also the injured Brocchi. New central pairing in defence, Ujfalusi and Kroldrup, and a rare game for the veteran defender Pancaro. This Kroldrup has failed to impress this writer. Toni could be used as a lone punter. Milan are 13-1-0 at home. Says it all! Home win! (1.69)

Juventus - Roma 1.8 - 5.75
Same here, tempting price on the home win. (1.80) Milan fight it out with Inter (to come second I mean) but Juventus are not really under much pressure domestically right now. A draw in this match would not be the end of the world as they are 10 points ahead of second placed Milan. Juventus are 13-2-0 at home and they have no worries, ahead of this match. A trip to Highbury awaits Juventus and this Saturday night fixture could be slightly neglected by Juve. Still, it is difficult to back Roma, especially as they are without their key players De Rossi and Totti. Chivu and Montella are also absent, but Doni, Dacourt and Cufre should be available. At the end of the day I would probably back the home win. (1.80)

Parma - Inter 4.80 - 1.95
Strong Parma results in the last few weeks, and they look pretty safe right now, 8 points above the relegation zone. They will have the strongest squad for ages this weekend, with no players suspended and only a few on the injury list. Offensively both Marchionni and Bresciano are enjoying a good run, not forgetting Simplicio as well. Inter played vs Udinese in midweek, but gave basically a rest to all their regulars. Cruz and Martins up front against Udinese, but count on Adriano and in form Recoba to start on Saturday. With the Ch. League encounter with Villarreal next week, I should think that coach Mancini will rest one or two of his key players. Figo for sure, but he will probably not be the only one. Maybe I expect Inter to return to Milano with only one point. The draw! (3.10)

Ascoli - Chievo 2.50 - 3.50
The price forces me to back the home win. (2.50) Had Comotto stayed on the pitch in the second half against Fiorentina, I guess that Ascoli would have prolonged their unbeaten sequence. One man short and Luca Toni back in action again, made life difficult for Ascoli. On Sunday Comotto and Cristiano are suspended, and Guana probably sidelined. Chievo miss one of their most interesting players, Semioli, who sits out a suspension. Both the strikers Pelissier and Cossato are back in training, but they can only hope for a place on the bench. I support the energetic Ascoli side. (2.50)

Cagliari - Reggina 1.93 - 5.25
None of these two sides can really afford to lose this match, and maybe the draw is the most natural outcome. (3.00) Reggina dominated most of the match against Empoli last week, but they were made to pay for their profligacy in front of the enemy goal, when Empoli hit two unanswered second half goals. On Sunday Reggina miss the suspended Mesto with Biondini deputising. Bizera and Conti are missing for Cagliari. Would you believe that the notorious home side Cagliari have won two successive away games! Very appropriate and my guess is that Cagliari will be a Serie A side nest season. They played the postponed league fixture with Fiorentina in midweek, (0-0) and maybe that encounter will help Reggina to a much needed draw on Sunday. (3.00)

Empoli - Livorno 2.50 - 3.10
I choose the home win in this encounter. (2.50) More at stake for the home side, and they seem to have come into form at the right time. Two wins on the spin, and this could be their third. They will be without the injured Tosto, with Lucchini his probable replacement. Tavano is in excellent form and the only issue ahead of this game is whether or not Rigano or Pozzi will give support to Tavano. Livorno are practically at full strength, with only De Ascentis missing. Livorno are winless in 5 league games and their best period is definitely over. Home win! (2.50)

Lazio - Sampdoria 2.00 - 4.50
They are quite big favourites here, Lazio. (2.00) No wonder, with Sampdoria quite useless at the moment. They have lost their last 5 matches and they have not scored a single goal in the last 4 of them. Their fans are not happy and I noticed that a big meeting took place this week between players, coaches and fans. It was a pretty fiery meeting! Sampdoria miss the suspended Pisano and the injured Diana. For Lazio their front figure Di Canio returns, but the defender Cribari is suspended. Lazio are 7-6-1 at home, and it is difficult to find arguments for a positive Sampdoria result. Maybe their relative potential. Home win for Lazio. (2.00)

Messina - Udinese 2.45 - 3.50
All of a sudden Udinese are involved in the relegation battle and this is one of the many six pointer games awaiting the Udine club. I am not at all convinced that their players have the right mentality for this unexpected situation. My conviction is that the experienced survival fighters are better equipped in these circumstances. Udinese have plated their last card and signed a new coach this week. His name is Galeone and he coached his side for the first time in midweek, away to Inter in the Coppa Italia. (0-1 loss). Udinese fielded reserves vs Inter, but come with their strongest side on Sunday. Strong on paper as well, with most of the previously injured players fit again. They will probably play their old 4-3-3 game, starting with Barreto, Iaquinta and Di Natale up front. Good initiative by coach Galeone. Players back for Messina, but still missing is their suspended captain Coppola, and the injured duo, Rafael and Cristante. Is this difficult, or not? Maybe the new coach effect will work for Udinese! X2 then!

Palermo - Treviso 1.37 - 10.00
Barone and Zaccardo suspended for Palermo, Grosso out injured, and Treviso will be without Cottafava and Viali. Even I opposed Treviso last week, but could be that the 2.50 offered on the Cagliari away win was the last chance of opposing Treviso and still get a decent price. I cannot make a case for backing this low priced Palermo win, and to speak about Treviso points? Well, sounds most of all foolish. OK, Palermo played an important Coppa Italia fixture with Roma in midweek, using their best players. (2-1 win) UEFA - cup matches in the last few weeks as well, and could be that the Palermo players will know what fatigue is all about, come Sunday. But backing Treviso sounds far fetched.

Siena - Lecce 1.70 - 6.40
With Tudor red carded after one minute, and 0-1 down, Siena had a pretty hopeless task last week, away to Chievo. Tudor and Paro are suspended this week end, but Colonnese, Mirante and even Alberto should be available again. D'Aversa and Legrottaglie are injury doubts. No hope for Lecce and I just wonder if their players are able to find some future motivation. I have my doubts. Home win! (1.70)

The Premiership

Aston Villa - Fulham 2.05 - 3.80
A poor Villa side against the embarrassing away side, Fulham. You have to say embarrassing about Fulham, as they are 0-3-13 away from home. This is the same Fulham that defeated Chelsea at Craven Cottage last week. For this match Villa have K Phillips available again, Angel and A Hughes as well, but they have to do without Baros, J Milner, Samuel and their skipper O Mellberg. A questionable Villa defence on Saturday and not that impressive up front either. Fulham continue to be without W Bridge, A Niemi and Bouba Diop. I am almost suggesting a favourable result for Fulham, but I hesitate. Some weeks ago they had an excellent opportunity to win away to Bolton, but despite a superior first half, they ended up on the losing side as usual. I have no winner here. The draw! (3.30)

Chelsea - Manchester City 1.30 - 12.00
They are not at their best right now, Chelsea, but I guess that they will win this fixture despite everthing, especially as City are short on strikers, well they are short on players in every position. When I actually noticed that Vassell and Bradley Wright-Phillips started up front for City vs W Ham in the FA - cup, quarter final, I gave up on City. They need a Samaras, A Cole or even Sibierski to have any strength in the final third. None of these will be back on Saturday, and no Sinclair, no Barton, no Reyna, no Riera and no Sun Jihai. Chelsea miss Gallas and Robben. Mourinhos footballers will of course win this game. (1.30)

Liverpool - Everton 1.65 - 6.41
Ideal circumstances for a good game as both teams come to this derby as winning sides. Not only winning sides - both teams have all of a sudden become scoring machines. Everton, with 7 goals in their last 2 league matches, and Liverpool with 7 vs. Birmingham earlier this week. Both Sissoko and Riise made their come backs against Birmingham, and Liverpool have a fully fit squad at the moment. Duncan Ferguson has completed his suspension period and he is back in contention for Everton. Some doubts concerning Arteta, but he will play. How about both teams on the score sheet and Liverpool winning, 3-2! Unfortunately these derby games so often become tense, low scoring affairs. Home win, but I am not sure at all about this price. (1.65)

Portsmouth - Arsenal 5.40 - 1.73
Both teams are full of confidence after two strong weeks. Season’s best football being played by both Portsmouth and Arsenal. This could take Arsenal far in the Champions League and could prolong the Premiership existence for Portsmouth. Different issues, in other words. Arsenal face Juventus in a few days and maybe this fact will help Portsmouth to get a positive result at Fratton Park. Not that Arsenal can afford any slip ups in the league, but it cannot be helped. Their thoughts are already on the Tuesday fixture. Was it last season away to Portsmouth, when Sol Campbell of all people, won the game for Arsenal, shooting from long distance. The game was heading for a draw, when Campbell took the matter into his own hands. Both Pamarot and Stefanovic are back in training for Portsmouth, and Pamarot could play some part already on Saturday. If Wenger will be so bold to rotate his squad, remains to be seen. Both Reyes and Sol Campbell could make their returns. They are ready anyway. My choice in this encounter will be the draw. (3.72)

Sunderland - Blackburn 5.83 - 1.72
Four home games remain for Sunderland. In other words 4 more chances to win in front of their starving fans. At this instant they are 0-4-11 at home. J Arca, L Lawrence, S Elliott and J Stead are back in training again and one or two of them could be ready for action this weekend. Arca and Lawrence I consider as plus factors. Strongest Blackburn side is expected, except for the suspended R Savage. Maybe I am not quite prepared to buy this, but as a matter of fact, Blackburn are very much involved in the Champions League battle. They are only 1 point behind Arsenal, so no lack of motivation for Blackburn tomorrow. Away win! (1.72)

Wigan - West Ham 2.15 - 3.80
Plenty of football lately for W Ham, while Wigan have only played their regular league games. Two away wins on the bounce for Wigan, vs Sunderland and M City. Their last home fixture was against M United, 1-2. They dominated most of that game, but were beaten very late in the game. To say that it was an unjust result is an understatement - Wigan were robbed! W Ham are through to the FA - Cup semi final, and credi is due to the Hammers for that achievement. Their league form could be bette howeverr, with two straight defeats (1-4 and 2-4) vs Bolton and Portsmouth. My feeling is that the Wigan players will be more motivated for this match. Home win! (2.15)

Charlton - Newcastle 2.40 - 3.10
I am more comfortable with the away win in this game (3.10) Although Newcastle could not really threaten Chelsea in midweek, I thought that they played some decent football. With Kieron Dyer in the side they become more enterprising and they should be able to get a favourable result against this Charlton side. On paper their defence looked like a safety risk against Chelsea, but I could have no complaints after the 90 minutes. I do not know if I want Boumsong back, but as Robbie Elliott is suspended and Babayaro is injured, Boumsong will start for Newcastle. Charlton were slightly better than Middlesbrough in midweek. They created the better chances and did not give away many opportunities to the Boro strikers. You always felt that one goal would decide the matter, but now it ended in a 0-0 draw. Decent team football by Charlton and credit to the club, as they always are placed better in the Premiership than you have reason to believe, assessing their squad. It looks like their top scorer, the England international, D Bent, will miss this match. This decides it for me. Away win! (3.10)

Manchester U - Birmingham 1.22 - 17.80
Maybe S Bruce should think about what is best for Birmingham. It is probably too late, but maybe he should do the decent thing and go. I have mentioned this on a regular basis for some 6 months. Bruce was good in the Championship, but he has yet to prove himself in the Premiership. Hopefully Heskey will be back for this hopeless task, but there are fitness doubts concerning Clapham and M Taylor. Those two are not the greatest of Birmingham players, but with all the present injuries, Birmingham need all their players. Souness and Newcastle - always plenty of injured players. Birmingham and S Bruce - much the same. Why? You tell me. I have nothing negative whatsoever to say about United. Home win! (1.22)

Middlesbrough - Bolton 2.55 - 2.95
Bolton should have Hadji-Diouf back. He has missed the last 10 games and his return will definitely bolster the Bolton attack. Bolton can quietly prepare for this league game, but Middlesbrough had to play their FA - Cup, quarter final, this Thursday. This favours the Bolton side. To face Bolton you need to be strong physically and fully motivated. Will Middlesbrough will be up to it after their quarter final? I have my doubts. Middlesbrough were quite harmless against Charlton in midweek and their big offensive names were mostly that, just big names. Nothing wrong with their defence, on the contrary, great game by Schwarzer, Southgate and Ehiogu. I back Bolton on Sunday. (2.95)

Tottenham - W B A 1.50 - 8.00
Although the home win looks very likely, I have problems in backing Tottenham as strong favourites. They are not strong enough to play on a result and they seldom finish teams off, but I admit, beating WBA should not be asking too much! N Ellington scored again for WBA last week, when he came on as second half substitute, and surely coach Robson has to include him in the starting line up this time. With or without Ellington, WBA will have problems on Monday and all the coming weeks as well. Too poor squad for the Premiership! Tottenham have a fully fit squad. Home win! (1.50)

La Liga

Four big prices in Spain!

Villarreal - Real Betis 1.70 - 5.50
Betis drew with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium a week ago and won the important home fixture against Racing in midweek, 1-0. Strong comeback by Betis after their miserable UEFA - cup loss vs Steaua. So Betis on the move upwards in the table. Normally it is extremely difficult to visit Villarreal, but maybe the Betis task will be less troublesome this time. Villarreal play Inter in the Champions league next week and they played the big derby with Valencia earlier this week. Sounds like this fixture with Betis could be the overlooked one, if you see what I mean. Villarreal are not a big football club and they have to be clever. In my interpretation this means that their best players have to be at their sharpest on Wednesday, not this Sunday. Nothing wrong with the Villarreal form. They drew 1-1 with Valencia, but only a penalty miss by Riquelme prevented Villarreal from grabbing a deserved victory. Betis miss the suspended Juanito and have doubts concerning L Fernandez. I take it for granted that Villarreal will rest some of their key players. Something for Betis this weekend. (5.50)

Real Madrid - Deportivo La oruna 1.70 - 5.50
I am backing the away champions, La Coruna. They are 8-3-3 away from home and only Barcelona have done better on their travels this season. By the way, they lost to Barcelona at the Nou Camp stadium, 2-3, but they were not that far from a positive result. They were 2-1 up, before H Larsson and Eto'o scored for Barca. Real Madrid were in trouble again in midweek, this time away to Zaragoza. They were 0-1 down after a customary poor performance, but a last minute goal by Ronaldo gifted Real a share of the points. First Real goal in 3 games, but their football showed no improvement. Beckham was back, but a player like Zidane started on the bench. This weekend Guti returns from his suspension. Big price on the away win! (5.50)

Celta Vigo - Mallorca 1.80 - 4.60
The Celta season has slowly deteriorated, with no goals scored in their last 3 matches. I thought that Celta lacked inventiveness, when they lost their last home game against Atletic Bilbao, and they were obviously not better in midweek, losing to Alaves, 0-1. Newcomers as they are, maybe they will find the last third of the season the toughest. Mallorca continued their unbeaten run ( 7 games) by defeating Cadiz this week. The win was not impressive in itself, but the sequence is, and Mallorca will not give away much on Sunday against Celta. I should think that they will play much the same game as A Bilbao, and as Celta had problems then, they could face more difficulties vs Mallorca. Pisculichi will be back for Mallorca, but Basinas is a doubt. I back the away win! (4.60)

Malaga - Barcelona 8.00 - 1.45
I back the bottom side! (8.00) Barcelona play vs Benfica on Tuesday and I cannot imagine that they will work their socks off vs Malaga. Ronaldinho will not play in this match, key defender Puyol is also out, as well as Edmilson and Marquez. Just check the league table. While Barcelona pick up points on a regular basis their so called competitors are dropping points in most games. Barca are in splendid isolation up at the top of the table and to win against Malaga is far from a must at this moment in time. Malaga could be without 3 players, Chengue Morales, J Rodriguez and Alexis. They are still hoping that Rodriguez and Alexis will be allowed to play. An appeal has been made, but usually it does not help. Anyway, must win situation for Malaga, and just the right price. (8.00)

French league

Marseille - Le Mans 1.75 - 5.70

It has been a topsy turvy Marseille season, but they are always a tremendous force in their home games. (9-6-1 this far) They were a bit unfortunate getting knocked out by Zenit in the UEFA - cup. Despite many absentees they played a strong game in Petersburg, (1-1) but for once it was their poor display in Marseille that cost them a place in the quarter finals. Tomorrow Marseille will be at full strength, apart from their injured keeper Barthez. Le Mans have enjoyed a very positive season, mainly thanks to their outstanding home form. Expect an unchanged Le Mans squad. Marseille will be too strong tomorrow. (1.75)

Lens - Sochaux 1.75 - 5.70
This looks like a home win. (1.75) Lens will do their utmost to reach the fourth place in the league. They have as good a chance as some of the 4 or 5 clubs around them. For this game they welcome back their French international midfielder Diarra, but miss the injured Thomert. Sochaux are without both Diawara and Isabey, but hope to include Meghni. Still no Daf or Lonfat. Lens come with a strong squad, their home form this season has been outstanding (8-6-1), and the home win seems like the likely result. (1.75)

Rennes - Troyes 1.70 - 6.20
Home win! (1.70) If you disregard Lyon, surely Rennes are the best side in France right now. They are after their 6th successive league win tomorrow. Utaka, who scored two back to back hat tricks, had a wonderful midweek cup game. He actually scored all the 4 Rennes goals against Colmar. Amazing form. C Jeunechamp is ready to play for Rennes again, and the only absentee is A Frei. The poor away side, Troyes, have offensive problems with Jaziri sidelined tomorrow. Grax also out of the picture, and remain Dallet and G Ba up front. Home win for Rennes! (1.70)

The Championship

Brighton - Luton 2.55 - 2.70
So much at stake for Brighton and I choose the home win . (2.55) Luton play for their pride, but with or without pride, Luton never were that great away from home. (13 defeats in 19 away matches) They miss their captain K Nicholls, but should have defender Heikkinen available. Brighton have signed the much travelled striker G Noel-Williams and he will be in the starting line up tomorrow, and probably the veteran defender Jason Dodd as well. Brighton have drawn their last 2 games, vs Preston and Q P R, but I give the south coast club a decent chance of winning this fixture. (2.55)

Cardiff - Queens PR 1.85 - 4.80
Cardiff with everything to play for, up against a QPR side in no man's land. Cardiff are just 2 points behind Preston, in other words 2 points from the play offs. Cardiff will be at full strength, but QPR miss their captain, K Gallen, and M Rose. Hopefully the big striker P Furlong will be fit to play. Cardiff then! (1.85)

Watford - Millwall 1.55 - 6.80
Time to back a mega favourite. (1.55) I am happy backing Watford. I happen to like their brand of football. They certainly did not disappoint me earlier this week, when they made fun of Southampton. (3-0) Henderson on the score sheet twice, but maybe M King or A Young will score tomorrow. Henderson had some kind of facial injury vs. Southampton, but he will be fit for this match. No worries in the Watford camp. T Craig is missing for Millwall. Could be that B Hayles will be preferred to Asaba up front this time. None of these strikers can excite anyone these days. Home win! (1.55)

Crewe - Coventry 3.10 - 2.40
Checking the Coventry away form, you have to say that there is a decent price on the home win. Coventry have won 2 of their 19 away matches. (2-7-10) You know Crewe, maybe naive, but never harmless. Crewe will field an unchanged side tomorrow. Coventry miss the suspended D Wise, but could have S Hughes and R Duffy back. Crewe to win! (3.10)

Chris.