Friday, March 9, 2012

Fully-charged week-end

Milan scraped through Arsenal, who have reasons to be nurturing regrets from the awful first leg drubbing at the San Siro. There are 2 things that transpire from that tie; it was again a Close-But-No-Cigar story for the Gunners, a recurring theme for them for the past 6 trophy-less years or so. Second, Milan is not even close to competing the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid, which leads me to the fact that the winner will be a Spanish team again this year.

Back to league football where there could be a change of leaders in the EPL this week-end. Man Utd host West Brom and they will be keen to get back to their winning ways after last night's defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League. I think they will do so and will bag the 3 points, so a Man Utd win is the selection. Man City also lost in the same competition to Sporting Lisbon and they face another not-so-simple trip to Swansea. The hosts are the surprise package of the season and a tough nut to crack at the Liberty Stadium. This game can go either way and I don't have an overwhelming opinion on its outcome, so I'll stay away from a recommendation.

In Italy, I see leaders Milan winning against Lecce, so they are recommended as a Win.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich is enjoying a poor form at the moment but they will be gunning for 3 important points against Hoffenheim. The Bavarians will be boosted by the return of midfielder Schweinsteiger but face a rejuvenated Hoffenheim team that is unbeaten in 4 starts under new coach Markus Babbel. I expect Bayern to either edge or draw this, so they are recommended as a draw-no-bet, to be safe.

Racing action in Meydan sees an ultra-competitive card called Super Saturday, which looks to be a precursor of things to come on World Cup night in a few weeks time. There is one horse that stand out of the cards and that is Musir, who runs in the Group 3 Burj Nahaar on the Tapeta surface. Synthetic or turf, it does not seem to matter to the Redoute's Choice colt as he's proven to be equally as good on both. He's one of the best milers in the world and he always gives an honest account of himself. Mike de Kock is expecting a big race from him, and no other horse has form that is comparable to his at the mile distance. He is a strong each-way recommendation.

Win: Man Utd, Milan
Draw-no-bet: Bayern Munich
Each-way: Musir

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