Week-end results, and Champions League Preview

The 3 football recommendations with Man Utd, Barcelona and Madrid winning were correct. In racing, Fettuccine was unplaced, after having missed the break. Losing ground getting out of the stalls is pretty much unforgivable in a 5 furlong race, and she lost the race at the start. Real bummer on this one!

What I take out of this week-end's results in the Premier League is Harry Redknapp's observation that Spurs can win the league. It's not that I agree with him on this outcome, but I cannot recall such optimism from managers outside the "usual" Top 4 (Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool) for a long time. And he's right that the way the Top 4 have been throwing away points, has given other teams hope to land the trophy come May 2011. The gap between the top teams in the Premier League has definitely shrunken this year, for the many reasons I was enumerating in a previous post. I still think that it will be between Utd and Chelsea.

Champions League matches resume as from tomorrow, and for all of Chelsea's recent troubles, I cannot see them lose their home game to Zilina. The English club is in turmoil after 3 defeats in 4 matches, is  in controversial waters with the sacking of Ray Wilkins, and Ancelotti now has to fend off rumours he's about to quit. Also, since it has already booked its ticket for the next round, I wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea don't field their first team. So lots of negatives on Chelsea's side. But still, losing at home to Zilina would defy all odds. It's Chelsea to win for me, but because this match really means nothing to them in terms of advancing, a Draw-no-bet on the English side is advised.

For other Champions League match-ups, I would caution that because a few of the sides have already advanced, the results of the matches are likely to be skewed. For example, don't expect Madrid to field their strong side against Ajax. You can be sure that they would not want injuries, just before they play the El Classico...

Draw-no-bet: Chelsea.