Week-end football

For this week-end's fixtures, I do not anticipate as many drawn matches as last week although there is no doubt that there are some favoured teams that will be made to work to get the full points. Here are some selections.

Liverpool v/s Norwich. The Reds got themselves a good striker in Sturridge from Chelsea. He can be lethal when full of confidence and he will have gotten some of that after scoring on his debut at Old Trafford. Norwich are a well-organized team that plays good counter-attacking football. If the score is still level late on, they might see themselves snatching a winning goal to steal the points. They have lost 4 of their last 5 league games, so it seems stretching to see the Canaries winning this all out. I would go for Liverpool as a draw-no-bet.

Man City v/s Fulham. Straight win for the hosts here. They should win this with their B team. They have lost the Toure brothers to the African Nations Cup but this should not matter against Fulham. Man City is a win selection.

Newcastle v/s Reading. I will give the Magpies home advantage here. They are on a poor run but have shown signs of regaining some form and confidence lately. There is no doubt that they are weaker force without Demba Ba, but his departure will give the likes of Cisse and Amoebi to shine. Reading are very vulnerable on the road and it's thus hard to warm to their chances. Newcastle is a draw-no-bet.

Swansea v/s Stoke. It is hard to find someone with a more nightmarish games than Stoke's Walters last week. Two own goals and one penalty miss against Chelsea that led to a 0-4 drubbing at home. It must be said that Tony Pulis' team is showing a very patchy form in the past few games. Swansea will rely on the exploits of Michu to do the damage again. The Spaniard is the find of the season and will be keen to add to this impressive goal tally against the stumbling visitors. This could go either way and I believe it will be decided by a goal, so I'll sit on the fence on this one.

West Brom v/s Villa. Got to go with the home team here even though I have been wrong on my last 2 selections regarding them. I side with them here because they are facing a Villa team in crisis. The Villains have the most terrible record of the past 6 weeks, leaking goals in abundance. West Brom are not in the best of shapes either having lost their last 3 league games. This is a great chance for them to start a winning sequence and they are a draw-no-bet selection.

In Spain, I like Malaga and Atletico Madrid as Wins at home to Celta Vigo and Levante respectively.

In Germany, Bayern Munich should easily win its home game against Greuther.

In Italy, AC Milan looks a safe draw-no-bet against Bologna.


Win: Man City, Malaga, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich
Draw-no-bet: Liverpool, Newcastle, West Brom, AC Milan

Make or Break

If Chelsea wanted some sort of justice to their controversial ouster at the hands of Barcelona in the UCL a few years back, they must feel they got it on Wednesday night. There was only one deserving winner in that game, and it certainly wasn't Di Matteo's men. Not scoring a vital away goal might come and bite back the Catalans in the second leg, which promises to be dramatic to say the least.

This is the final straight of the football season where any drop of points for the contenders can spell the doom to their title chances. Man City hopes are clinging to a thread at this point and they couldn't ask for a better road trip at Molyneux. Wolves have yet to win under their current manager, and it does not look it will happen against the Citizens. With in-form Tevez, Man City should win this and polish their goal differential as well, in case this becomes the deciding factor in the end.

Arsenal host Chelsea and I fancy the Gunners here; the reason being that Chelsea will have their eye on the upcoming UCL match in Barcelona. There is little doubt that many elements of the first-team will not be risked for Sunday's game. Their defense is already stretched and Drogba looks a definite non-starter. This is a glorious winning opportunity for the Gunners and they are good value as draw-no-bet

Man Utd host Everton in another must-win game for the leaders. The Toffees have been in great form of late, so this is not going to be a cake-walk for the hosts. They will need to get the quick first goal, or else there will certainly be jitters to break Everton's defence. A draw-no-bet on the Red Devils looks safe, but I believe they have enough fire power to claim the 3 points. A Win looks good value.

It's the Clasico in La Liga where Barcelona have to beat Real Madrid at the Nou Camp to have any chance of retaining the title. A draw will give the Los Blancos enough breathing room until the end. The coming week will make or break the Catalans. They wrongly negotiated the first leg at Chelsea by getting beaten and not scoring a goal. They are bound to be distracted on Saturday's game as they will want to be at their peak for the return UCL match a few days later. Madrid too will have an eye on their return leg against Bayern, but this the Clasico is not a must-win game for them. In fact, it would not surprise me if Mourinho went for the draw and parked the bus. He'll deny it, but this is sure to be in his plans. The Clasico can go either way and it would not surprise me if Real further advanced its cause for the title by obtaining a favourable result at the Nou Camp.

In Italy, I see a definite win for AC Milan against Bologna. Juventus have a tougher task at home to Roma, and a draw-no-bet on the hosts should be safe.

Win: Man City, Man Utd, AC Milan
Draw-no-bet: Arsenal, Juventus