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Thursdays Soccer – By Chris.

UEFA  Cup games - first legs

Benfica  -  Getafe        2.20  -  3.50
Down 0-2 away to Nurnberg with some five minutes to go Benfica were out of the UEFA Cup, but in some unbelievable way they came to score two very late goals. At the weekend Benfica drew the Lisbon derby with Sporting, 1-1.  Makulula, Petit, Maxi Pereira and Nuno Gomes will all be missing tomorrow, Binya is cup tied and F Adu has joined the American national side. A few set backs in other words but both Luisao and Nuno Assis have been declared fit to play. Cardozo on his own up front, or he will be joined by Mantorras.

You just have to love Getafe, this small club from Madrid. Here they are among the last sixteen in the UEFA Cup and in Spain they have reached the semi final in the Cup. At the same time they are involved in the fight for survival in La Liga together with close to ten other teams. They were 3-1 up against Mallorca at the weekend and they were 11 vs. 10 on the pitch. Still Mallorca could score two second half goals. Getafe had defeated Racing Santander in the first cup leg a few days before and I guess that fatigue was the problems for Laudrup's men vs. Mallorca. I checked their probable line up and it will be the usual suspects and definitely not a weakened side. Overworked Getafe players up against a somewhat weakened Benfica side and the outcome? My choice will be the home win (2.20).

Benfica 1 Getafe 2

Anderlecht   -   Bayern Munich       5.50   -  1.75
Although I am well aware of French negligence (not always) in the UEFA Cup, I was surprised to see Anderlecht knocking out Bordeaux over the two legs and I may have underestimated this Belgian side. In the first leg, their home fixture, Anderlecht dominated and were clearly the better side. Anderlecht once again have some cup tied players, Pieroni for instance, and I should think that we will the same group of people tomorrow as against Bordeaux some weeks ago.

F Ribery did not play for Bayern in the previous round against Aberdeen but tomorrow he will be playing. Bayern will be without Lucio, O Kahn, Ze Roberto and M Jansen. All were in action against Schalke at the weekend. So far Bayern have take it very easy in their European away games, with draws with both Braga and Aberdeen. They only know too well their relative superiority at the Bayern Arena. X2 in other words!

Anderlecht 0 Bayern Munich 5

Bolton   -   Sporting Lisbon        2.50   -   3.00
It will be quite an experience for the Sporting players to pay a visit to the Reebok Stadium for a meeting with a representative of some old English football. As usual Bolton will use the dead ball situations, the set pieces, trying to hurt Sporting that way. The fact is if Bolton could defeat Atletico Madrid over two legs they should fancy their chances against Sporting. Sporting were in the same Champions League group as M United and Roma and I must say that they were very unlucky more than once. Bolton can not match the potential of Sporting, but that is another story.

Vukcevic scored for Sporting vs. Benfica and he also scored both their goals against Basle in the first leg, but I have just noticed that he is not included in the Sporting squad this time and their leading striker Liedson has not travelled to England either. This fixture could prove to be somewhat of a culture shock for Sporting and they will be without two key players. Maybe the home win! (2.50).

Bolton 1 Sporting Lisbon 1

Bayer Leverkusen   -   Hamburg       2.38   -   3.10
I am pretty convinced that Hamburg will prove to be the stronger side over the two legs quite simply because they are the better side. Three weeks ago Bayer welcomed Hamburg to Leverkusen for a league fixture and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. C Ramelow is included in the Bayer squad for this match, but Bulykin and Gresko are on the sidelines. Kiessling up front again, backed up by Schneider, Barnetta and Barbarez.

Hamburg only miss Atouba and Castelen.  Jarolim, Van der Vaart and Olic will give support to Guerrero in the front line.  In other words both sides come well equipped for this cup game. 0-1 or 1-1! X2, in my view.

Bayer Leverkusen 1 Hamburg 0

Marseille   -   Zenit           1.67  -   6.00
During the normal playing season I would suggest that these sides are pretty evenly matched, but circumstances differ now. Winter in Petersburg but mid-season in Marseille. Still I am not prepared to say that Zenit are without their chances. They defeated Villarreal did they not? They ought to be stronger now with the two games with Villarreal behind them. And those presidents! The Marseille president stated “Winning the UEFA Cup comes third on our priority list.” Anyway Marseille are in good form and they only miss Cana and J Rodriguez.

Zenit have to do without the suspended duo Shirokov and Sirl, both starters against Villarreal. Their coach Advocaat is also banned from this match at Marseille. According to the Zenit camp the referee at Villarreal was unbelievably one sided in his decisions and it became too much for Advocaat. Likely home win, but please stay away from this 1.67.

Marseille 3 Zenit 1

Glasgow Rangers   -   Werder Bremen       2.65  -   2.80
Both these sides were in with a chance of advancing in the Champions League but they both lost their final games. Over the two legs Werder should be the stronger side, but I would not bet on that. Werder did not convince in their Champions League away games, losing both to Lazio and Olympiakos. Especially their 0-3 loss to Olympiakos in a deciding match was a big disappointment. Werder have the luxury of a fully fit squad for this match, apart from the injured T Frings. Diego, their key player, is allowed to play in Europe and both Borowski and F Baumann will be available. All their four strikers are fit and it looks like in form Rosenberg will be joined by Sanogo from the start.

Rangers use one striker in their European fixtures. Darcheville is suspended once again and it remains to be seen if Boyd, Novo or Cousin will be W Smith's choice. Rangers have failed to score in their last three European home fixtures vs. Barcelona, Lyon and Panathinaikos. I expect another low scoring affair. 0-0, 1-0 or 1-1.  1X then. The draw! (3.25).

Rangers 2 Werder Bremen 0

Fiorentina   -   Everton         2.20   -   3.40
Veteran striker Vieri is expected to play from the start for Fiorentina. Missing are Mutu, Papa Waigo and Liverani with Santana and Semioli major doubts. Which strikers remain? Well Pazzini, Osvaldo, M Jörgensen and Vieri are all available. Papa Waigo, the ex - Genoa striiker, could not hold a starting role at Genoa, but he has become an instant success for his new club Fiorentina. Unfortunately he is ineligible tomorrow. Impressive Fiorentina away win against Juventus at the weekend. Down 1-2 with some 20 minutes to go P Waigo and Oswaldo scored two goals for Fiorentina.

I have nothing negative to say about this Everton side. They always were hard to beat but this version certainly has some flair as well. Scoring goals has not been a problem since Yakubu joined Everton. Did you see how he made a fool of Sol Campbell, when he scored the third Everton goal against Portsmouth. Arteta could be involved again. Tricky game. Why not the draw (3.25).

Fiorentina 2 Everton 0

Tottenham   -  P S V         1.70   -   5.40
As I predicted Tottenham lost to Birmingham at the weekend (1-4). Obviously too much champagne since the Carling Cup final, but I take it for granted that Tottenham will resume their usual business again,  now that it is time for their specialty, winning cup games. A Lennon, J Jenas, Keane, L King and Woodgate were rested vs. Birmingham, but they should be back for this cup match. A Hutton is cup tied.

PSV also had a bad dress rehearsal, losing to Utrecht 1-3 at the weekend. Salcido was out suspended but the rest of their line up was the strongest one, with Farfan and Lazovic up front for instance. Missing tomorrow is their defender E Addo, but Salcido will be back.

PSV have taken part in the Champions League in the last three seasons and they have visited  all the big arenas. They should not be underestimated tomorrow. Last season Alex scored for PSV at the Emirates Stadium, knocking thereby out Arsenal from the Champions League. My conclusion is, probable home win, but you cannot back at the odds (1.70). Not good enough!

Tottenham 0 PSV 1

Chris.