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Wednesdays Soccer – By Chris.

Champions League

Barcelona   -   Stuttgart            1.45   -   8.50
There is nothing at stake in this game but I definitely prefer Barcelona. Stuttgart have travelled without both their strikers, Cacau and Gomes. Marica will be their lone striker, but they also have Ewerthon at their disposal. Khedira and Pardo are out, while Hilbert looks like another absentee. It looks like we will see an under strength Stuttgart side tomorrow.

Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Deco need to get in some match practice and they are likely starters for Barcelona, but there will be no Iniesta or Messi. Youngsters Bojan and Giovanni will play along with Thuram and the second choice keeper Jorquera. A pretty strong Barca side in other words. I expect an open game and this should favour the home side (1.45).

Barcelona 3 Stuttgart 1

Glasgow Rangers   -   Lyon        3.20   -   2.38
A little more is at stake in this fixture. I opposed Lyon at the weekend, away to Caen, and it turned out to be a wise move (0-1 loss). Lyon lacked the necessary commitment and they also rested players like Govou, Benzema and Juninho. They will all play tomorrow, but Fred and F Santos remain sidelined.

Darcheville, the French striker, will be missing for Rangers along with Beasley. K Boyd or Cousins from the start instead. Rangers only need a point from this match and I think that Wlter Smith will plan his match accordingly. The trouble for Scotland at home to Italy was the fact that they had to go for the win. If a draw would have been enough for Scotland I think that the Scots could have made it to the EURO 2008.

But and this is a big but, should Rangers play too defensively Lyon are bound to get several free kicks. Juninho is likely to find the net with one of his trade mark free kicks, if he gets enough chances, rest assured of that I will skip the better football side crap when I try to assess this match. It will be a war out there and maybe this favours the home side. (If it was not for this Juninho).  No bet!

Rangers 0 Lyon 3

Roma   -   Manchester Utd        1.91   -   4.50
United will play with several youngsters and their line up will  look like a stronger version of one of their Carling Cup squads. First team members like Carrick, Fletcher, O'Shea, Saha, W Rooney and Nani should also be involved. Rooney will be the United skipper tomorrow and with Saha beside him, supported by Carrick, Fletcher and Nani, United will field a decent side, but not a side that would normally trouble Roma.

There is nothing at stake at all in this game, but from what I have heard, Roma will field a strong starting line up tomorrow. Not their best but strong enough to sweep away a United cup side. Totti is the only certain starter according to coach Spalletti, but apart from young talents like Barusso and Antunes, we can expect only well known Roma profiles in this fixture. However I cannot guarantee the Roma motivation and that is the main worry of course. My choice will always be the home win (1.91).

Roma 1 Man Utd 1

Sporting Lisbon   -   Dynamo Kiev     1.70   -   6.00
If nothing else D Kiev have won one title during this Champions League campaign but they have been the worst side, all 8 groups taken into consideration. They are 0-0-5 and 4-16 the goals! They have signed a new coach but it is winter in Ukraine right now and I should think that his work starts on the other side of Christmas. Tomorrow their interim boss Luzhny leads his side for the last time. All their Brazilians, including D Rincon, are out of tomorrow's game.

Sporting have qualified for the UEFA Cup and they have very much deserved it. On the whole they have been a bit unlucky with several points going the other way late in some games. Liedson was rested at the weekend but he will be back for this game. First choice keeper Stojkovic is ready to play again. Nothing at stake, but I will nevertheless choose the favourite here (1.70).

Sporting Lisbon 3 Dynamo Kiev 0

Fenerbahce   -   CSKA Moscow      1.30   -   12.00
CSKA have been just as disappointing as D Kiev, maybe more so, because I had expected much more from this "strong" side. They just cannot defend and offensively they do not produce as much as they ought to. Tomorrow all their Brazilians will also be missing, Dudu, Jo, Wagner Love and Carvalho. Three other regulars, Zhirkov, Rahimic and Berezutsky are also sidelined. CSKA will be severely weakened and they should not be able to offer much resistance against this highly motivated Fenerbahce side. Not much more to say. Home win (1.30).

Fenerbahce 3 CSKA 1

PSV   -   Inter            2.20    -    3.75
The Dutch have to hope for a miracle in Turkey and then they must do their duty by defeating Inter. Defeating Inter will probably be the easy part. Inter will come with a make shift side including second choices plus some youngsters and they will probably also come with a poor attitude. Out for sure are Ibrahimovic, Jimenez, Samuel and Burdisso.

PSV miss the suspended Addo and the injured J Kromkamp and they also risk missing their striker D Kovermans. Terrible PSV dress rehearsal as they lost last Friday against Roda, 2-4. No doubt for me. Home win! (2.20).

PSV 0 Inter 1

Arsenal   -   Steaua Bukarest        1.29   -   12.00
The Gunners are most likely to have their sights set on their big game with Chelsea this coming weekend. Consequently we will see an alternative Arsenal side tomorrow, reminding us of their squad away to Slavia Prague. Lehmann is a likely starter, Denilson, Bendtner and Senderos as well. Van Persie and Diaby are back in the Arsenal squad and maybe they will get some time on the pitch. Arsenal will probably be too strong for this limited Steaua side, but surely the price on the home win is ridiculous. I would expect this 1.29 on the home win only if Arsenal were close to full strength, but a side filled with reserves and 1.29? No thank you.

Steaua are maybe not the most motivated side either, but for many of the sides from the former Eastern block, the money for winning a C. League match has a certain interest. Midfielder Croitoru is out, suspended. I will skip this one, from a betting point of view.

Arsenal 2 Steaua Bukarest 1

Slavia Prague   -   Sevilla       4.50   -   1.90
Slavia continue to be without several injured players including their leading striker Vicek. Same situation as three weeks ago when they picked up a lucky draw with Steaua. Now Svec has been added to their injury list. Veteran Smicer scored for Slavia at the weekend.

Sevilla will be without the suspended duo Adriano and Keita and they also miss the injured keeper Palop, Kerzhakov and Fazio. Winning the group is what matters to Sevilla and they will field a strong starting line up in this match, with Kanoute, L Fabiano, J Navas and D Alves among the starters.

The Sevilla Champions League campaign has been close to perfect and as they seem to be 100% motivated for this game in Prague, I am prepared to back the away win (1.90). When Arsenal played out their 0-0 draw in Prague they were both under strength and short on motivation. Away win (1.90).

Slavia Prague 0 Sevilla 3

Carling Cup - Quarter Final

West Ham   -   Everton       2.50  -   2.85
An odd situation as these two sides will meet again on Saturday at Upton Park in a league game. Surely both sides will be highly motivated with the final only two games away. To play a Carling Cup final at Wembley would be a massive achievement for all involved. Freddie Ljungberg will replace the cup tied Solano, D Ashton is a likely starter up front, but West Ham risk being without Etherington. He is a major doubt.

Everton will be without L Baines and A Stubbs. T Hibbert and N Valente are fit again and could be included in their big squad. Jagielka will probably replace Baines.

Two strong teams, both tough to break down. There is a new hard streak in the West Ham game, much like the Everton attitude. Home advantage? Well, West Ham have picked up more points away from home this season. Sorry, I have no strong opinion about the outcome of this match.

Everton 1 Everton 2

Chris.