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Wednesdays Soccer – By Chris.

UEFA Cup games - first legs.

A E K Atens   -  Getafe        2.45   -   2.95
AEK are third in the Greek league with 14-0-6 this far. Their recent form is not good as their last two league games against mid table teams Larissa and Panionios have both ended in defeats, 0-1 and 0-2. That is really bad as we know what Larissa and Panionios had to offer in the UEFA Cup before Christmas. Rivaldo, Arruabarrena and Dellas are still AEK players. Kallon and Lagos are new for the season. Blanco will probably start up front joined by one of Manduca or J Cesar. Just to make things even more interesting, today (Tuesday) the AEK coach Ferrer has been sacked.

Getafe will send an eighteen man squad to Greece. Strong group of people, but Granero, Pallardo, Cotelo and Souza are missing. Getafe defeated Tottenham in London, but they also disappointed hugely when they lost to Hapoel T Aviv in Madrid. AEK have lost to Spanish sides Sevilla and Villarreal this season. X2 I guess!

AEK Athens 1 Getafe 1

Anderlecht   -   Bordeaux         2.60  -   2.65
Far from brilliant the Anderlecht season up to now. They are fifth in the Belgian league with 10-7-4. They are unbeaten since the Christmas break (3-1-0) but their opponents have been weak. Frutos, Deschacht and Legear are on their injury list, but T Chatelle should be back. Van Damme is a doubt and A Hassan is not match fit after the African Cup.  At the weekend Pieroni and Vlcek started up front vs. Brussels (4-2 win) but both are ineligible for this match. Big problems for the home side in other words.

Bordeaux will be without Planus, Fernando, Jemmali and Tremoulinas. Only Tremoulinas played against Metz (30 min) at the weekend. Abd.Traore will be back. No doubt that Bordeaux are the stronger side. This is a two legged affair and the French will probably return home perfectly happy with a draw result. Too many absentees in the Anderlecht squad however and I am definitely backing the away win (2.65).

Anderlecht 2 Bordeaux 1

Galatasaray   -   Bayer Leverkusen         2.35   -   3.00
I cannot believe that Galatasaray ahve advanced so far in this cup. They were so poor in the group phase. Lost to Helsingborg in Turkey and failed to defeat A Wien in another home game, the deciding one. Panionios were 2-0 up against the Bordeaux reserves, but let in three straight goals and Gala went through thanks to their "impressive" 0-0 draw with A Wien. In their domestic league they are doing great with 14-6-1 this far and they have scored 16 goals in their last four league games. Veteran Sukur scored three of their six goals at the weekend. The unlucky Rigobert Song, the Cameroon defender, will be back for this match. Lincoln could play or maybe Topal will instead.

Leverkusen are among the top sides in Germany, in fourth place with 10-4-5 so far. They will have Kiessling, Sarpei and Castro available tomorrow. Kiessling as the lone striker, backed up by Schneider, Barbarez and Barnetta. One thing is sure Galatasaray must raise their game to have any chance against the Germans. Will they do it? I do not know really. Their UEFA Cup efforts during the autumn indicated lack of motivation. Backing Leverkusen (3.00).

Galatasaray 0 Leverkusen 0

Marseille   -   Spartak Moscow          1.80  -   5.00
In form Marseille have included Nasri in their squad again. Akale and Grandin are ineligible for this cup game and J Rodriguez and Ziani remain sidelined. Marseille have picked up their game lately and they finally look like the team that defeated Liverpool at Anfield a couple of months ago. Both Cisse and Niang score goals on a regular basis.

I have major problems assessing teams that are out of season. Spartak finished their domestic season 11/11/2007 and my belief is that they should have no chance whatsoever against teams like Marseille, in the middle of their season. Friendly games and training can never compensate for lack of competitive football. Spartak recently defeated Crvena Zwezda in a friendly game, 5-2, and they only miss the injured Dedura tomorrow. Home win any day of the week (1.80). 

Marseille 3 Spartak Moscow 0

P S V    -   Helsingborg          1.33  -  11.00
Poor Helsingborg. Up against the supreme Dutch league leaders in February. It is not really fair, is it? Helsingborg have trained a lot of course and played two friendly games against Norwegian sides Strömsgodset and Brann. They also have a new coach, but do not worry, Henrik Larsson is still around and he will lead the offensive line together with Makondele. Out injured is defender O Rönningberg.

PSV are nine points ahead the pack in the Dutch league, but they drew disappointingly with Heerenveen at the weekend. Same Heerenveen by the way that were knocked out from the UEFA Cup by no others than Helsingborg. They used Lazovic (and Koevermans) in a 4-5-1 formation vs. Heerenveen with Afellay, Farfan, Simons among others on the midfield. Home win? Yes, what else! (1.33).

PSV 2 Helsinborg 0

Glasgow Rangers   -  Panathinaikos          2.00   -   3.90
Rangers are leading the Scottish Premiership and they have won their last five matches. Only in their last group game was their Champions League participation decided when they lost to Lyon. Darcheville missed an absolute sitter late in the game and that is how close it was. Darcheville is suspended for this game. Kris Boyd will play up front with Novo or possibly D Cousin. Full back S Whittaker is new on their injury list.

Panathinaikos are also on top of their league with 14-4-2 so far. Their captain Goumas and their sharp shooter Salpiggidis are expected to be fit tomorrow but Sarriegi will not be involved. The Angolan ace Manucho will not play this first leg, nor the old Scottish favourite Fyssas either. H Postiga is now a Panathinaikos player. Although I probably prefer Panathinaikos over the two legs I am prepared to back Rangers tomorrow (2.00).

Rangers 0 Panathinaikos 0

Brann   -  Everton         5.40   -   1.75
Only severe negligence from the Everton players can prevent them from winning this match. Brann have been training in La Manga and I guess that they have done their utmost to prepare for this match, including two friendlies, vs. Helsingborg and FC Copenhagen. Still it is February and we do not play football in Scandinavia in February. Expect Helstad and Karadas to start up front with Winters and Nyren on the bench. Ex Leeds midfielder Bakke and Solli on the central midfield.

I should think that the Everton coach Moyes will rotate his squad, meaning that Everton will be slightly weakened tomorrow but still strong enough to win this match. Yakubu and Van der Meyde are back in the Everton squad but Arteta has not travelled to Bergen. Away win (1.75).

Brann 0 Everton 2

Sporting Lisbon   -   Basle       1.65   -   6.10
They are not doing great domestically, Sporting, on the fourth place with 8-6-4 this far. Just recently they defeated the supreme league leaders Porto, 2-0 and no denying their potential. Especially in their home games and they should absolutely win this first leg (1.65). Anderson Polga is fit again and Liedson will lead their offensive line as always. Moutinho, Vukcevic, other key players.

Basle top the Swiss league but they have lost two of their last three league fixtures. They won against Xamax at the weekend, but lost their Australian midfielder S Chipperfield to an injury. He has scored seven goals this season and he has made five passes leading to goals. Caicedo have left for M City. Backing the home win (1.65).

Sporting Lisbon 2 Basel 0

Werder Bremen   -   Braga         1.40   -   9.00
Strong weekend result by Werder, managing to draw the most difficult away game in Germany, vs. Bayern Munich, 1-1. Rosenberg and Harnik were their two strikers but tomorrow H Almeida, Sanogo and I Klasnic are ready to compete for the two starting roles up front. Naldo will also be available again, joining Mertesacker in defence. Sounds like Werder will be in perfect shape for this match. Well, they could be slightly out of focus after their big game in Munich.

Braga are 8th in the Portugese league with 6-7-5, so they are are a pretty strong home side. Last autumn they for example played out a strong home draw with Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup group phase. I cannot imagine that they will be able to pick anything from this game. Home win (1.40).

Weder Bremen 3 Braga 0

Zenit Petersburg  -  Villarreal       3.10   -   2.60
Once again a side out of season and for the fourth time I am prepared to oppose them (2.60). Zenit finished their season in early November ‘07 and this is a tough reality, at least in my opinion. They have sold their defenders Skrtel and E Hagen who are both playing in England right now. Lombaerts the defender is out suspended. New man Shirokov and Krizanac will be the Zenit central defenders tomorrow, same as last week when they played out a 2-2 draw vs. Marbella in Kiev.

Villarreal miss Senna and M Fernandez, but Angel, Bruno and Tomasson will all be available again. Coach Pellegrino usually rotates his squad for these UEFA Cup games. Slightly weakened, I should think, but I do not think that Villarreal will lose this match. X2 then!

Zenit 1 Villarreal 0

Serie A

Milan   -   Livorno        1.33   -   11.00
18 year old Paloschi scored the winning Milan goal against Siena at the weekend but the in form Siena probably deserved something from the match. Tomorrow Milan will be without Kaka, Pato, Ronaldo, Maldini and probably Nesta as well. Gattuso will fortunately be available again. Could be that Paloschi and Gilardino will play from the start in the front line.

Livorno will be without their captain Balleri with E Filippini coming in instead. Vidigal returns from his suspension. Milan will be weakened tomorrow, no doubt, but they will probably have to much for Livorno despite their many missing players. Livorno do not have the same form as Siena. Likely home win with the odd goal probably, but the odds are quite useless (1.33).

Milan 1 Livorno 1

Chris.