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On Wednesday night 2 of the biggest and most storied soccer teams on the globe are at home in the 2nd leg of their Champions League ties. Manchester United hosts AC Milan and unless they have a huge collapse at home it looks as if they will make it to the Champions league quarterfinals. However, Real Madrid lost to Lyon 1-0 in the 1st leg in France and even though they are favorites in the home match they have to win to make it to their 1st quarterfinals in 6 years.
Lyon at Real Madrid
One of the leading online sportsbooks has Real Madrid as the major favorite posted with a moneyline of -350 with Lyon the underdog at +800 and a draw at +400.
Real Madrid spent a ton of cash in the off-season, especially to bolster their offense, but they were held scoreless in the 1st leg against Lyon in a 1-0 loss. There will be a lot of pressure on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, as they have to provide some offense for the Spanish side. Karim Benzema was a big off-season addition for Real, but he will miss this match due to an injury.
Lyon has a solid defense led by G Hugo Lloris, who will have to play stellar for Lyon to win this match. Real Madrid will come out firing in this match, as they have to press forward on offense in order to score.
Lyon has played great since the New Year only losing twice in their last 13 matches. Real Madrid has won 4 of their last 5 matches and their only loss was to Lyon in the 1st leg of this tie.
Lyon’s defense has to come up big since their offense is not a great one. Sure, they did score 4 goals last month, but it was against French League 1 Sochaux, who are not a strong squad. Including that game Lyon has only scored 8 goals in their last 5 matches.
AC Milan at Manchester United
One of the leading online sportsbooks has Manchester United as the favorite in this match posted at -150 with AC Milan the underdog at +390 with a draw at +265.
Since away goals in the Champions League are worth 1.5 goals Man U is up 4.5-2 in aggregate to AC Milan. The Italian side really has their work cut out for them in this match, as they really have to press forward on offense and score at least 2 away goals.
Manchester United has a great offense led by DF Rio Ferdinand and G Edwin van der Sar. They will both be helped in this game by the Man U midfielders, as they will drop back to help on defense. Manchester United will stack the backfield to thwart the AC Milan offensive onslaught. Pato and Ronaldinho really have to provide an offensive spark for AC Milan to have any chance to win this huge match.
March 9th, 2010 9:59:19 AM GMT+5 | Posted in International, Soccer, Sports, Sports Betting by Jason Green | No Comments
EVERTON
Everton have won their last five at Goodison Park, Moyes is enthusiast of the team’s performance against Chelsea and Manchester Utd (2 wins) “It was a great result and you don’t beat the big teams that often so we are delighted. I have said for a while on our day we can be a match for the teams above. We have not got everyone fit but I think it shows the spirit we have got. I think we can play better and I think we will.”
Everton midfielder Tim Cahill is still to return to training after suffering a calf injury two weeks ago but has not been ruled out by manager David Moyes.
Phil Jagielka, recently returned from a long-term knee injury, is doubtful due to a slight thigh strain, as is Leon Osman after a blow to the foot.
Top scorer Louis Saha (hamstring) is again ruled out and James Vaughan will be assessed after suffering a knock playing for the reserves in midweek. In defence, Philippe Senderos (hip) is hoping to prove his fitness but Tony Hibbert (groin) is still out. Marouane Fellaini (ankle) will miss the rest of the season.
Home form: DDLDDWWWWW
Overall form: DWDWWWLWWL
HULL CITY
Hull City have yet to win away from home this season taking just four points from 14 matches. There will be a lot pressure on players to get results here as there’s a little chance if they take advantage of the many outfit and missing players on the Everton side.
Hull manager Phil Brown has revealed Jimmy Bullard could start.
The midfielder, who has been sidelined with a knee injury since December, was left out of the squad for the defeat against West Ham United two weeks ago but has since played for the reserves and in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Doncaster this week.
Geovanni (knee) is fit but Anthony Gardner is facing six weeks on the sidelines with an ankle problem while Stephen Hunt and Dean Marney are doubts.
Craig Fagan will definitely miss the match following his red card against the Hammers.
Away form: LLDLLDDLLL
Overall form: LLDDLDDWLL
HEAD TO HEAD
10/01/2009 Everton 2 – 0 Hull City
VERDICT
On the paper is an easy bet on Everton. But as Hull won’t have anything to lose on this match they will start aggressively and could cause some trouble on Everton with many outfit and injured players. It’s all about who’s going to score first: Hull will defend the result desperately while an Everton goal will mentally break down Hull.
Take Everton to win but also consider a high probability of a draw…
March 7th, 2010 3:34:39 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Premier League by ranma | No Comments
Anorthosis is hosting Apoel in Antonis Papadopoulos stadium for game day 23 of Cyprus Division 1 in a very crucial and decisive game.
Anorthosis is still in the race for the championship holding tight the second spot in the League Table, trailing 1 point from last years champion. Now, they have a clean shot of gaining the first spot just 3 weeks before the playoffs start. Nikos Nikolaou and Nikos Frousos, the Coaching duo, cannot count on Constantinou (defense) and Fotheringham (midfield) due to injuries. Everyone else is ready for the big game.
Apoel has just lost 2 important points last Wednesday away to Ethnikos. The game ended a scoreless draw. Things became ugly at the end of the game with players of the two teams involved in a brawl. The team spirit is low at this point in Apoel after 2 straight scoreless ties but I am sure Coach Giovanovic knows well how to get his players attention again. Coach will not have the services of Helio Pindo due to injury. Charalambides is a major doubt. Marsinio might get a starting role for the first time.
Apoel is a stronger team than Anorthosis. They will try to capitalize the match with their superior passing game. The blue & yellow have a series of positive results against Anorthosis counting 8 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses. I think Apoel will take advantage of the open field and escape Antonis Papadopoulos with the 3 points. I will choose to back the away win
February 26th, 2010 10:55:33 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Soccer by ranma | No Comments
Well, the 1st leg of the Champions League is over and while there were some shocking results some of the usual suspects won their match and look like a lock to get to the final 8.
Real Madrid spent a ton of money in the off-season in order to challenge Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga, but also to progress far in the Champions League. Their offense looked far from solid in their first match losing to Lyon 1-0 in France. Sure, Real does get home field advantage in the 2nd leg, but their offense has to wake up, as they did not put much pressure on the Lyon defense at all in the match.
AC Milan has turned things around this season in Serie A in Italy and in the Champions League, which they missed out on last season, but they have a tall order to progress to the next round after losing at home to Manchester United in the 1sdt leg. Their offense looked solid, but their D could not keep Man U from scoring =3 precious away goals, which will be hard to make up when they head to England for the 2nd leg.
Arsenal has been up and down this season, but they gave up a late goal to FC Porto to lose 2-1 in Portugal. However, they did score an away goal so they have a chance at home, especially if they keep a clean sheet. They trail Chelsea by several points in the English Premier League, so if they flame out at home to Porto in the 2nd leg they will hear it from the fans.
Bayern Munich is on a superb run in Germany’s Bundesliga and in the Champions league and they came away with a 2-1 win over a struggling Fiorentina team in the 1st leg in Munich. Fiorentina does have a chance at home and since they are not even in the top 10 in Serie A in Italy the 2nd leg is their only chance to qualify for European competition next season.
Barcelona is favored by many of the sportsbooks to win the Champions League for a 2nd straight season, but they did not look great in their first match. The defending champions were favored in the match in Germany and will be heavily favored back in Spain and their offense has to wake up at home or they may lose out to the surprise German squad.
Neither Olympiacos or Bordeaux were supposed to go far in this competition, but the French side got off to a good start with a 1-0 win in Greece.
CSKA Moscow came into their match against Sevilla unsure of themselves, as the Russian league has not even started yet. However, they played solid defense in holding the free flowing Sevilla squad to only one goal. However, the Spanish side did score that goal in Moscow so heading back to Spain they have a big advantage to progress to the next round.
Inter Milan have won the Italy Serie A title 4 years in a row, but have been major disappointments in the Champions league for the last few years. Also, they have lost to teams from the English Premier league in the last 2 seasons in the Champions League. Is the monkey off their back after they beat Chelsea 2-1 at home? Maybe, but they did give up an away goal to Chelsea, who is in 1st place in the Premier League, so they have their work cut out for them in the 2nd leg.
February 25th, 2010 9:31:38 AM GMT+5 | Posted in International, Soccer, Sports, Sports Betting by Jason Green | No Comments
Ethnikos is hosting Apoel this coming Wednesday at Dasaki stadium. This is a postponed game due to weather conditions back in January.
Ethnikos is sitting at the 10th spot of the League Table with 22 points. Ethnikos is just above relegation zone and this year they are very mediocre. They have been struggling all season to receive points but it is really tough for them. Against Apoel, they have minimum chances to gain anything. There is indeed, a big class separating the two teams.
Last year’s Champions Apoel is coming off a surprising draw against last seated Salamina last weekend. The Blue and Yellow missed incredible opportunities to score but the ball just refused to go in. Captain Chrysis Michael missed a penalty kick at the 96th minute. It was just one of those games…
I think Apoel will bounce back and capitalize the game from the beginning. They cannot afford to miss points from the so-called “weak” teams. Away win is my call for 1. 50 from Sporting Bet.
February 22nd, 2010 11:38:49 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Soccer by ranma | No Comments
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