Premiership
Birmingham City-Arsenal
Arsenal would look to bounce back from 2 disappointing results by winning at Birmingham to maintain their 5-point gap or even increase their lead at the top.
Birmingham would feel that if they could get a draw at the Emirates, they could get the same result or pull an upset against the league leaders, but it wouldn’t be easy.
Arsenal should win this goal with some difficulty.
Liverpool v Middlesboro
You never know what you are going to get from Liverpool and especially from their manager. The one thing you know you’re not going to get is the same team that beat Inter Milan on Tuesday. Middlesboro have not lost a game this year and would like to keep that streak going, but if Liverpool play to their full potential, they should win. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends in a draw, but I really hope Liverpool do it with this game.
Newcastle United vs Manchester United
Newcastle have not won under Kevin Keegan and after tomorrow I expect that record to continue as anything other than a Manchester United win would be a complete surprise.
They wouldn’t lose 6-0 like they did at Old Trafford, but I still expect them to lose against a team that would be buoyant after decent results against Arsenal and Lyon in the Champions League.
The only saving grace for Newcastle is that Manchester United don’t always play well immediately after a Champions League draw, but unfortunately Newcastle don’t have the desired quality to upset the champions. They got an unlikely draw against Manchester United last season and Keegan always wants to beat Ferguson so he never knows.
Carling Cup Final
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspurs
Juande Ramos is a master at winning cup finals but I can’t see them beating Chelsea on Sunday considering they played 2 days after Chelsea in midweek and also how well organized Chelsea are defensively.
If Ledley King plays, the Spurs would have a slim chance as he gives them so much defensive prowess, but if he doesn’t then I don’t give them a chance.
Spurs have all the flair and attacking prowess but Chelsea are a tough nut to crack and Tottenham have to score first to stand a chance.
I would like to see Spurs win the cup, but I can’t see beyond Chelsea winning it.
A series
Rome vs Fiorentina
This is the game of the weekend in Italy and it pits 2 of the most attractive teams against each other.
Roma managed to defeat Real Madrid in the champions league on Tuesday and that would have boosted their confidence after some shaky results, while Fiorentina defeated Rosenborg to go through to the next round of the UEFA cup last night.
The fact that Fiorentina plays 2 days later and doesn’t exactly have a very good record away from home makes me strongly opt for Roma.
Sampdoria vs Inter Milan
Inter would be looking to put their first loss in 5 months behind them against Liverpool and I would very much like them to beat Sampdoria in Genoa.
Sampdoria, inspired by Antonio Cassano, did well to defeat their city rivals Genoa last weekend, but I don’t see them repeating the trick against Inter unless Inter decide to implode by sending off an early man again.
Inter have problems at the back, although Iván Córdoba is ruled out for the season and joins Walter Samuel as casualties for the season.
Reginna vs. Juventus
Juventus are coming off 2 excellent results and would be full of confidence when they take on relegation-threatened Reginna on Saturday night, knowing full well that a win would catapult them into second place, if only for a few hours.
This would not be easy as Juventus have shown this season that they tend not to win the games you expect them to and have drawn many games they were expected to win. But I do think they would win this game, but not very comfortably.
Milan vs. Palermo
Just like Liverpool, you never know what you’re going to get and this is not an easy game to match. One would think that Milan should win this game, but they have drawn too many games at home to consider any game a home banker.
Pato and Kaká are back so that should help and they would also be buoyed by their midweek performance at Arsenal.
I expect a very narrow victory for the Rossoneri.
the league
Seville vs Zaragoza
Sevilla are pretty formidable at home and Zaragoza are inconsistent everywhere so I hope Sevilla win this game.
Barcelona vs Levante
Barcelona seemed to be returning to a semblance of form with a number of key players performing well against Celtic including Ronaldinho, Deco, Thierry Henry and, above all, Lionel Messi.
Samuel Etoo has also returned and Levante, which is possibly the poorest team in LaLiga this season, does not have a prayer.
Real Madrid-Getafe
It is a local derby with the added spice of Real Madrid manager Bernd Schuster taking on his former club and Getafe manager Michael Laudrup, who is taking on a team he has honored so well as a player.
Real were unlucky enough to be beaten in Rome and have a 100% home record in La Liga this season. They also have the added boost of Robinho coming back into the fold, so I expect they will be too strong for a Getafe side who played in the UEFA Cup yesterday beating AEK Athens 3-0.