Dortmund vs Sevilha – Europe League 

Interesting game in Dortmund with the home team making a great start of the season and the Spanish are going through a less good moment and will debut their new coach Mazano.

Starting with Dortmund they are in a great shape with a second place in Bundesliga and 9 wins in 10 official games. They only have one loss. In Europe League play-offs they won against Karabakh and at the group stages they suffer to get a win over Karpaty. Tomorrow they will have their first big challenge against Sevilha. The strong side of the Germans is the attack with the Paraguayan international Lucas Barrios, the German Mario Gotze and the Japanese Kagawa who is having excellent performances with only 21 years old. The defense Read More

Panathinaikos vs Copenhagen – Champions L 

Even without Seitarides, Cedric Kanté, Sidney Govou and Antonis Petropoulos, it seems to me that Panathinaikos is too much for the Danish team to handle. And the odds for the win are pretty good.

With 60.000 fans supporting them we can’t think in the 5-1 they take in Now Camp. We should see that Copenhagan won at home against Rubin and a positive result Read More

Rangers vs Bursaspor – Champions League 

The Turkish team, Bursaspor, comes from a home defeat against Valencia, which forces him to make a good result in Glasgow. In its league, Bursaspor is unstoppable and leads the league with five wins in five games, resulting in eight goals scored and only one suffered. The team of Bursa have players of great quality, such as Volkan Sen, Gökçek Vederson and Ozan Ipek, which give them guarantees of being able to fight on equal terms in most stadiums in Europe. The Turks are living a historic moment in the Champions League and need to win the Scottish to keep alive the dream of making through the knockout phase.

On the Protestants side, Rangers, similarly to its rival, is in good form, the blues of Glasgow leads the Read More

Valencia vs Man United – Champions League 

Match from the second round of the Champions League. Valencia hosts Manchester United.

Valencia without David Villa and Silva is doing an excellent season. The team leads the league with 13 points. Valencia is on an unbeaten streak and comes from an away win over Sporting Gijon by 0-2. In the first game for the Champions League the team defeated Bursaspor 4-0.

Manchester United is not in good form, Alex Ferguson is always changing the team and that Read More

Inter vs Werder Bremen – Champions League 

Inter was the winner of last Champions League, this year they made their debut with a 2-2 draw against Twente. On the last game of the Italian championship they have lost to Roma by 1-0.

The team needs the victory or they will be on a bad situation on the group. For this match they may not count with Milito and Pandev, besides Thiago Motta and Read More

Tottenham vs Twente – Champions League 

Tottenham which ended on the 4th place in the Premier League last season, where he knocked the newly millionaire Manchester City and always great, but in crisis, Liverpool and ended up with the last spot in the Champions League,is hosting the Dutch champion, Twente who also knocked a giant last season, leaving Ajax 2nd in the championship and winning the title for the first time. The game will be at White Hart Lane (London).

TODAY

Tottenham was, in the 2nd half of last season, a team that I liked to watch. Reaching the Final of the English League Cup where he was beaten by Man Utd and Read More

Braga vs Shakhtar Don – Champions League 

2nd game in group H. In one side, Domingos Paciencia’s tema, playing his debut in the Champions League. On the other side, and experienced team in the european competitions, which is a tough team against major clubs, having even won the Supercup against Man. Utd. 2 years ago.

Braga, after taking care of Celtic and Sevilla, showed some capability to win games in this competition. It’s a very strong team at home and hasn’t lost quite a while ago.

This season has just 2 defeats agains FCPorto and Arsenal in 2 straight games, but they want to forget their defeat at London and try to win this game to raise their hope on the qualifying to the next Read More

Auxerre vs Real Madrid – Champions League 

Auxerre had a brilliant carrer last season in Ligue 1, but this year did not start in the best way for the french team.

They were only able to make 5 points in 7 games for the championship, from 5 ties and 2 defeats. Auxerre is still waiting for the taste of victory this year.

The only official victory this year was against Zenit at the Champions League Groups Playoff, after losing 1-0 at the first game. They won at home, eliminating Zenit after the previous defeat. I recall that Read More

Basel vs Bayern Mün – Champions League 

Game from the second round of Group E of the Champions League with Basel hosting the vice-European champion Bayern Munich.

A different game for each team, as in the 1st round they had different results. This game will have more importance for the home team, because a defeat here could mean the end of their participation in this competition.

On the other side is the mighty Bayern, looking for the best form and also a fast qualification in the group. I expect a close game where the German superiority will be felt.

Basel is in the 3rd position of the group, after the defeat to Cluj 2-1 away from home. It was a game where they were already losing 2-0 at the 13 minutes Read More

Ajax vs Milan – Champions League 

Ajax and AC Milan are in the ‘Group of Death’ along with Real Madrid and Auxerre.

Any point won is valuable for achieving the objective of passing to the next stage of the competition, AC Milan won 0-2 at Auxerre in the first round and Ajax lost 2-0 against the group favorite, Real Madrid.

Milan, who is always a candidate for the Italian title is a little below expectations with only 8 points from Read More

Spartak Mos vs Zilina – Champions League 

This game can be absolutely decisive for Spartak Moscow. After the brilliant victory against Marseille at the Velodrome, a home victory in front of the modest Zilina can put the Russians in an excellent position to the second phase of the Champions League.

Spartak is having a season below expectations in the Russian League. They are in the 6th place after 20 games.

The truth is that they have an excellent group of players. Welliton is a fantastic goal scorer with 16 goals in 20 games for the league, and with Read More

Setubal vs Paços Ferreira – Liga Sagres 

Closing match for this round in Portuguese main league, Liga Zon Sagres, and battling on the field will be two teams trying to break their negative records. From Setúbal side the record is a team that has been winless at home since March, from Paços de Ferreira side a team that doesn’t win a game as guest for a year, oddly enough, their last successful outing was with Setúbal, also on 6th round.

Playing at home will be Setúbal which we can say started very well this year, with an opening victory against Marítimo in Barreiros for 1-0. This was the only goal scored by Setubal this season, because from that game on they never won a game again, nor scored any goal. On 2nd rounf they’ve managed to tie against last year’s runner-up Braga and after that lost to Read More

Malaga vs Villarreal – Liga BBVA 

Jesualdo Ferreira’s team, Malaga, has yet another hard match after some tough tests on the previous games.

After losing to teams as Valencia or Sevilla, both fighting for the same objectives as Villarreal, the Portuguese coach faces a difficult task at home.

He scored in every single game, but has not made any point when playing at Read More

Valencia vs Atletico Madrid – Liga BBVA 

The biggest game of La Liga’s 4th round opposes the sensational team of Valencia which is in a winning streak against the current holders of the Europa League Atletico Madrid which starts well the season.

For this game I’m going on Valencia because the lack of Aguero seems to me a detail to be very vigilant, especially because without him in the field the defensive weaknesses of Maduro in a 1 on 1 game are hidden. Forlan and Tino Costa will gave him the opportunity to accomplish a good tactical Read More

Lazio vs Milan – Calcio Série A 

Great game we will have in Rome. Lazio is seeking the leadership and Milan is trying to stay close.

Lazio is motivated after the great victory against Fiorentina away from home. They manage to turn a 2-1 score. The team already appears in 4th place and can lead if they beat AC Milan today. I was able to see Lazio recent games and I could see some defensive weaknesses, mainly in the first half of Fiorentina’s game where they manage somehow to save the goal. However after 20 minutes we saw a conscious team in the field with a good ball movement and with many chances to score. For this game, the coach Reja will choose to protect his defense and will use a disguised 4-4-1-1 which should become 4-2-3-1 when the team has Read More

Cruzeiro vs Ceará – Brasileirão A 

Important match for both sides, maybe slightly more for Cruzeiro if we consider their season objectives.

The home side Cruzeiro is doing a great season currently in 3rd place and three points behind the leader Corinthians. They can climb to 2nd place during this matchday, for that to happen they’ll need to do better than Fluminense who will face Atlético MG, For tonight’s match the right full back Jonathan is out and joins Wellington Paulista and Marquinhos Paraná who are also sidelined. On the other hand Claúdio Caçapa and striker Robert are back from injury but despite that they weren’t called up for this Read More

Tottenham Hotspur and Sportingbet sign deal! 

Tottenham Hotspur and Sportingbet! The English bookmaker will be the new betting partner of the London based team that plays in White Hart Lane. This new deal started back in the 18th of September, when the Spurs faced the Wolves who also has Sportingbet as sponsor.

Daniel Levy, Tottenham’s Chairman Read More

Freiburg vs Schalke 04 – Bundesliga 

One of the matches that closes the 5th matchday and it’s one with an unclear outcome.

Freiburg have been in great shape this season and they’ll face Schalke a team that couldn’t have imagined a worse start to the season. The home team has 9 points after 4 matches they will try to collect points against a tough opponent who is living a bad moment. Nine points between both teams as Shalke has 4 defeats in the same number of matches.

H2H
- In 22 matches, 9 wins for Freiburg, 5 draws, and 8 wins for Read More

Barcelona vs Sporting Gijon – Liga BBVA 

Match that refers to the fourth matchday of the Spanish La Liga. Barça receives in Camp Nou Sporting Gíjon.

I expect a very one-sided game, Gíjon won’t have a chance in tonight’s game. Barcelona is extremely strong at home and when playing at home they rarely draw or lose a match. The team commanded by Guardiola is currently in 7th with six points (one game behind schedule in relation to Real Madrid).

Looking at the tactics I see Gíjon playing in a classic 4-4-2 (two defensive centre midfielders, Spanish) which means they will be given a lesson of “how to play quality football” by Barcelona, as it happens with the teams that Read More

Catania vs Cesena – Calcio Série A 

What a big Surprise. Cesena is this season back to the main Italian league is leading it after 3 game plays. And for the less observers this is not a fluke of luck or an easy calendar start. In this first 3 games, Cesena did not suffer any goal and it faced Roma in the Olimpico de Roma and AC Milan which makes this fact incredible.

They started with a draw against Roma, winning at their stadium Lecce and AC Milan. They have a very well organized team with experienced and quality players which seem to play with their eyes closed and are at excellent Read More

West Brom vs Manchester City – Carling Cup 

After winning against Birmingham and therefore conquering their second win in the Premier League, West Brom are surely motivated ahead of the clash against the rich kids on the block, Manchester City.

It’s likely that Man City will spare some of their usual starters but that won’t be a problem for a squad that has enough quality to field almost two different starting elevens without losing quality. The home side won’t be as comfortable in that aspect as Man City is. If West Brom decides to rotate Read More

Santos vs Corinthians – Brasileirão A 

Without Neymar suspended, Santos receives the leader of the championship Corinthians in a classic Paulista match of the 24th round.

Santos will have a decisive game against the leader Corinthians if they still want to achieve their only target in the championship, the tittle. And to make things even harder, they can’t count for the second time with the star Neymar. The player is suspended by the manager Dorival Júnior, in spite of his bad behaviour with his team mates in the game of the 22nd round. Santos is the 6th placed and they won the Brazil Cup, so they have a place in the Libertadores. Playing at home they have 7 victories, 1 draw and 2 losses. This numbers were made with Neymar and Read More

São Paulo vs Guarani – Brasileirão A 

Motivated by the great victory in the derby against Palmeiras, São Paulo tries to reengage in the competition and making a final push towards the G4. São Paulo hasn’t been very regular in the competition, the team is in the eighth place with 31 points which comparing to the team’s performance in recent seasons the is very disappointing.

Playing at home the team has five wins, three draws and three losses, not making the Morumbi the impregnable stadium of the last few seasons. For Read More

Tottenham vs Arsenal – Carling Cup 

3rd round of the Carling Cup and the biggest rivals of London are head to head. These two teams can’t see one another and all the year they were complaining against each other.

Tottenham did not start well this season and they only manage to get their first win against Wolves, last game, by 3 goals to 1. They were losing 1-0 until 77 minutes.

The coach Redknapp says the Carling Cup is a good opportunity to improve the team and win something, but admits that he needs to rest players after a hard and tiring beginning of the season.

Many think that Arsene Wenger is the only one that saves players for this kind of games but Redknapp will do that Read More

Bahia vs Vila Nova – Brasileirão B 

Key match for both teams but for different reasons.

After beating Ponte Preta (2-1) in their last match Bahia players were received by their fans back home with a huge party, that result gave them the 1st place but they need to win this match if they want to keep leading the league.

For this match Bahia has 4 unavailable players. Marcone, Vander and Rogerinho are out due to injuries and goalkeeper Renê is suspended after issues related to Read More