Wednesdays Soccer Predictions
Carling Cup semi final, second leg
Liverpool – Manchester City 2.80 – 2.80
Leading 1-0 from first leg, how will Liverpool go about this game? Surely they cannot be thinking about defending their slender league? Not at Anfield. We can forget about the recent poor Liverpool displays against Stoke and Bolton. Tomorrow the Liverpool players will be as committed as coach Dalglish can possibly wish for. Winning the Carling Cup is their chance of silver ware this season and all focus will be on this semi final. They would probably sacrifice their FA Cup fixture vs. Man United on Saturday to reach the Carling Cup final. Winning both would of course be optimal, but first things first. J Spearing will be available again tomorrow, S Downing could play from the start, but C Bellamy will be assessed. He has problems playing twice in four days.
City will miss the two Toures, Kompany and the suspended Balotelli. Man City probably played one of their worst forty five minutes of the season in the first leg, but they improved vastly in the second half. Saying that they did not create that many clear cut scoring chances, but this had a lot to do with some excellent Liverpool defending. Anyway their poor start to the game proved costly. Man City are out of the FA Cup and have no game this weekend and the way I see it, they should be able to offer a strong, determined performance tomorrow. At least in theory.
A Wembley final would give Liverpool a 100% satisfaction, but for City, say 80%. I just want do point out that the Liverpool motivation for tomorrow’s game cannot be beaten. The fact that Man City are a stronger team is of course a factor that you cannot dismiss and I cannot picture a more open game than this semi final. City know that they have the capacity to beat Liverpool away from home, but there is no limit to what Liverpool can achieve, when they are having one of those great midweek nights at Anfield. Mancini vs Dalglish? Always Mancini for this writer.
Copa del Rey – second leg
Barcelona – Real Madrid 1.70 – 5.70
It was certainly not Ronaldo’s fault that Real lost the first leg 1-2. He scored their goal and Ronaldo gave a good account of himself. No, it just seems impossible for Real to match Barcelona for the whole 90 minutes. They seem to tire in the second half and all of sudden the Barcelona players are finding more space. No coming back for Real at that stage, or Mourinho has yet to find the right recipe, if there is one. Rumours say that Mourinho will leave in June.
Arbeloa will be back in the Real defence, but it looks like Di Maria and Khedira will be missing again. Pepe is struggling with an injury and he is considered a major injury doubt. Or Mourinho will leave him out, difficult to say really. Players like Xavi, Fabregas and Puyol were rested when Barca defeated Malaga at the weekend. Pedro was fit again and they will all be in contention for this cup game.
Offensive Real tomorrow? Could be. Mourinho has to go for broke. More goals than in the first leg? As a consequence, yes. This 1.70, I cannot use. Real have cost me more than once in this ever going battle of the giants, but 5.70 is always worth considering.
Coppa Italia quarter final
Napoli – Inter 2.50 – 3.17
The home side is struggling of late just about drawing their last two league games at home to Bologna and away to Siena. Nothing can stop Inter from winning their games at the moment. They did not play particularly well against Lazio, but thanks to an offside goal they picked their seventh league win on the trot.
Now which side will be the most motivated in this cup fixture? Lavezzi will start for the home side and their coach is indicating that he will only make marginal changes to his line up. Zuniga and Dzemali could get a chance in their midfield, maybe Fernandez or Britos will start in defence. Inter will travel with a 21 man squad, only missing Forlan, Nagatomo and Stankovic. The actual starting eleven? Who knows!
Napoli are seventh in the league table at the moment, while Inter have rocketed up the table, now on the fourth spot. Inter have Scudetto ambitions, but no longer Napoli. Cup success could be the right tonic for Napoli, but probably not for Inter. This speculation, because it is speculation, will lead me to backing the home win.
Chievo play against Siena in another cup quarter final. Chievo have the home advantage and the odds are 2.43 – 3.36. The home win is over priced and that is a fact. Chievo are 5-3-1 at home, while Siena are 0-4-5 away from home. So why 2.43? OK, Siena defeated Palermo in Sicily in a previous round, but Chievo bettered this by winning away to Udinese. Siena will play their big derby game against Fiorentina in a few days and this fact could also slightly favour Chievo. Siena will travel with a 26 man squad. Why so many? Second choices could dominate their actual starting line up, but this probably goes for Chievo as well. Anyway, my choice will be the home win.
On Thursday the fourth Coppa Italia quarter final will take place between the home side, Milan and Lazio. The odds are 1.91 – 5.00. Milan just about defeated Novara in the previous round. Milan had the home advantage, but they needed extra time to win the match. Milan had changed their line up in ten positions and I expect Allegri to field a much changed, a weakened side also in this match.
Lazio reached this quarter final by defeating Verona 3-2. Their winning goal arrived very late. They played with a strong side against the Serie B side, much stronger than I had expected. No guarantee that they will do so again. You never really know when it comes to Italian cup games, but Lazio will be much stronger than Novara, that is almost a guarantee. My choice in this quarter final would be the away win.