Sport
TACKLING THE £2,000,000 MILLIONAIRE
Round four of the Champions League group stage this week and there are some very interesting ties involving some of the English clubs.
Its little brother the Europa League also sees English participation in what could prove to be a week when the clubs from old Blighty announce themselves back on the European stage.
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Man Utd vs. CSKA Moscow
Level on points. Level on goals scored. Level on goals conceded.
It doesn’t get any closer than that.
United will be desperate to rid themselves of a ghastly League Cup exit at the hands of Middlesbrough at this venue just a week ago.
The Russian’s can take heart in the performance of the Championship team who were in no way overawed by the occasion or the size of the home support.
With only a few hardy souls expected to travel from Moscow, Old Trafford will be almost exclusively Red and they will come expecting a victory. Why? Because United haven’t lost in 90 minutes at home this season.
The European nights are always extra special under the lights at the Theatre of Dreams and Louis Van Gaal’s mission must be to ensure his team are confident to knock the ball around and play football.
Against Middlesbrough, for the first time this season, the Red Devils looked devoid of confidence and Wayne Rooney was particularly poor. There is an argument that the England captain should be dropped but he remains a match-winner when on song.
A goal or two here will kick-start his season and give United lift-off in Group B.
2-1 or 3-1 are my first selections this week.
Sevilla vs. Man City
Manuel Pellegrini’s men travel to Andalusia knowing that a win will all but secure their passage into the next stage of the competition.
City will have to do so without the services of David Silva and Sergio Aguero who are still injured, and as was proved in the first match played between these two, this is by no means a given for the visitors.
A pulsating atmosphere at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan is assured. Unai Emery’s side are steadily improving and have brought themselves right back into contention in the La Liga table after a disastrous start to the campaign.
Winning their last three games at home, including against Barcelona, is evidence of the continuing improvement and Pellegrini’s swashbucklers have to be careful not to go too gung-ho because the likes of Michael Krohn-Dehli and the in-form Ever Banega will pick them off.
Yevhen Konoplyanka continues to draw admiring glances from Premier League clubs and remains the biggest threat to City flying back home with a win.
This one has entertainment written all over it and there will be goals at both ends. Just not enough for a win.
1-1 or AOD are my selections.
Chelsea vs. Dynamo Kiev
A disappointing goalless draw for Chelsea in Kiev can probably be attributed as much to an arduous journey as to a quite unbelievable lack of form at present.
Just a point separates these two in Group G and with Porto expected to beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the other game, a draw is the absolute minimum required for the Blues.
A win of course puts them in the box seat for qualification with the Portuguese and would give the club a much-needed respite from their worst start to a season in over 35 years.
The kings of the King’s Road need a break and this game does represent the perfect opportunity.
Although the visitors have only conceded in two games since mid-August, both of those were in the Champions League.
When put under pressure, Sergey Rebrov’s side are vulnerable. There just haven’t been enough sides domestically to do so.
Chelsea, unfortunately, didn’t manage to acquit themselves well enough a fortnight ago even though they were the better side for long periods, but home advantage should be significant here.
Diego Costa’s possible omission could hurt the Blues but it would give a fading Radamel Falcao a chance to resurrect his career on the biggest stage.
Can’t see past a home win here, even if it’s a narrow victory. 1-0 and 2-0 are my selections.
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Roma vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Could we have another eight goal thriller in prospect? Very possibly where these two teams are concerned!
Superb in attack and utterly devoid of defensive prowess at times, both Rudi Garcia and Roger Schmidt must be tearing their hair out at times.
Both will set up in their usual 4-4-2 formation and whomever gets their noses in front has to learn from the first encounter and be able to sit on and protect the lead.
With Javier Hernandez and Mo Salah in such fine form for each side, the centre-backs really need to work at closing down the gaps between them.
In the first game, there were acres of green space for the forwards to exploit and was precisely the reason for the topsy-turvy nature of proceedings.
The hosts will certainly make a game of it and at the time of writing were unbeaten since another incredible affair in Belarus against BATE Borisov.
Bayer have been similarly unbeaten and 14 goals in three games hints at the danger the Germans present.
AOD or 2-3 for your coupon and another almighty Champions League encounter!
Rubin Kazan vs. Liverpool
The honeymoon period is as good as over for Jurgen Klopp. Thanks goodness. “Klopp mania” was beginning to get just that little bit tiresome.
He isn’t the Messiah and his first few results have shown everyone that perhaps Brendan Rodgers wasn’t at fault for the malaise that the club currently find themselves in.
Klopp noted at his press conference that he needs to be given time and as long as the locals can rein in their expectations, the German will get things right eventually.
This one won’t be a game for the purist and goals will certainly be at a premium.
It’s not often we see a home side with a backs-against-the-wall performance but Kazan don’t have the staff to take the game to their illustrious opponents and will settle for making life difficult for them.
Goals have been hard to come by for both Rodgers’ Liverpool vintage and Klopp’s, so having Christian Benteke back is a huge bonus for the Reds.
If there is going to be one player to score a winner, the towering Belgian will be the one to make the difference.
Bore draw or an important single-goal victory for Liverpool. 0-0 or 0-1 for your coupon.
Tottenham vs. Anderlecht
Whilst not quite a must-win affair for the north Londoners, another defeat to Anderlecht and a win for group leaders Monaco against FK Qarabag would leave Spurs with an uphill struggle for one of the top two places.
The loss against the Belgians is their only one in the last six which has included creditable performances at Swansea and Bournemouth.
Harry Kane’s renaissance couldn’t have come at a better time for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and the hat-trick scored by the England international at the Vitality Stadium will have filled him with the confidence that seems to have been missing from his game this season.
Andros Townsend needs to improve markedly from his last performance against this opposition and get at their weak link – left-back Ivan Obradovic – as often as possible.
Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele might also be disappointed with their application in Belgium, and a shut out of the tricky Youri Tielemans could author a decent home win.
1-1 won’t necessarily suit Spurs, but neither is it a disaster.
