European Competitions Football News
Stoke Home Form Likely To Be Too Strong For Besiktas
Published on 28/09/2011 14:05
Stoke come into this match on the back of a great result against Man Utd and despite being kept busy so far this season with twelve competitive matches so far Stoke have been defeated just the once and have so far performed well in the Europa League. Besiktas will be used to the opposition being the team intimidated by the atmosphere at their ground but it could be Besiktas who are the intimidated ones this time with Stoke's fans at the Britannia Stadium often recognised …
Tottenham Set For Easy Win Against Shamrock Rovers
Published on 28/09/2011 14:03
A rare competitive Anglo-Irish match sees Shamrock Rovers travel to White Hart Lane this week, Shamrock were surprise qualifiers for the group stage and have been rewarded with a great opportunity to impress here. It has been fifth years since an Irish club last played a competitive match in England and with Spurs drawing their last two matches in this competition 0-0, fans and neutrals will be hoping this doesn't end in yet another stalemate.
With this deemed…
Maribor A Good Bet To Continue Birmingham Away Day Misery
Published on 28/09/2011 14:02
Birmingham continue to juggle Championship football with a Europa League campaign this week, last season's Carling Cup winners flew out to Slovenia on Tuesday morning and Chris Hughton will no doubt be expecting a very tough match. Birmingham need to balance their commitments this season, they are already closer to relegation than promotion and results need to improve domestically or the fans will become extremely restless.
Akwasi Asante and Luke Hubbins are both…
Game Between Valencia And Chelsea Expected To Be Very Tight
Published on 28/09/2011 10:19
Chelsea travel to Spain on Wednesday night to take on Valencia, Chelsea are the favourites to win despite Valencia having had a little more success than Chelsea in the last decade in this competition, Valencia reached the final of the Champions League in both 2000 and 2001 whilst Chelsea were beaten finalists in 2008. This is the last competition on Roman Abramovich's 'to do' list and he has spent a lot of money in the past eighteen months in his pursuit of the…
Andres Iniesta still sidelined as Barcelona clash with Bate Borisov in Champions League fixture
Published on 28/09/2011 08:14
Bate Borisov and Barcelona will clash for the first time in history in tonight’s Champions League group match, and despite home advantage the Belarus-based side are trading as big as 25.0 in the full time result market. In fact, of this week’s matches in Europe’s premier tournament they are the biggest price of any team in this market.
Bate qualified fairly comfortable for the group stages over two legs against Sturm Graz, and earned a creditable draw away to …
Champions League: AC Milan lock horns with Czech Republic title holders Viktoria Plzen
Published on 27/09/2011 22:10
AC Milan meet Czech Republic title holders Viktoria Plzen for the first time in a competitive match at the San Siro on Wednesday night and, having earned a highly creditable draw away to Barcelona in their opening Champions League fixture, the Rossonerri can put themselves in a strong position to qualify from the group at least as runners-up by bagging three points.
The Italian champions failed to follow-up their heroics in the Camp Nou back in domestic action five days later…
Arsenal Expected To Get Another Morale Boosting Win Against Olympiakos
Published on 27/09/2011 16:44
Arsenal found it tough going to get to the group stage this season, having to play a qualifier against Udinese after finishing fourth in the Premiership last season, and a last gasp equaliser for Borussia Dortmund in Arsenal's first group game showed that qualification for the knockout stages is going to be even tougher than the qualification for the group stages was. Arsenal will be pleased to be playing this tie at home though, they have been a solid proposition at home in …
Man Utd Without Rooney And Hernandez For Basel Clash
Published on 27/09/2011 10:34
Man Utd could only draw their opening Champions League fixture against Benfica whilst Basel won their opening match against Galati which means Basel go into this match at Old Trafford as the top team in the group. Basel may fancy their chances in this match with Man Utd missing several first teamers but they have it all to do if they are to keep top spot in Group C for a second match running.
Man Utd will go into this match without their regular strike partners Wayne Rooney…
Real Madrid likely to outclass Ajax in Champions League encounter at the Bernabeu
Published on 27/09/2011 08:12
Real Madrid kicked off their Champions League campaign with a gritty 1-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, and Jose Mourinho’s men should take another step towards qualifying for the knockout stages by seeing off Dutch outfit Ajax at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
Mourinho will be without Fabio Coentrao and Pepe, while Ricardo Carvalho may also be forced to miss the match through injury, but the former Chelsea and Inter boss has a strong squad at his disposal, and…
Blow for Inter Milan as Wesley Sneijder ruled out of clash with CSKA Moscow in Russia
Published on 27/09/2011 08:08
Due to a muscle problem, Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder has been ruled out of Tuesday afternoon’s trip to Russia to face CSKA Moscow when the second round of Champions League group matches commence.
The Dutchman will be sorely missed in a match that the Italian giants can ill afford to lose, having been turned over by Trabzonspor in their opening match of the tournament on September 14. However, with the appointment of Claudio Ranieri came instant gains for the…
Are Manchester City good value at around 11-4 against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena?
Published on 27/09/2011 08:07
I was initially surprised to see that Manchester City are priced up at around the 11-4 mark for Tuesday evening’s Champions League encounter with Bayern Munich, but the more I think about it the less likely I believe it is that Roberto Mancini’s charges will get anything from this match at the Allianz Arena.
Indeed, in terms of pedigree the Citizens have a long way to go if they’re to rival the German giants, and for all that exponential amounts of money have …
Spurs Youngsters Can Get Point At PAOK Salonika
Published on 14/09/2011 16:31
A year ago Tottenham were beginning their amazing Champions League campaign which ended in the quarter final against Real Madrid. Twelve months on Spurs are back in the Europa League and manager Harry Redknapp has described it as a nuisance which means he will give his younger players an opportunity to develop and impress in this competition leaving his first team fresh for their Premiership campaign.
Carlo Cudicini is likely to start in goal with Brad Freidal not…
Fulham Likely To Continue Bad Form Against Twente
Published on 14/09/2011 16:30
Martin Jol should know FC Twente well, the Dutchman will have faced them several times during his time at Ajax and he recently bought Bryan Ruiz off the club so will have done some recent scouting of the team too. He will certainly need good knowledge of Twente to get a result here after what is quite a poor start to the season, Fulham have so far picked up just two points from their four league games and all of those matches have been winnable matches.
Fulham are…
Braga Will Be Very Tough Opponents For Birmingham
Published on 14/09/2011 16:29
Birmingham are one of the few sides in recent years to juggle Championship football with a European campaign and are so far doing well with it but they have been handed a tough fixture against the team that knocked Liverpool out of the Europa League last season.
Chris Wood will continue in attack for Birmingham following his hat trick at the weekend against Millwall and he should be joined in attack by Adam Rooney. Gary Caldwell will continue to partner Liam Ridgewell …
Stoke May Settle For Draw In Ukraine
Published on 14/09/2011 16:29
Stoke have made a great start to the season and have dealt with the duel demands of Premiership and European football well so far but now the group stage is beginning it will make life even tougher, especially with an away trip to Ukraine to take on former Champions League regulars Dynamo Kiev.
Stoke have no new injury problems following their win over Liverpool on Saturday which means Tony Pulis could choose to field an unchanged side from the weekend. Tony Pulis will …
Bank on Bayern Munich to sink the Yellow Submarine in Spain this evening
Published on 14/09/2011 08:27
An intriguing Champions League clash takes part in Spain this evening when Villarreal host Bayern Munich, and while Die Roten will start the match as favourites, the hosts have never lost to German opposition at the Camp El Madrigal.
These sides feature in the ‘group of death’, with Manchester City and Napoli making up the quartet of sides, and neither Villarreal nor Bayern will be happy with a draw tonight.
Personally, I’m a big fan of Bayern, and though…
Diego Forlan ineligible for Inter Milan's opening Champions League group match
Published on 14/09/2011 08:15
Following Inter Milan’s surprise defeat at the hands of Palermo in their opening Serie A match – the first time they’ve been defeated in their first match of the domestic season since 2000 – Gian Piero Gasperini will be hoping his side can get their Champions League adventure off to a flying start when Turkish side Trabzonspor visit the Giuseppe Meazza this evening.
The visitors are only in this competition because Fenerbache were axed from the…
Real Madrid poised to commence Champions League campaign with a victory in Croatia
Published on 14/09/2011 08:01
Dinamo Zagreb and Real Madrid lock horns for the first time in a competitive match in their group match this evening, a group which really ought to be a doddle for los Blancos to progressive from as top dogs.
That said, this fixture could be tricky, given that Jose Mourinho’s men travel to the Croatian capital, and while the Spanish giants will be long odds-on, it probably wouldn’t be perceived as disastrous for the La Liga outfit if they were to take a point from…
Man City Home Record Too Strong For Napoli
Published on 13/09/2011 13:19
Man City begin life in the Champions League with a tough game and a tough group but they couldn't be in any better form going into the game. Man City sit joint top of the Premiership and have scored a huge fifteen goals in their four league matches so far. Add in the fact that Man City have conceded just one goal at home in their last ten matches and they are clearly going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. Napoli are not a side to be underestimated though,…
Man Utd Set To Keep Up Strong Champions League Record Against Benfica
Published on 13/09/2011 11:56
Man Utd have become true specialists in this competition with three appearances in the Champions League Final in four seasons. Even Barcelona can't boast about that but they have of course beaten Man Utd in two of those finals. Many think Barcelona are once again the only team standing in the way of European success for Man Utd this season and it will be interesting to see how Man Utd's youngsters deal with the added pressure that the Champions League brings.
Rio…
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