A must-win game for Manchester United. Losing to Chelsea before the international break opened up the gap with the Blues to 5 points. Manchester United is currently 3rd placed in the Premier League Standings. Arsenal is 2nd, with same points and a better goal differential, but with an extra game in hand. Thus it looks like the Red Devils will be coming from behind this year in the title race.
Sir Alex Ferguson cannot be happy despite the good showing of his side at Stamford Bridge. Can we say that the departure of Christiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez is starting to be felt now? Manchester scored 23 goals so far in 12 games while conceding 12. In other words they score about 2 and allow 1 per game, which is barely good enough to win games in England's top flight. In comparison, Arsenal's goal count reached 36 already in only 11 games.
Although Ferguson brought Michael Owen and Valencia to Old Trafford during offseason, it looks like Manchester United is missing that something special. Maybe the brilliance of the departing duo. Don't get me wrong, Red Devils still have a deep squad, but without Ronaldo and Tevez, are they good enough to challenge the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter, Chelsea? Only time will tell, but so far in the EPL they are definitely struggling. They lost 2 derby matches against Liverpool and Chelsea. To make things worse Rio Ferdinand is out indefinitely with chronic injuries. Paul Scholes and Ryann Giggs are not getting any younger. Owen Hargreaves still hasn't made his long-waited return.
This is the reflection of the team to outside. But Ferguson, one of the greatest coaches of all time, must know what he is doing. It is no time to panic as in his long career, Ferguson went through stages like this and managed to take his team back to the top.
Everton
Everton also has been getting bad results. They could win only once in their last 8 games. They were humiliated by Benfica in their Europa League game in Portugal. Sitting at the 12th spot is definitely failing for a team expected to challenge top 4 each year. David Moyes has his work cut out for himself. He'll have to worry about how get his team back on its feet during the absences of Phil Neville, Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar, who are all out with injuries.
Russian international Diniyar Bilyaletdinov will miss out the game against ManU due to suspension. The decision about Tim Cahill playing will be made at game time.
Match Prediction
Manchester United is too strong at home. They got 5 wins and a draw from their 6 home games so far this season. They also managed to defeat Everton 4 times in the last 6 matches, the other two ended in draws.
I think Manchester United will have no trouble getting all 3 points today. They have to win in order to keep up with Chelsea and Arsenal. Red Devils never disappoint in pressure situations like this one. They have quality players to solve dead lock situations like Rooney, Berbatov and Nani.
The odds for ManU win are listed at 1.40 right now, so I recommend a small parlay of ManU win with Barcelona win from La Liga to maximize the earnings.
For more detailed forecasts like this, visit sportscritique . net
REASON: In recent weeks, Barcelona was slowed down by Osasuna and Rubin Kazan draws. However, just when question marks started appearing on their dominance, they came back to life with 2 easy victories over Mallorca and Cultural Leonesa (in Copa Del Rey).
As being considered the top team on the planet by many, they will go through a challenging period starting today. In a week's time Barca will face Bilbao first on the road in a league game, then they'll battle with Inter in a game they have to win in order to move on to the next stages of the Champions League. And finally comes the El Classico against arch rivals Real Madrid.
We'll learn more about the character of this Barca team. At times like this we'll be able to tell if the current Barca team can be the all-time-great.
Due to the busy schedule, it's not known what kind of lineup that Guardiola will choose for today's match against Bilbao. Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not play today, but Thierry Henry will be involved.
On the Bilbao side, the players made some honest statements to the Spanish media midweek, admitting the big difference in terms of quality and talent between the two teams. They are well aware of their slim-to-none chances in this game, and they'll play up to their strength.
Atletico Bilbao scores very few goals. They have 11 in 10 games so far. Making things worse, they will be without their top scorers today, who are out with injuries. To be honest, I don't expect a "beautiful game" from Barcelona today as they will have a lot to think about next week. They will do their minimum to score couple goals and kill the game there. Since the odds for Barca win are listed at 1.57, I recommend a parlay with Manchester United win to increase the earnings.
REASON: Before the international break, Roma held Inter to a 1-1 draw at Giuseppe Meazza. Despite that the Nerazzurri are atop of the Serie A standings, 5 points clear of their closest rival Juventus. After today’s away game against Bologna, Inter will travel to Spain to face a tough Barcelona team at Camp Nou.
Mourinho knows that a win at Bologna today will boost the morale before the big test against his former club. So I don’t think he’ll rest too many players. Sneijder won’t feature against Bologna after he picked up an injury with his national team.
Bologna surprised everyone by beating Palermo 3-1 in their last game. They are currently placed 15th in the league table. They desperately need points to stay clear of the relegation zone. Even a draw against Inter would be good for them today.
Inter has a clear dominance over this matchup. Last 5 games between the 2 sides were all won by Inter. I think the same scenario will play out tonight and Inter will claim all 3 points. It may be ugly, but it will count as a win for the league leaders.
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21 Nov. 2009 - PICKS
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