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Madrid – Barcelona : Fighting it out for the top
With the Big Freeze in England seeing games being called off every day this week so far, what are the chances of the games in the English Premier League going ahead? The clubs have done everything they can to get their pitches in playable condition but the police are taking a bigger role in the games being played.
For instance, Arsenal insisted that their pitch was in playable condition for the game against Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday night but in the interest of public safety, the game was postponed. For football fans wanting to put a bet on for this weekend’s action, the English Premier League may be best avoided.
Liverpool v Spurs Would be a Great Match
Which is a shame, because there is an excellent match to look forward to on Sunday. Much is made of the race for the top four and at Anfield, one of the old guard takes on the challenger to their Champions League qualification spot. Liverpool have been poor this season by their standards but they are still very much in the hunt to take CL qualification.
Spurs are also very much in the hunt for this place though and if they want to give themselves a great chance of being in Europe’s premier football tournament, they will need to take something from Liverpool. Spurs have already defeated Liverpool this season, way back at the start, so will have little to fear when they travel to Merseyside.
Villa Couldn’t do Reds Double
Mind you, Aston Villa already had a victory over Liverpool this season but that was no use to them when Fernando Torres scored an injury time winner at Villa Park to take all three points. Liverpool haven’t picked up three points on too many occasions of late so this away win would have been a blessed relief for Rafa Benitez.
That said, with Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch on good goal scoring form, Harry Redknapp will be more than confident of picking up something from this match. That is of course, if it goes ahead.
And because of the doubt over many of the English Premier League fixtures this weekend, it is worthwhile taking a look around mainland Europe to see what football action will be taking place there.
Head to Spain or Italy for Football Action
Some of the top leagues in Europe are still experiencing a Winter Break but Italy and Spain have been back in action. As always, the race for the title in these countries are pretty exciting and the mini break that these leagues enjoyed haven’t slowed the action down at all.
AC Milan were buoyed on their return by the inclusion of David Beckham in their team but things took a bad start against Genoa. Ronaldinho missed a penalty and Genoa took the lead, with the San Siro starting to groan about the possibility of slipping further behind their neighbours and rivals Inter Milan.
Things changed dramatically though and AC Milan ended up winning 5-2. This is the sort of result that teams dream about on their return to competitive football and will definitely give AC Milan a boost in 2010.
Big Weekend in the Italian league
AC Milan are now five points behind their rivals but a tricky weekend lies in wait. Inter Milan play on Saturday at home to Siena whilst on Sunday, Juventus welcome AC Milan to Turin. With Juventus in third place and now four points behind AC Milan, this could be a battle for all football fans to enjoy.
In fact, you get the impression that Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan fans will enjoy sitting back in front of the television and watching their two closest rivals give each other a hard match. A draw would be an excellent result for Inter Milan and could strengthen their grip at the top of the Italian top flight.
Tight at the Top in Spain
And if you think things are tight at the top of the Italian League, wait until you see how tight it is in Spain. There is no surprise in the fact that Barcelona and Real Madrid are slugging it out at the top of the league but there are only two points behind the old rivals.
Barcelona drew 1-1 at home last weekend but they remain top as Real Madrid stuttered to a 0-0 draw in their away match on Sunday. Both teams play on Sunday this weekend with Real Madrid going first and this means that they have the opportunity to return to the top of the league.
Real Madrid are at home to Real Mallorca and their home form has been blistering so far this season. 8 league games have been played at the Santiago Bernabeu this season and every time, Real Madrid have run out winners. The goal difference for Madrid at home stands at plus 22, with 28 goals scored with only the loss of 6.
It would take a brave man to think that the team from the island will be able to stop Real Madrid making it 9 wins at home this season. This would see Real Madrid return to the top of the league but if they want to stay there, they will need Barcelona to stumble to another island club.
Barcelona Need Win
Tenerife play host to Barcelona on Sunday evening where the Catalan club will be looking to take all three points to ensure they are league leaders. They may be the club who won everything except the Wembley Cup in 2009 but Barcelona are having a mini crisis this week.
Their 1-1 draw at home last weekend was followed up by a 2-1 home defeat to Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey. It is a two legged round but there are now doubts over whether Barcelona will be able to successfully defend all the trophies they picked up in 2009. This was always going to be unlikely given how successful that year was but if Barcelona falter in the domestic cup, there will be some unhappy fans.
Tenerife will Fight but might not Finish
Tenerife are currently in 17th place, 8 points off the bottom of the league but they have impressed this season, although if they had a goal scorer, they would be far higher. Their style of football at the Bernabeu was impressive, especially in the first half, but too many missed chances was their downfall. Madrid managed to turn on the style in the second half and ran out 3-0 winners but the score could have been very different.
If the big freeze continues in England this weekend, don’t think that is the end of the football action, Spain and Italy have a lot of fantastic games on offer.
by Andrew Reilly
for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk
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Dear Greg,
I've been a member since July 2003, maybe one of the first to join the Silver Circle.
2004 was a good year but I really enjoyed the long run we had in, I think, July 2005. It was exhilarating! 2006-2007 was not as exciting although still quite profitable and so far 2007-2008 looks quite good. I'm wondering if we're going to hit a long one again soon. Anyway, it's been a pleasure as always with your service, Greg. Armstrong and you are one of the few people I trust on the internet. You have made my retirement so much more fun and financially happy!
Best Wishes, Trent Wrayford, Sidney
