Torstain Uefa-cup ottelut...

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UEFA Cup

Nancy - Feyenoord 2.10 - 3.95
I back the formidable home side, Nancy. (2.10) They are 7-1-0 in the French league in 8 home games. Last week they draw their away game with Basle. (2-2) There was a bizarre ending to the game, with Nancy being rewarded a last minute penalty. At the same time, the Basle keeper was shown the red card. In came Petric, the Basle forward, and he went on to save the penalty. Tomorrow Nancy will once again be without their first choice keeper Bracigliano, but Kim, the striker, should be available.

Terrible weekend for Feyenoord, losing 1-4 to lowly NEC Nijmegen. Key player, T Lucius, had to leave the match with an injury, and he will not be able to play tomorrow, but their left back Drenthe should be OK. Both D Buijs and De Guzman will be available.

I guess that I will always respect the "big club" Feyenoord, but looking at this fixture without old history, I have to support the home win. (2.10)

Wisla Krakow - Basle 2.40 - 3.00
The domestic season ended some 3 weeks ago and could be that Wisla will be lacking the competitive edge tomorrow. They are without points in this group and they must go for the 6 points in their last remaining group games.

Basle are in the same situation, and the Swiss side just has to win this fixture to have any chance of advancing to the next round. Maybe both these teams know that their present UEFA Cup campaign is a lost cause. Basle welcome back their defender Majstorovic, but they will be without Eduardo and possibly Nakata. I have no idea. OK, the away win. (3.00)

Ajax - Espanyol 1.73 - 5.10
Four matches without a win for Ajax, since their loss against PSV. Last week they drew their away game with Sparta Prague, 0-0. They were down to 10 men after half an hour. At the weekend, vs. another Sparta team, Sneijder was red carded after some 15 minutes, and this time Ajax were heavily beaten, 3-0. Their coach is talking about a mental blow. I call it lack of discipline. Emanuelson is suspended tomorrow, but Sneijder will play.

Espanyol will be without Rufete, but include both Moises Hurtado and Jonatan in their squad. In form Pandiani probably preferred to Tamudo up front. They have maximum 6 points and their remaining fixture is in Barcelona and could be that the Espanyol players will not be 100% focused on this fixture. Likely home win, but I have my doubts about the 1.73 offered on the home win.

Austria Wien - Sparta Prague 2.30 - 2.90
Surely both sides can forget about this UEFA Cup. Quite a meaningless fixture in other words. Injuries make me suggest the away win. (2.90) A Wien will be without quite a few regulars. Vachousek, Troyansky, Tokic and Schiemer are all out of this game. They all were part of the starting line up against Ajax some weeks ago. Blanchard and Aigner are both injury doubts.

Sparta top the Czech league. I cannot guarantee that this Czezh side will do their utmost to win this rather irrelevant cup game, but as I pointed out, the Austria absentees make me support the away win. (2.90)

Mlada Boleslav - P S G 2.40 - 2.85
I like the circumstances, as both sides must go for the win. PSG wanted a 0-0 draw in their first away game in this group, vs Rapid, and they managed just that, but tomorrow a draw is probably useless. PSG have travelled with almost an injury free squad, with only Frau and P Cesar missing. PSG have struggled week in and week out and it is kind of difficult for me to trust the club. They have played so many must win games this season, and they have more or less failed in all, so why now?

Mlada disappointed at the weekend, drawing their home fixture with the bottom side, Slovacko. Maybe the draw with Rapid Bukarest last week had something to do with their poor effort vs Slovacko. These smaller clubs with limited squads have problems to handle all the matches.

Cannot help it, but my gut feeling is the away win. (2.85)

Panathinaikos - Rapid Bukarest 1.90 - 4.50
This Greek side is winning all their matches at the moment, both domestically and in this UEFA Cup. They could use one additional point to secure their passage to the next round. Reports indicate that their coach will change his side on 4-5 positions for this game. Could be that Mantzios will replace one of Papadopoulos or Salpiggidis up front for example.

Rapid will be without their first choice keeper and their striker Mazilu. Rapid have drawn all their 3 group games and must defeat Panathinaikos tomorrow. The way I see it, they had their chance of qualifying last week, at home to Mlada Boleslav. Their failure to defeat Mlada will cost them, and I should think that Panathinaikos will at least get the draw.

Celta Vigo - Fenerbahce 1.80 - 4.60
Placente and Iriney will be fit to play, and apart form the long term absentees, Celta will be able to draw from their strongest squad. I opposed Celta at the weekend, at home to Zaragoza. Unfortunately for my bet, Zaragoza were down to 10 men quite early in the game, and the match ended in a draw. Opposing Celta at their own place has been quite profitable this season, as they have lost 4 of their 6 league home fixtures. They also failed to beat Eintracht last week, at home of course.

I do not know how to assess this Fenerbahce side. Their away display at Newcastle was far from impressive, but the 3-0 win against Palermo seems like a strong result. We should know however, that Palermo came with their B - squad. Plenty of strong footballers in this Turkish side, marshalled by Zico, that is for sure. OK, I will back the away win. Nothing wrong with the price. (4.60)

Eintracht Frankfurt - Newcastle 1.73 - 5.10
Home win. (1.73) I take it for granted that Newcastle will field their weakest UEFA - side this far, despite the fact that Newcastle do not play any league game this coming weekend. Their best players Dyer, Parker, Duff, Carr, Martins and so on, will absolutely be rested.

Frankfurt miss the suspended A Meier. The Germans must be expected to win this match, but the bookmakers took early measures and this 1.60 - 1.73 or something is not worth the trouble. Newcastle seem to enjoy playing UEFA - cup games. No bet for this writer.

Chris.