The Age-Old Rivalry Is Renewed!

Yes, Manchester United travel to the home of the wealthiest club in the world Manchester City. A real clash of talent, history and support versus a club with no history but a very wealthy owner. Despite United’s blatant advantage in terms of class and ability, they have failed to beat City in at least the last 2 occasions, each one of them largely galling for an avid Red like myself. One of the results City thoroughly deserved, winning 2-1 at Old Trafford. The other they managed to win by pure fluke, but it’s 3 points that count at the end of the day. However, this clash arrives at a time when United need the points and the goals whilst facing a City side in poor form. All this is irrelevant, however, when it comes to the game itself. It’s about time United beat them in this fixture. Recently, Wayne Rooney is one United player who has pissed me off. He’s cost us more points this season than any other player and I’m currently very critical of his performances in general, largely because he doesn’t have an “average” performance – he’s either brilliant or a complete handicap to the squad. I hope he proves me wrong by scoring on sunday, but in his current vein of form, there’s more chance of Stoke City winning the English Premier League. Anyway, as Monty Python once famously said – “Enough of this gay banter!” – onto the picks.

Sunday’s Picks 

Albanian Kategoria Pare: 

 

Besa vs Bylis (5)
Shkumbini vs Dinamo Tirana (3)

Argentinian Primera Division: 

Boca Juniors vs Racing (8)
Newell’s Old Boys vs Velez Sarsfeld (5)
Tigre vs River Plate (6)

Austrian Bundesliga: 

SV Mattersburg vs Salzburg (6)

Belgian Eerste Klasse: 

Club Brugge vs Germinal Beerschot (10)
Mechelen vs Standard de Liege (9)

Brazilian Campeonato Serie A: 

Atletico MG vs Santos (6)
Botafogo vs Figueirense FC (8)
Coritiba FBC vs CR Vasco da Gama (6)
FC Vitoria vs Palmeiras (5)
Flamengo vs Goias (7)
Internacional vs Cruzeiro (7)
Nautico vs Atletico Paranaense (5)
Portuguesa de Desportos vs Sport Recife (4)
Sao Paulo vs Fluminense (8)

Bulgarian A PFG: 

PFC Cherno More Varna vs PFC Minior Pernik (7)
PFC Litex Lovech vs Spartak Varna (9)

Chilean Primera Division: 

Rangers de Talca vs Palestino (5)

Croatian Prva Liga: 

Cibalia vs Croatia Sesvete (3)
Hajduk Split vs NK Osijek (7)
NK Slaven Koprivnica vs Rijeka (6)
NK Varteks vs Dinamo Zagreb (6)
NK Zagreb vs Sibenik (6)
Zadar vs Inter Zapresic (5)

Cypriot Division A: 

AEP vs AC Omonia Nicosia (8)
Anorthosis Famagusta vs Atromitos Yeroskipou (10)

Czech Republic Liga 1: 

Bohemians Prague vs Ceske Budjovice (5)
Pribram vs Slavia Prague (8)
Teplice vs Viktoria Plzen (6)

Danish Superligaen: 

AaB vs FC Copenhagen (6)
EfB vs Randers (6)
Horsens vs SonderjyskE (5)
Midtylland vs FC Nordsjaelland (8)

Dutch Eredivisie: 

AFC Ajax Amsterdam vs FC Utrecht (7)
NEC Nijmegen vs Volendam (9)
Sparta Rotterdam vs NAC Breda (7)
Vitesse Arnhem vs Feyenoord Rotterdam (6)

Dutch Eerste Klasse: 

Emmen vs Go Ahead Eagles (5)

Ecuadorian Primera A: 

Barcelona vs Macara (8)
Deportivo Quito vs LDU Quito (5)

English Premier League: 

Chelsea vs Arsenal (6)
Manchester City vs Manchester United (3)
Portsmouth vs Blackburn Rovers (7)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton (7)

English Championship: 

Swansea City vs Cardiff City (6)

French Ligue 1: 

AS Nancy-Lorraine vs Saint-Etienne (6)
Stade Rennais vs Paris Saint-Germain (6)
Toulouse vs Olympique de Marseille (3)

German Bundesliga: 

BV09 Borussia Dortmund vs VFL Wolfsburg (6)
VFB Stuttgart vs Schalke 04 (6)
VFL Bochum vs Hamburg (8)

Greek Super League: 

Aris Salonica vs Panserraikos (7)
Ergotelis vs Xanthi (6)
Levadiakos vs AEK Athens (6)
Olympiakos Piraeus vs Panionios (7)
Panthrakikos vs OFI Crete (7)

Italian Serie A: 

AS Roma vs Fiorentina (6)
Atalanta Bergamo vs Lazio (8)
Cagliari vs Sampdoria (6)
Genoa vs Bologna (7)
Internazionale vs SSC Napoli (7)
Palermo vs AC Milan (7)
Siena vs Torino (5)
Udinese vs Chievo Verona (8)

Luxembourgian Division Nationale: 

CS Grevenmacher vs Hamm (7)
Differdange vs Hesperange (8)
Dudelange vs Progres (6)
Fola vs Jeunesse Esch (5)
Kaerjeng vs Rumelange (7)
Racing FC Union Luxembourg vs Sporting Steinfor (6)

Macedonian Prva Liga: 

Metalurg Skopje vs Rabotnicki (8)
Pelister vs Renova (7)
Pobeda vs Makedonija (6)
Sileks vs Turnovo (5)
Vardar vs Milano (6)

Maltese Premier League: 

Qormi FC vs Sliema Wanderers (7)
Msida vs Hibernians (5)

Peruvian Primera Division: 

Alianza Atletico vs San Martin (7)
Alianza Lima vs Universitario (5)
Atletico Minero vs Sporting Cristal (6)
Cesar Vallejo vs Melgar FBC (6)
Coronel Bolognesi vs Juan Aurich (4)
Sport Ancash vs Club Sportivo Cienciano (6)
Sport Boys vs Jose Galvez (6)

Polish Ekstraklasa: 

Odra Wodzislaw vs Lech Poznan (7)
Polonia Warsaw vs Arka Gdynia (7)

Portuguese Liga: 

Braga vs CD Nacional (5)
Pacos de Ferreira vs Estrela da Amadora (6)
Sporting Clube de Lisbon vs Vitoria Guimaraes (8)
Trofense vs Rio Ave (7)

Romanian Liga 1: 

CFR Cluj vs Gaz Metan (8)
Gloria Bistrita vs Gloria Buzau (8)
Steau Bucharest vs AFC Unirea Urziceni (4)

Slovakian Superliga: 

MSK Zilina vs Kosice (6)

Slovenian Liga 1; 

Celje vs Rudar (6)
Domzale vs Primorje (7)

Spanish Primera Liga: 

Almeria vs Deportivo la Coruna (5)
Athletic Club de Bilbao vs Numancia (7)
Atletico Madrid vs Racing Club de Santander (7)
Espanyol vs Real Sporting de Gijon (7)
Malaga vs Osasuna (6)
Real Valladolid vs Real Mallorca (7)
Recreativo de Huelva vs Villarreal (7)
Valencia vs Real Betis (7)

Spanish Segunda Liga: 

Alicante vs Levante (5)
Castellon vs Alaves (7)
Gimnastic de Tarragona vs Hercules (6)
Tenerife vs Real Zaragoza (7)
UD Salamanca vs Cordoba (8)

Swiss Super League: 

Bellinzona vs Vaduz (5)
Xamax vs Basel (7)

Turkish Super Lig: 

Bursaspor vs Antalyaspor (7)
Galatasaray vs Hacettepe SK (9)
Genclerbirligi SK vs Istanbul BB (4)
Kocaelispor vs Konyaspor (6)

Ukrainian Premier League: 

Dynamo Kiev vs Dnipro Dnepropetrovsk (8)
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Karpaty (8)
Tavriya vs Metalist Kharkiv (8)

Venezuelan Primera Division: 

AC Mineros vs UA Maracaibo (5)
Anzoategui vs Zamora (5)
Aragua vs Dep. Italia (6)
Caracas FC vs Monagas SC (7)
Estudiantes de Merida vs Estrella Roja (6)
Guaros de Lara vs Deportivo Tachira (9)
Llanero vs Carabobo (5)
Portuguesa vs Minerven (6)
Zulia vs Atletico Vigia (8)

Enjoy

Uruguay Stands Still

…but we continue!

Yes, the news that the Uruguayan Primera Division will be indefinitely suspended came out of the blue. Uruguay has had its problems before, it’s true, but that was some time ago now. However, a riot broke out recently in a game between rivals Danubio and Nacional de Montevideo. Danubio had won the game 1-0 before the fans invaded the pitch. It took a considerable amount of time for the riot to be quelled and AUF President Jose Luis Corbo has stated there will be no further games until they resolve security issues in the country in regards to football.

I find such information interesting. That’s the handicap of being a football maniac, I’m afraid – you will have to suffer such rants in future.

Friday’s Picks

Argentinian Primera Division: 

Arsenal de Sarandi vs Newell’s Old Boys (5)
Banfield vs Huracan (6)

Bulgarian A PFG: 

Spartak Varna vs Lokomotiv Sofia (7)

Dutch Eredivisie: 

Volendam vs Roda JC (6)

Dutch Eerste Divisie: 

BV Veendam vs FC Emmen VV (7)
Cambuur Leeuwarden vs SC Stormvogels Telstar (8)
Excelsior vs Dordrecht ’90 (9)
FC Omniworld vs FC Zwolle (8)
Fortuna Sittard vs AGOVV Appeldoorn (5)
Haarlem FC vs MVV Maastricht (6)
Helmond Sport vs VVV Venlo (7)
RKC Waalwijk vs FC Eindhoven (8)
Top Oss vs RBC Roosendaal (6)

Ecuadorian Primera A: 

Macara vs Club Deportivo Cuenca (6)

English Championship: 

Swansea City vs Birmingham City (3)

English League Two: 

Grimsby Town vs Bournemouth (7)

German Bundesliga: 

Karlsruhe vs BV09 Borussia Dortmund (5)

Italian Serie B: 

Piacenza vs US Avellino (7)

Polish Ekstraklasa: 

Polonia Bytom vs LKS Lodz (7)
Ruch Chorzow vs Legia Warsaw (7)

Portuguese Liga: 

Rio Ave vs Leixoes (8)

Romanian Liga 1: 

Pandurii vs CFR Cluj (6)
Univ. Craiova vs Steau Bucharest (7)

Ukrainian Premier League: 

Metalist Kharkiv vs Zorya Lugansk (7)
Metalurg Zaporizhya vs Kryvbas (7)
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Lviv (8)

Venezuelan Primera Divsion: 

U.A. Maracaibo vs Anzoategui (5)

Welsh Premier League: 

Airbus vs Rhyl (8)
Prestatyn Town vs Connah’s Quay (6)
Welshpool vs Caersws (6)

Enjoy