Monday, November 02, 2009

Midweek TV Preview: 2 - 5 November 2009

Monday 2 November

19.45 Sheffield Utd v Newcastle Utd, Championship, Sky Sports 1/HD1
The Blades are in an awful slump that could see them in big trouble if they don't snap out of it quick. A last minute winner from Kevin Nolan ended Newcastle's own winless run last time out but they can go back top with a win here.

Tuesday 3 November

19.45 Bayern Munich v Bordeaux, UEFA Champions League Group A, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 4)
Bordeaux's win on Matchday 3 was helped in no small part to Bayern having to play the last hour a man down. Bayern's form is improving so Bordeaux will probably have to wait another day to get the three points they need to progress to the next stage.

19.45 Maccabi v Juventus, UEFA Champions League Group A, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 5)
While imperious in Liget Al, Maccabi have struggled in this group losing all three of their matches so far. Juventus are unpredictable at the moment: beating Sampdoria convincingly midweek only to let a two goal lead slip in Saturday's defeat to Napoli. Juve have won just one of their last eight games in the Champions League.

19.45 Besiktas v Wolfsburg, UEFA Champions League Group B, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 8)
While bottom of their group, Besiktas have a good home record in this competition and could emerge as surprise qualifiers.

19.45 Manchester Utd v CSKA Moscow, UEFA Champions League Group B, Sky Sports 2/HD2
A win will see United through. They should get it get but don't expect them to bust a gut to get it with two more games to play after this one.

19.45 AC Milan v Real Madrid, UEFA Champions League Group C, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 3)
If you missed the reverse fixture two weeks ago you missed a comedy show with five of the poorest goals you'll see. Milan's win seems to have really knocked Madrid who have had even more embarrassing results in the meantime. Any result is possible here; definitely game of the day.

19.45 Marseille v FC Zurich, UEFA Champions League Group C, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 6)
Both sides are just three points behind Milan and Madrid and will hope to take advantage of their unpredictable form.

19.45 APOEL v Porto, UEFA Champions League Group D, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 7)
APOEL need something from this game if this group isn't to turn into a procession. Porto probably have enough for a point here which will almost certainly guarantee them progression.

19.45 Atletico Madrid v Chelsea, UEFA Champions League Group D, Sky Sports Xtra/HD3
Atletico are having a nightmare season. It won't improve here.

Wednesday 4 November

17.30 Rubin Kazan v Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Group F, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Group F has become the most intriguing after the upsets on Matchday 3. Rubin's victory in Barcelona was probably the most surprising of what isn't now known as 'Bonkers Tuesday', but the two goals they scored were amazing. An early evening treat.

19.45 Fiorentina v Debrecen, UEFA Champions League Group E, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 5)
The Hungarians showed promise in their 4-3 defeat to the Viola coming straight after their humbling 4-0 defeat against Lyon. Fiorentina are back to winning ways in Serie A and need maximum points here to keep Liverpool out of the picture.

19.45 Lyon v Liverpool, UEFA Champions League Group E, ITV1/HD
The rest Rafa gave Torres at the end of the Fulham match had better be worth it. Anything other than a win here would pretty much seal Europa League football for Liverpool.

19.45 Dynamo Kiev v Inter Milan, UEFA Champions League Group F, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 3)
Undefeated but bottom of the group, Mourinho's Inter have gone 8 (OTTO) Champions league matches without a win and this really isn't the sort of place to go when you need a win.

19.45 Sevilla v Stuttgart, UEFA Champions League Group G, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 4)
Sevilla are bossing this group - hard. Stuttgart will be happy to get this one out of the way and concentrate on finishing in second spot

19.45 Unirea v Rangers, UEFA Champions League Group G, Sky Sports Xtra/HD3
Well yes we all had a good laugh at Rangers getting stuffed by Unirea a couple of weeks ago but there are serious concerns for the future of Scottish football. The Scottish League sits precariously on a threshold on the UEFA coefficients. More bad results could easily see them losing a precious Champions League spot.

19.45 Arsenal v Alkmaar, UEFA Champions League Group H, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Top of the table with two home games left to play, Arsenal could easily think they're coasting to the next stage. Mind you, they thought they were coasting to a win against AZ last time out.

19.45 Standard Liege v Olympiakos, UEFA Champions League Group H, Sky Sports Red Button (Screen 6)
Liege have just one point from their first three games but can feel unfortunate not to have got more. A win for them here would see this group blown wide open.

Thursday 5 November

18.00 Hamburg v Celtic, UEFA Europa League Group C, ESPN
Celtic have it all to do, having registered just one point so far in this group. Domestically, Hamburg are shipping goals so this could have quite a few thrills and spills.

18.00 AS Roma v Fulham, UEFA Europa League Group E, ITV4
Fulham got tantalisingly close to taking all three points at Craven Cottage. Having shown Liverpool the door on Saturday they can feel rightly confident going into this tie against Claudio Rainieri's inconsistent Roma side.

20.05 Everton v Benfica, UEFA Europa League, Five
It's advisable for any Everton fan to bring their boots along to games at the moment as the Toffees' treatment room looks like A&E on a Saturday night. The bits and pieces team they took to Benfica were rightly torn apart. Worryingly, it could happen again here.

20.05 Villarreal v Lazio, UEFA Europa League Group G, ESPN
After a shocking start to their domestic season, Villareal have finally started to play - smacking five past Tenerife at the weekend. Lazio are plummeting down Serie A having failed to win since August. Both teams are chasing Salzburg who sit top with a 100% start.

20.05 Toulouse v Shakhtar Donetsk, UEFA Europa League Group J, ITV4
The current holders (of this competition's previous incarnation) are steam-rolling their way through the group stage and were 3-0 up by half time against Toulouse two weeks ago. Expect more dominance from the Ukrainians.

2 comments:

P Shaw said...

Could there be a chance that if Real Madrid lose, then they may go into the Europa League.

Also, when was the last time a team beat Barcelona home and away within the space of a month? My fingers are crossed for Rubin Kazan.

Chris O said...

It's a technical possibility, but unlikely in reality, P.

It would require Real to lose to Zurich (they've already beaten them 5-2 in Switzerland) and other results to go against them. A bit of a long shot, but certainly possible.

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