Serie A

Atalanta   -   Cagliari           1.85   -   5.25
Missing one or two regular defenders does not seem to bother Atalanta. They were deserved 1-0 winners at Empoli at the weekend. For this match they will be without their suspended defender, Carozzieri, but Belleri, Langella and Manfredini are recalled to the squad.

The best Cagliari player, Foggia, is out of this game and his absence is a severe blow for the struggling Sardinians.

Atalanta are 2-2-0 at home and they are motivated big favourites in this fixture. Am I prepared to back Atalanta? I do not exactly like Atalanta as big favourites, but what the heck! Home win! (1.85)

Fiorentina   -   Napoli          1.70   -   6.00
Back in the old days Fiorentina were kind of a bohemian side, but this version is an impressive team machine. No wonder that they are still unbeaten in Serie A. (4-5-0) Leon and his Genoa,  and their noisy supporters, pushed Fiorentina quite hard the other day, but Viola stood firm. (0-0) Their squad is fully fit, but their coach is saying that he really ought to give Mutu a rest. No final word is said about tomorrow's game. Mutu or no Mutu. My guess is that Mutu will play.

When Napoli defeated Juventus, 3-1, they lost both their ex - Juve players Zalayeta and Blasi to injuries. Instead of Zalayeta, one of Sosa or Calaio will join Lavezzi in the front line.

I should think that Fiorentina will be winners. (1.70)

Inter   -   Genoa         1.30   -   13.50
Stankovic is new on the Inter injury list, joining Vieira, Toldo and Materazzi. First choice keeper J Cesar will be rested, Toldo, second choice is injured, but their third choice, Orlandoni, did a good job for his club at Palermo, so no reason to make too much fuzz about it. Inter play Juventus this coming weekend, and coach Mancini is planning to rest Ibrahimovic tomorrow. In that case Crespo and Cruz will start up front. Inter were clearly better than Palermo, but Ibrahimovic, among others, lacked the usual sharpness in front of goal.

Genoa are in excellent form and in Leon they have a really exciting player, a real match winner. OK, he is still too selfish, but a joy to watch. The Genoa coach is indicating changes for this match, but that is what they usually are saying ahead of mid week matches. Lucarelli returns from his suspension. I am not going to say that Genoa will win this match, but I do think that 1.30 on the home win is too short a price.

Juventus   -   Empoli        1.33  -   12.00
Two peculiar penalty decisions against Juventus became too much and Juventus were beaten by Napoli, 1-3. Tomorrow they will be without four suspended regulars. (Nedved, Nocerino, Chiellini and Legrottaglie) Looking at their squad for this match, it will not be that bad, but coach Ranieri has to change roles for some of his starters in this match.

Busce, Pratali, Adani and Vanigli will be missing for Empoli, but Vanucchi will be back to play..

Likely home win, but these odds (1.33) are to no use, no use at all.

Palermo   -   Parma        1.70   -   6.10
Bresciano and Migliaccio are missing for the home side. Miccoli is fit enough to play from the start again.

Parma have to do without their best offensive player, Reginaldo,  as well as their veteran defender Couto.  Morfeo is playing again, but he is not fit for a whole match. Corradi will be used as the lone striker tomorrow.

It was obvious the other day that Palermo did not want to lose to Inter. They played for the draw, as simple as that. Tomorrow I expect a more enterprising Palermo side again, and Amauri plus Miccoli should be able to decide this match for the home side. Home win. (1.70)

Reggina   -   Livorno        1.95   -   5.00
They have played 9 games each and none of these two sides have tasted victory this season. Pretty bad, but not at all unexpected. Poor squads, anonymous players.

Reggina were looking for the 0-0 draw at Siena at the weekend. Good job done, because the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Tomorrow they will be without the suspended Lanzaro. Could be that Ceravolo will replace Cozza just behind their striker Amoruso.  Ceravolo looked sharp the other day.

Livorno were leading 2-1 at Parma, but it did help much, as Livorno were once again beaten, this time, 2-3. Both De Vezze and Pasquale are suspended tomorrow and Vidigal, Giannichedda and Diamanti are on their injury list.

1X, I guess, but I have to choose the draw alternative. (3.10)

Roma   -  Lazio        1.80   -   5.50
One thing is absolutely certain this time. Nobody gives a struggling Lazio side much chance in this hot derby. Lazio had no real chance against Udinese the other day and they could only hope for a 0-0 draw. OK, they were only 15 minutes from the 0-0, but they were clearly second best, and only their veteran keeper Ballotta kept Lazio in the game. Poor Lazio form and too many players on the sidelines.

Roma, without Totti, won 1-0 away to Milan. Rightly so and they could also afford to miss a late penalty. Totti , Taddei and Aquilani will be missing  again.

You can imagine that the Lazio players will be extremely motivated tomorrow. Bigger under dogs than ever and it is about saving a season that is falling apart. Can they do it? It is not out of the question, but I have no intention of backing Lazio. It is a no bet for me, or something on the home win. (1.80) Probably a no bet!

Sampdoria   -   Milan        3.90   -   2.20
Cassano shocked his colleagues by leaving before half time down at Catania. They thought that he just did not want to go on playing, but Cassano himself said that he had some kind of injury. As usual these days, Cassano is spreading harmony wherever he walks on earth.

Sampdoria were poor and lost deservedly to Catania, 0-2. Cassano, Delvecchio, Accardi and Campagnaro will not play tomorrow.

Milan will be without Ambrosini, Oddo and Jankulowski.

Sampdoria are still unbeaten at home, (2-2-0) and Milan have been stronger on their travels this season. (2-1-1)

Surely it is forbidden for Milan to suffer two losses on the spin, or else Berlusconi himself has to do something about it. Away win. (2.20)

Siena   -   Catania       2.25   -   4.10
Siena used two strikers from the start vs. Reggina, Bucchi and Maccarone, but to no avail, despite an offensive attitude they could not score. Frick was once again left out. Codrea will be back for this match.

Sensational Catania run, now unbeaten in their last 5 matches. Expect the Sicilians to be unchanged for this game, or only some small modifications, such as Silvestri and Sottil  replacing Sardo and Terlizzi. 1X again, and my choice will be the draw. (2.95)

Udinese   -   Torino        1.90   -   5.20
Udinese will probably be unchanged tomorrow, with the exception of Zapotocny in for Zapata.

Torino will finally have Di Michele ready for some football again. He has been suspended for 3 months. Recoba,  Zanetti and  Grella will have to till the weekend for their come backs. Natali sits out a suspension.  Di Michele, once a Udinese hero. Home win! (1.90)

La Liga

Valencia   -   Real Madrid       2.70   -   2.75
It must have been a relief for the Valencia manager Quique to be released from his duties. He has looked too miserable to be true lately. Valencia have to get rid of some of their players as well. New blood is needed. Tomorrow their best player D Villa is out once again, but D Silva will play. Marchena, Baraja, Canizarez and Manuel Fernandez will not be available. Without both D Villa and D Silva, Valencia are quite harmless, but there is at least some hope this time, with Silva back in action.

Real recall Cannavaro, Heinze and Diarra to their squad and only Robben and Higuain are on the injury list. No sparkling Real form lately, but this is a special game and the Real stars will sharpen up their act for this fixture. They do not mind playing at the Mestalla. They have not lost there since 2003.

Valencia, with a new coach, will also be fired up tomorrow, but I very much doubt their overall potential at the moment. I am more comfortable with the away win. (2.75)

Atletico Madrid   -   Sevilla         2.25   -   3.40
Another massive fixture. Without Torres, Atletico are an much improved side this season and they have at last become a true force in their home games. They are 3-1-0 at home, and 11-1, the goals. Seitaridis is recalled, Pernia is back from his suspension, but Pablo is a major injury doubt.

Aguero and Forlan for Atletico and Kanoute and L Fabiano for Sevilla.  Great strike duos, but only the first will play tomorrow.

F Kanoute will not take part in this match and Sevilla will also be without their defender Dragutinovic. No doubt that Kanoute is the best Sevilla striker, but Kershakow, Kone and L Fabiano are pretty strong forwards as well.

Sevilla were as good as ever the other day, when they defeated a poor Valencia side. It was a home fixture for Sevilla, and no denying that they seldom reach the same heights away from home. However, I prefer Sevilla as a team, but a draw is all that they can hope for tomorrow. 1X then!

Almeira   -   Real Zaragoza        2.65   -   2.70
I backed Zaragoza at the weekend and the result was very gratifying but the match took place at their own ground. (4-1 win vs Villarreal) Away from home they have been quite pathetic, with 0-1-3 after 4 away fixtures, and 3-11, the goals. Away game, plus 3 of their 4 defenders out of this game  -  there you have my main reasons for backing Almeira tomorrow. (2.65) Captain Cuartero, Pavon and Ayala will not be able to play, leaving Diogo as their only first choice defender. Aimar and Juanfran will also be missing.

Almeira played a good game with Barcelona at the weekend, but the referee gave Barca too much help and they lost the match, 0-2. As many as 5 players are struggling after the match, (Cobeno, Lopez Rekarte, C Garcia, Soriano and Crusat) but the Almeira doctors are confident that they will all be OK, come match day. Latest news indicate that only Lopez Rekarte risks missing this match. Backing Almeira! (2.65)

Carling Cup

Portsmouth   -   Blackburn        2.30   -   3.20
It looks like Portsmouth will be the more ambitious club in this cup fixture. The Pompey coach Redknapp has promised to use his best possible side. Fit again Kanu and D Nugent will probably start on the bench, with Benjani used as the lone striker. S Campbell and D James are included in their squad and S Davis is back from his suspension.

Blackburn will be without the injured R Savage. Coach Hughes has promised to make several changes for this match. In other words Blackburn will field a weakened side tomorrow. Backing the home win. (2.30)

Bolton   -   Manchester City       2.75   -   2.60
I thought that the new Bolton boss Megson would be desperately looking for a win, no matter what, but it does not seem to be the case. Anelka will definitely not play tomorrow and there will be plenty of other changes in their starting line up, with Bolton already looking forward to their next league game.

City have used make shift sides in their previous two Carling cup matches, against Birmingham City and Norwich. I expected Sven to continue this policy, but he has obviously changed his mind after the disaster at Stamford Bridge last week. He will basically give the same group of players a chance to redeem themselves. At the same time we hear that Elano will not play and that Petrov is an injury doubt, and I guess that we cannot trust the Swede 100% this time. One thing is certain, the Swedish international keeper A Isaksson will play in goal

I have changed from Bolton to M City. This I seldom do. OK, the away win! (2.60)