Not much luck in the St Mirren game yesterday, Aberdeen had plenty of the ball (53%) and won the attempts on goal count 12-3 , but could not find a breakthrough goal. I also personally backed Portsmouth off level ball, so perhaps things levelled out a little there with a VERY late strike saving my stake.
The snow has returned overnight to most of the UK, but before you get too downhearted, the forecast for the rest of the week is pretty good in most parts, with temperatures set to rise considerably, which should see most of the white/grey/brown stuff disappear in the coming days.
On to slightly warmer climes and I am keen on goals in the Sevilla- Barcelona Copa Del Rey tie tonight. Hosts hold a 2-1 lead from the first leg, which means that Barce will have to attack virtually from the off, in order to turn this tie around. Whether they want to progress in this tournament is open to question, with La Liga and the Champions League being a priority of course. To be honest, I am sure that they would trade a win here for three points in the league meeting between these two at the weekend, when Sevilla have to travel to the Catalan capital. Having said that, we are talking about the european champions here and if they put their best foot forward, there is no reason why they cannot win both.
Pep Guardiola certainly appears to be taking this seriously and has named the following squad, who are flying south this morning :
Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Piqué, Milito, Txigrinski, Abidal, Maxwell, Busquets, Jonathan, Thiago, Xavi, Iniesta, Bojan, Pedro, Henry, Ibrahimovic and Messi.
That is pretty much full strength from all the available first team squad (17 from 18) and it appears we are in for a treat.
Sevilla have a terrific squad of players that has been assembled by director of football Ramon 'Monchi' Rodriguez, who is incredibly highly rated in the game. I am amazed that some big spender and it would take a big spender, has not tried to poach him from Los Nervionenses, but that would also take patience and your average oligarch does not have that in abundance !
The hosts are clearly the third best side in Spain, some wise observers even consider their squad superior to the top two, but they are a bit inconsistent and some way off full strength at present, with injury and the ACN robbing them of a handful of key players. However, Navas and Navarro returned to training this week and look likely to play some part, which is a big boost. Despite their La Liga woes, Sevilla remain a threat, have continued to create chances, scoring in their last nine outings, seven times notching two or more and unlike the rest of europe, do not face Barce with an inferiority complex.
I am going to enjoy this, he said hopefully and expect end to end action and plenty of goals, clear"over" for me.
6.5 points "over" 2.75 goals 1.90 + asian line.
Good Luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment