RE: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYS 11/23
Well, I think one game sticks out for me later today:
DINAMO KIEV V ROMA
My first Champions League pick comes from Ukraine as Dinamo Kyiv play host to Roma in this group B clash and this looks at first glance a banker home win. Roma are out of sorts at the moment - both in Europe and domestically. Indeed, the Italian giants fell out of the Coppa Italia last week at home to lowly Siena to further compound Del Neri?s side?s misery. In fact, the former Chievo and Porto coach, Del Neri, has had little impact on improving the fortunes of this Roma side after taking over around a month ago. Kyiv in contrast are flying high in the league (only a point behind Shakhtar) and in Europe with only one defeat in four games.
Dinamo Kyiv?s home record in the Ukrainian first division is fairly good with 5 wins from 7 games but last year it was even more impressive with 13 wins and 2 draws from 15 home games. It is fair to say Dinamo Kyiv?s ground is like a fortress and it is certainly a place where other European teams do not like to travel, for instance, reigning English champions Arsenal have had big problems in the cold of the Ukraine in the past. Dinamo Kyiv recently won an away game 0-7 which shows they come into this one in fine nick and having also beaten Bayer at home and earned a creditable 2-2 draw with Real already.
Perhaps Kyiv has one just once in 13 games against Italian opposition but I think they can make it two in a row on Tuesday with big home support and freezing cold temperatures both on their side. Roma has gained just one point in their four Champions League games so far so are out of this competition and will look to refocus on Serie A for the rest of the year. That solitary draw came against Bayer, who is known for their poor record on the road, with a late equalizer. Francesco Totti and Vincenzo Montella will not travel to Kyiv with the former suffering from a bout of flu and the latter on compassionate leave. Add these to the absentee list of Mancini, Zotti, De Rossi, Dacourt, Tommasi, Chivu, Mexes, Panucci and Delvecchio and you see the problems the visitors face.
Group B leaders Dynamo Kiev will be looking forward to extend their lead in the group when they host troubled Italian outfit AS Roma at Valeriy Lobanovskiy stadium on Tuesday evening. Since the incident at Stadio Olimpico which UEFA awarded a three point victory over AS Roma to them, the Ukrainian champions have yet to taste defeat at home. Their European campaign since then have produced nothing else but positive results with 4-2 win over German outfit Bayer Leverkusen while holding Spanish giant Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw.
Roma meanwhile have surprised most of their own fans with poor showing not only in the European matches but also in their own domestic league. After the famous incident involving referee Anders Frisk, the Italian outfit have only managed to secure one point from a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen. Luigi Del Nieri's men since then have lost 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen (away) and 4-2 to Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The latest team news surrounding the Italian camp is that Del Nieri's men have flown to the Ukraine capital without the likes of Vincenzo Montella, Francesco Totti, Mancini, Zotti, De Rossi, Olivier Dacourt, Tommasi, Christian Chivu, Philippe Mexes, Christian Panucci and Marco Delvecchio. Hot-tempered but talented Antonio Cassano meanwhile have been linked with a move to Juventus during the January transfer window and is not playing up to his usual standard.
Thus, while I don't like laying odds @ 1.6, I do think DINAMO has value to bet on:
3.3 units to win 2.0 units
Lean: OLYMPIAKOS (2.0 or +100)
# 5th day of Group A , and Olympiakos needs the win here to qualify to the next round of Champions League.
# 1. Liverpool 7
# 2. Olympiakos 7
# 3. Monaco 6
# 4. Deportivo 2
# It's nearly impossible for Deportivo to qualify to the next round as they are allready five points behind the qualifying place , and only two matches left. It is also too difficult to get the 3rd place which maybe lead to the next round of UEFA Cup , as they need two wins and Monaco not to get points to the two remaining games. In my opinion , i think they will give their last shot tomorrow against Olympiakos , but it will be extremelly difficult.
# Deportivo came to Athens today with a depleted squad. Tristan , Sergio , Victor , Pandianni , Capdevilla & Andrade didn't came to Athens due to injuries or suspensions. They are the only team that hasn't scored yet to Champions League games , and i really doubt that they will score tomorrow with out these players. Luque will play instead of Tristan in front , and maybe Cagi will play close to him. They came from a nice win away to Villareal at Saturday and maybe this will give them a boost.
Good luck tomorrow......
JD
Well, I think one game sticks out for me later today:
DINAMO KIEV V ROMA
My first Champions League pick comes from Ukraine as Dinamo Kyiv play host to Roma in this group B clash and this looks at first glance a banker home win. Roma are out of sorts at the moment - both in Europe and domestically. Indeed, the Italian giants fell out of the Coppa Italia last week at home to lowly Siena to further compound Del Neri?s side?s misery. In fact, the former Chievo and Porto coach, Del Neri, has had little impact on improving the fortunes of this Roma side after taking over around a month ago. Kyiv in contrast are flying high in the league (only a point behind Shakhtar) and in Europe with only one defeat in four games.
Dinamo Kyiv?s home record in the Ukrainian first division is fairly good with 5 wins from 7 games but last year it was even more impressive with 13 wins and 2 draws from 15 home games. It is fair to say Dinamo Kyiv?s ground is like a fortress and it is certainly a place where other European teams do not like to travel, for instance, reigning English champions Arsenal have had big problems in the cold of the Ukraine in the past. Dinamo Kyiv recently won an away game 0-7 which shows they come into this one in fine nick and having also beaten Bayer at home and earned a creditable 2-2 draw with Real already.
Perhaps Kyiv has one just once in 13 games against Italian opposition but I think they can make it two in a row on Tuesday with big home support and freezing cold temperatures both on their side. Roma has gained just one point in their four Champions League games so far so are out of this competition and will look to refocus on Serie A for the rest of the year. That solitary draw came against Bayer, who is known for their poor record on the road, with a late equalizer. Francesco Totti and Vincenzo Montella will not travel to Kyiv with the former suffering from a bout of flu and the latter on compassionate leave. Add these to the absentee list of Mancini, Zotti, De Rossi, Dacourt, Tommasi, Chivu, Mexes, Panucci and Delvecchio and you see the problems the visitors face.
Group B leaders Dynamo Kiev will be looking forward to extend their lead in the group when they host troubled Italian outfit AS Roma at Valeriy Lobanovskiy stadium on Tuesday evening. Since the incident at Stadio Olimpico which UEFA awarded a three point victory over AS Roma to them, the Ukrainian champions have yet to taste defeat at home. Their European campaign since then have produced nothing else but positive results with 4-2 win over German outfit Bayer Leverkusen while holding Spanish giant Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw.
Roma meanwhile have surprised most of their own fans with poor showing not only in the European matches but also in their own domestic league. After the famous incident involving referee Anders Frisk, the Italian outfit have only managed to secure one point from a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen. Luigi Del Nieri's men since then have lost 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen (away) and 4-2 to Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The latest team news surrounding the Italian camp is that Del Nieri's men have flown to the Ukraine capital without the likes of Vincenzo Montella, Francesco Totti, Mancini, Zotti, De Rossi, Olivier Dacourt, Tommasi, Christian Chivu, Philippe Mexes, Christian Panucci and Marco Delvecchio. Hot-tempered but talented Antonio Cassano meanwhile have been linked with a move to Juventus during the January transfer window and is not playing up to his usual standard.
Thus, while I don't like laying odds @ 1.6, I do think DINAMO has value to bet on:
3.3 units to win 2.0 units
Lean: OLYMPIAKOS (2.0 or +100)
# 5th day of Group A , and Olympiakos needs the win here to qualify to the next round of Champions League.
# 1. Liverpool 7
# 2. Olympiakos 7
# 3. Monaco 6
# 4. Deportivo 2
# It's nearly impossible for Deportivo to qualify to the next round as they are allready five points behind the qualifying place , and only two matches left. It is also too difficult to get the 3rd place which maybe lead to the next round of UEFA Cup , as they need two wins and Monaco not to get points to the two remaining games. In my opinion , i think they will give their last shot tomorrow against Olympiakos , but it will be extremelly difficult.
# Deportivo came to Athens today with a depleted squad. Tristan , Sergio , Victor , Pandianni , Capdevilla & Andrade didn't came to Athens due to injuries or suspensions. They are the only team that hasn't scored yet to Champions League games , and i really doubt that they will score tomorrow with out these players. Luque will play instead of Tristan in front , and maybe Cagi will play close to him. They came from a nice win away to Villareal at Saturday and maybe this will give them a boost.
Good luck tomorrow......
JD
