Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has still only lost two Premier League matches as Manchester United manager, but both of those were in their last two away games and they have looked far from convincing over the last month or so. All their attacking swagger seems to have disappeared, and on Sunday they will come up against an Everton defence who have made huge strides forward recently.
The result of this defensive improvement has been some low scoring games, with six of The Toffees’ last seven home games in the top flight seeing fewer than three goals in total. Man Utd. meanwhile, have seen fewer than three goals in four of their last seven away games in the league, and considering four of the last six meetings between these teams have also been low scoring affairs we think backing Under 2.5 Goals alongside a 1-1 correct score prediction is the way to go.
This Friday’s game in Vitoria commences match-day 33 of this Spanish Primera Division season. It features two of the league’s most out-of-form sides with Alaves having taken just one point from their last four matches to fall out of Champions League contention. Valladolid meanwhile have been on the receiving end of some damaging late goals and have taken just two points from their last four to slip into the relegation zone.
To make matters worse, both sides have some significant selection problems heading into this one. Alaves are hoping to finally be able to name Guillermo Maripan in their starting eleven. However Victor Laguardia’s suspension means they again won’t be able to name their first choice central defensive pairing. Ruben Duarte is also banned so they’ve a few key positions to fill here.
Valladolid meanwhile are missing their most consistent performer this season to suspension. Rubén Alcaraz has been a vital part of their battle for safety and has started 29 of their 32 league games until this point. On a more positive note, Toni Villa, another of their better players, is training again and could feature. They will need to pick themselves up though having somehow managed to squander a 2-1 lead against ten men last week with Getafe levelling in the 96th minute.
That could prove a damaging blow and they really need something out of this game having finally slipped into the bottom three last time out. Alaves though are hoping to move back up to 7th by winning the game and get their surprise European push back on track.
Barcelona have never lost a home match against Manchester United in European competition (W2 D2), with their last such meeting finishing 0-0 in April 2008.
Of the 70 previous occasions when a side won a Champions League knockout tie first leg away from home, just four have been eliminated (6 per cent). However, two of those instances have been in this season’s competition, including once by Manchester United, against PSG.
Barcelona have progressed from 39 of their 41 European ties in which they won the first leg away from home; the exceptions were against FC Koln in the 1980-81 UEFA Cup, and against Metz in the 1984-85 Cup Winners’ Cup.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 30 UEFA Champions League home games, the longest such run in the competition (W27 D3). They have also not conceded more than once in any of those 30 games (15 goals in total) since a 0-3 loss to Bayern Munich in the 2012-13 semi-finals.
Manchester United have lost 49 Champions League games – they could become the ninth different club to reach 50 defeats in the competition, and just the second English side (Arsenal, 53).
Liverpool must still be having nightmares about the last time Chelsea visited Anfield when they had such a fine chance of ending their wait since 1990 for an English league title.
The crown was there for Liverpool’s taking in 2014 when Steven Gerrard famously slipped, Demba Ba scored, Chelsea won 2-0 and Brendan Rodgers’ side blew a 3-0 lead at Crystal Palace eight days later to hand the trophy to Manchester City.
Reds supporters must deep down be fearing a sense of déjà vu, their team again embroiled with City in a head-to-head tussle for the title and the quest to end what is now a 29-year wait to become champions of England.
The problem for Liverpool is that their head-to-head record against Chelsea is not good (see stats above) and the Blues are the only visiting team to have won at Anfield this season, in the Carabao Cup.
This is a big test of nerve for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who have overcome a spate of five draws in seven games with six straight wins.
Chelsea are much less reliable on their travels than at home and also just back from a Europa League trip to Prague, but they enjoy playing the role of spoilers at this venue and may well be capable of achieving a draw to dent their opponents’ title hopes.
Leicester City’s anticipated resurgence under Brendan Rodgers is now in full swing and they can make it five wins on the bounce in the Friday Night Football match against Newcastle.
Rodgers was fully expected, certainly by us, to make a swift positive impact with his new club after leaving Celtic at such a surprising stage of the season – and there may well be a tangible reward at the end of the campaign.
The Foxes will be hoping Manchester City beat Watford to lift the FA Cup as that would mean the team that finishes seventh in the Premier League would enter the Europa League, and the 2015-16 champions are on course to do that as a result of their superb current form.
After an initial defeat away to Watford, Leicester have won their last four games, scoring 11 goals, with Jamie Vardy, James Morrison and on-loan Youri Tielemans their most dangerous attacking players.
It has become a tight battle for the ‘best of the rest’ status outside the top six but Leicester are now shading it and looking difficult to depose.
Newcastle, after a good couple of months, have gone off the boil somewhat as their relegation fears have eased and we can see them going the same way here as Leicester’s last few opponents.
We expect Bologna to make the most of this opportunity, with Chievo losing nine of their last 15 away trips. The visitors have lost four of their last five, shipping 13 goals in that time. They’ve seen at least two goals in 80% of their trips, while there have been over 1.5 goals in eight of their nine away defeats. Bologna have scored at least twice in their home wins, so we’re backing Bologna to win with over 1.5 goals in the game.
Rayo can get a result. Valencia have drawn 53% of their league fixtures this term and they’ve rarely made life comfortable for themselves this season. Up against a team that is fighting for their lives and performed quite well at home last weekend against a decent Betis side, backing the Draw could be worth considering in this one.
Jozy Altidore, Drew Moor and Chris Mavinga are all sidelined for Toronto FC at the moment through injury. Their injuries are showing no sign of clearing.
William Kvist is ruled out for Denmark after being stretchered off in their 1-0 win over Peru.
Andreas Christensen was forced off with a knock in the second half, but should be fit to start here.
Head coach Stanislav Cherchesov has reverted to a 4-1-4-1 formation after two first choice centre-backs from his preferred back three were injured ahead of the tournament.
Gareth Southgate will make changes to the side that beat Nigeria 2-1 on Saturday.
Jack Butland, Harry Maguire, Danny Rose and Jamie Vardy are expected to start for England against Costa Rica.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson will also feature after joining up with the England squad.
The partners of Phil Jones and Fabian Delph are both expecting children any day and their involvement here remains uncertain.
Abel Braga has a few injury worries here, especially in attack. Pedro is out after getting injured against Grêmio, while both Pablo Dyego and Marcos Júnior missed that game.
Midfielder Adilson serves a suspension this weekend.
Roy Miller is carring an injury with Liam Ridgewell and Alvas Powell also playing with knocks at the moment. Vytas is also struggling with a knock.
David Guzman is also missing for the Portland Timbers as the midfielder is currently on international duty.
Every cup competition loves to have a surprise team and that role has been filled by Madagascar in the African Cup of Nations. They are ranked 108th in the world and had been slipping down the rankings, that will all change now. Madagascar are taking part in their first major finals and their before this event, their past four attempts to qualify had seen them win just one of sixteen matches. Qualifying for this tournament began in the preliminary round with a tie against 185th ranked Sao Tome and Principe. It's doubtful they were dreaming of making the quarter finals at that stage. Qualification was achieved as they finished second behind Senegal, who they could meet in the semi-final. In these finals, they came from behind to draw 2-2 with Guinea before beating Burundi 1-0. Then came the first big shock as they defeated Nigeria 2-0 and another followed as they beat DR Congo on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
Tunisia are ranked 25th in the world, the second highest ranked African nation. The 2004 winners drew all three of their group matches and finished in second place. Their draws came against Angola, Mali and Mauritania. The last sixteen saw them up against Ghana and that nearly saw them get their first win in normal time. Tunisia led 1-0 but their opponents equalized in the 92nd minutes. Eventually the game went to a penalty shoot-out and that was won 5-4 by the Tunisians. They are now unbeaten in their last seven games and the tip here is for them to get the win and end the Madagascar adventure.
Tunisia have far more experience than their opponents and that is likely to play a major factor in this game. They are former winners of this title and competed in several World Cup finals. Tunisia are yet to lose a game in Egypt and did well to get past Ghana in the last sixteen. Madagascar have caused shocks in this tournament but all good runs have to come to an end sometime. Go for Tunisia to get the win in this match.