My Naija News - Euro League Weekend of Derbies

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Euro League Weekend of Derbies

Written by Adeleke Afolayan

Friday, 26 September 2008

This weekend the European leagues of England, Italy and Spain would witness three of the biggest derby match-ups from Merseyside, Catalonia and the biggest and perhaps fiercest, San Siro.

In Italy, it would be Jose Mourinho's first taste of the Milan derby with his Inter Milan team currently on top of the Serie A 'visiting' archrivals AC Milan in the San Siro Stadium both clubs share.

The match-up comes with an interesting twist with Inter on a compaign towards a fourth consecutive league title while Milan have seemingly overcome a poor start to the season with three wins on the bounce in all competitions.

Milan also have Kaka back in the fold after a long injury lay-off to add to the prowess of fellow Brazilians Alexandre Pato and Ronaldinho as well as veteran midfielder Clearance Seedorf. Milan however will be without Marco Borrelio who scored two goals in Milan's last three games.

Inter on the other hand have an abundance of options in attack with Zlatan Ibrahimovic spearheading with able support from Argentine Julio Cruz and resurgent Adriano; not forgetting Ghanaian born Balotelli.

But coming this early in the season, a draw would not be far from fair though Inter have the slight edge to nick a win having won both derby encounters last season; added to the presence of the charismatic Mourinho.

In the event of an Inter slip, second placed SS Lazio would be on hand to replace the Nerazzurri at the top of the table when it visits Torino on Sunday on the back of an impressive 3-0 win over Fiorentina in midweek.

Other games of note in Italy has AS Roma seeking to regain some form ahead of next week's Champions League visit to Bordeaux when it hosts third placed Atalanta at the Olimpico on Sunday while on Saturday, fifth placed Juventus visit Sampdoria.

In England, the weekend opens with an early kick-off at Goodison Park between Yakubu Aiyegbeni's Everton and Liverpool with Everton seeking its first points at home this campaign while Liverpool with a win would go top for a few hours at least.

Liverpool also look to shrug off an indifferent form that has seen the Reds defeat fierce rivals Manchester United, before drawing at home to Stoke City in the league as well and then edging Crewe Alexander in the League Cup.

Later on Saturday afternoon, John Mikel Obi's Chelsea visit Stoke and Seyi Olofinjana with a win putting the Blues on top of the league ahead of Arsenal's eveining kick-off at home to Hull City; that has an unbeaten away record to protect. The game at the Emirates will come a day before manager Arsene Wenger's 12th anniversary of his appointment at the Gunners.

Also on Saturday, a Lancashire derby will play out as Manchester United host Bolton Wanderers that would be sweating on the fitness of record signing Johan Elmander while Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to make his first league start after scoring in midweek in the League Cup.

Newcastle meanwhile will be without Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins after he came off the defeat to Tottenham in the League Cup injured, to add to the misery of the Toons that appointed Joe Kinnear as interim coach of a demoralised team.

Finally in Spain, Espanyol would be weary of Saturday night's visit of city rivals Barcelona having lost 2-0 to Sevilla in midweek while Barca have managed nine goals in its last two league matches.

The Catalan giants, Barcelona that is, showed a bit of character in winning 3-2 against Real Betis after letting slip a two goal half time lead and Pep Guardiola would certainly have a burden of pressure off with a good win at Espanyol.

Other games this weekend in the la Liga see league leaders Valencia take on Deportivo la Coruna in the Mestella while second placed Villarreal, also on 10 points with Valencia, visit whipping boys Sporting Gijon that has conceded 13 goals in its last two games to Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Champions Real Madrid visit Real Betis in one of the two Madrid-Seville encounters; the other being a more attractive match between high scorers Atletico Madrid and Sevilla at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid.

Ikechukwu Uche's Getafe visit Athletic Bilbao while Kalu Uche's Almeria host Recreativo Huelva and Bartholomew Ogbeche's Real Valladolid visit bottom of the table Malaga; yet to score a league goal this season.

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