Leverkusen play dead rubber at Paris-Preview

Sami Hyypia's men look to salvage some pride

PSG host Bayer Leverkusen as they look to finish the proceedings with a comfortable win,taking home a 4-0 advantage.Leverkusen would be desperate to register even a tight victory against the mighty Parisiens after conceding losses in 5 matches out of  their last six and have drawn one. Leverkusen will be hoping against  hope at the Parc des Princes but they still will lookto give their 100% and will be eager to restore some lost pride.

While ,PSG are in sublime form ,winning their last 5 games  and would be eager to pull off a great victory at their home under the lights and the night sky.

PSG are making in roads into the quarter finals of the Champions League  due to  the likes of Ibrahimovic, Cavani & Ezequiel Lavezzi  who have been in dazzling form ,their defence which has restricted the opposition team and their midfield creativity is also quite commendable.

In the first leg Ibra bagged a brace,Matuidi opened the scoring and Cabaye finished it off with a late rebound. Leverkusen got very meagre chances in the whole game and were not able to hold on to the ball even for a few minutes.

Psg coach Laurent Blanc said in the pre match press conference-
  "We negotiated the first leg. And brilliantly so, now we must finish the job"

He added "I would like to avoid Barcelona, Real Madrid and particularly Bayern Munich in the Quarter Finals"

"For four years Bayern is always present in the last four. They lost two finals. It is a club that should be avoided, but we do not control the draw."

Team News

Edinson Cavani and Christopher Jallet  are back for men in dark blue(after missingo out the first leg) which would uplift the spirits of the team.

On the other hand for Bayer, the injury of their midfielder  Jens Hegeler(ankle),Robbie Kruse and  the suspension of Eric Spahic will heap upon the troubles for them.

Expected line-ups

Psg:Sirigu; Silva,Alex,Maxwell,Jallet;Matuidi,Motta,Verratti;Ibrahimovic,Cavani,Lavezzi.

Bayer Leverkusen:  Leno; Wollscheid, Toprak, Hilbert, Boenisch; Rolfes,  Can,Bender, Castro; Son Heung- Min , Stefan Kießling.

Prediction

Laurent Blanc's men are the favourites  against struggling Leverkusen who would certainly be hoping against hope for a miracle to happen.The visitors have the potential to comeback strongly and can coerce the Parisiens to think about their own issues heading into the business end of Champions League.

IOTW predicts a 2-1 win for Psg.

How a City fan reacted when Wigan knocked City out

Manchester City crash out of the FA Cup after Shocking loss to Wigan

Wigan Athletic were at It again yesterday and it seems they have got used to knocking Manchester City out of the FA Cup.They did it in the final last season and they have done the same this season thanks to goals from Jordi Gomez and James Perch.Fans have been left to wonder ,which curse has been inflicted upon them since the last time around but it gives them a reason to moan.Here's how a City fan reacted to their shocking loss to the Latics.

Barcelona To Bring Reinforcements

With Vector Valdes and Carles Puyol announcing their departures, the Catalans are looking for new players to add to the squad. The desire for bringing new players to the squad deepened when the Nou Camp club missed a golden opportunity to go to the top after their 0-1 loss to Valladolid. 

Manager Gerado Martino would be having a maximum of 60 million at his disposal to bring in players for the next season.

Main Aim For The Transfer Window- 

Barcelona in the 2013-14 season has unfortunately leaked to many "Unwanted" goals. They are planning a revamp of their defensive line, which has recently seen Javier Mascherano pairing up well with spanish star -Gerrad Pique.

Already Signed-

With Victor Valdes announcing his departure, the Catalonians have been after a quality Goal Keeper to replace the spaniard. Ander Ten Stegen from the Borussia Monchegladbach has been signed for 10 million. The Catalans will confirm this deal only after the LaLiga title is decided.
 The Borussia Moncheglabach goalkeeper is comparable to Manuel Neuer in term of reflexives and quick saves.

Looking for-

David Luiz- From Chelsea. 

With Carles Puyol leaving the side and Marc Bartra yet to win full confidence of Martino, the Nou Camp club see Brazilian center-back as a perfect addition to boost up the defense.

Luiz has been linked with Barcelona for the past two transfer windows and it would turn out to be difficult for the Catalonians to convince Jose Mourinho to sell the Brazilian center-back.

Juan Cuadrado- From Florentina.

Rumours sugggest, which might turn out be true in the future that Barcelona might get into a swap deal with Florentina involving Dani Alves.

 The 25-year Colombian's assets are pace and dexter dribbling abilities which make him one of the most lethal players in Europe.

Parisiens must stay focused:Preview

9th placed Bastia tackle the table toppers

Psg will face struggling Corsicans  at the Armand Cesari stadium to  extend their lead to 11 points at the top .Champions of France wold love to destroy their opponents  and get fully prepared for the Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen. While,the Bastia side hasn't defeated the Parisiens since 2003 would expect something extraordinary to happen at their home. Bastia sitting at 9th position in the table will look to start afresh after they had only won 2 of their last 6 games.

Last time,when both these teams met Parisiens trounced their opponents 4-0 with Ibrahimovic and Cavani registering 2 goals to their name. The duo have combined and scored 36 goals together for their team and are considered among  the top most strike force in Europe. 

Bastia is a team who currently is playing Ligue 1 after seven year long stint in the Lower leagues.

Psg's manager Laurent Blanc said"Cavani will not play tomorrow for the match against Bastia" He added "I think apart from Cavani no other player will be unavailable.

"Bastia will want to exploit tomorrow, they are very motivated. We will try to be very effective in recovering the ball."

Team news

Psg will be without their star striker Edinson Cavani who made a stunning comeback in his last game by scoring a winner against their fierce French rivals Marseille . He did feature in midweek's International Friendly but will not be back for the match at Bastia.

Jeremy Menez, the person who had been linked with Atletico Madrid has been left out of the squad.

Christophe Jallet is back for the champions which will help Psg breathe a little about Netherlands right back Van der Wiel.

Corsicans don't have any injury problems or niggles and would be at their full strength.

Expected Line-ups

Psg: 

Sirigu;Silva,Alex,Jallet,Maxwell;Cabaye,Verratti,Motta;Ibrahimovic,Lavezzi,Lucas Moura

SC Bastia: 

Leca; Squillaci, Modesta, Harek, Diakite; Krasic, Romaric, Boudebouz, Sable; Keita, Cisse.

Predictons

Psg start as favourites against out of form Bastia.But,Bastia has players which can outclass the mighty Parisiens and cause a major upset at their home.Though,Laurent Blanc will not allow the team to celebrate and has said them to stick to their basics until their title win is a mathematical certainty.

IOTW predicts a 3-1 win for the champions of France.

Time for retribution at the Hawthorns-Preview

Pepe Mel's West Brom face Moyes' Manchester United

Two sides,low on momentum will face off at Birmingham in England.

How out of reach can things go for David Moyes this season?It's become a rather unanswerable question for Manchester United fans after they saw their side succumb to a 2-0 defeat at Karaiskakis Stadium at the hands of Olympiakos.They have promenaded upon a hugely rocky path this season owing to some poor showings by some lot of players,who have been laballed as "not able enough to play for United" by some former players.

And circumstances have not bettered for the Throstles since Steve Clark's sacking some months ago and new manager Pepe Mel's side have slumped to the 17th place in the Premier League table.They have barely managed to accumulate 4 points in their previous 7 games but have somehow scraped out points from some of their tough games.Not only this but West Bromwich Albion have won just a single game out of their last 18 games and have never shown any evident sings of improvement. Their highlight of this season has been their 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and their 2-1 win over the Red Devils at Old Trafford. Saidy Berahino and Morgan Amalfitano had ensured that Moyes' men slumped to their 3rd defeat of their season.

United desperately need to finish their season on a high after hitting new lows in nearly every game and had 10 days off to train.West Bromwich Albion would never ever prefer lurking around the dreaded relegation zone and it is a spot they are accustomed to much.

Team News

The hosts will be without right back Billy Jones ,who will miss out due to a hamstring tear.Nicolas Anelka is under a ban after his quenelle gesture but both Claudio Yacob and Stephane Sessegnon will be fit to feature for the Baggies.

As far as the visitors are concerned,winger Nani will be back after suffering from a serious thigh injury which kept him out for 10-11 weeks.New signing Juan Mata will be back in action for the Reds after he missed out on the Olympiacos game on being cup tied to Chelsea.

Expected Lineups 

West Brom: Foster; McAuley, Olsson, Dawson, Ridgewell; Brunt, Yacob, Mulumbu, Morrison; Vydra, Anichebe

Man United: De Gea; Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Fellaini, Carrick; Januzaj, Rooney, Mata; Van Persie

Predictions

United's games have become rather tough to predict these days and this game will be one of them.West Brom will opt to park the bus and sit at the break to catch United off guard at the counter.They will be more than happy to concede possession to Moyes' men but sacrificing the possession can leak away goals for them,considering the side United are.

United still lack the cutting edge in midfield to unlock defenses and this is what that's let them down this season.If Marouane Fellaini ,Juan Mata,Adnan Januzaj,Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie start ,United should win this game but doubts still hang over their abilities.

IOTW predicts a 2-1 win to Manchester United after a crappy performances from Moyes' men.

Analyzing Ligue 1's highest goal scorers

Let's analyze how Ligue 1's highest scorers  proved out to be this season

The French Ligue 1 is ,no doubt believed to be a somewhat primitive or a rather "low-class" league and is often subjected to stern domination of the English Premier League.But, the thought is still somewhat deceiving and misleading.The French Ligue is endowed with goals and their scorers who can rip apart any defense on a given day.So,let's analyze how Ligue 1's highest scorers have proved out to be this season- 

6.Wissam Ben Yedder(Toulouse FC)

A person from Tunisian decent who has been the young superstar performer in ligue 1 this season and has scored 10 times for Toulouse and has 4 assists. Toulouse have constantly relied upon the 23 year old forward and he has always delivered for them with his superb finishing ability and his magical skills. Every time he goes to play for Toulouse his quality and effectiveness always increases on the field.

5.Andre-Pierre Gignac(Olympique de Marseille)

To everyone's surprise Marseille(French giants) is currently 5th in the Ligue 1 standings, they are fighting for a champions league spot and have been knocked out of this year's champions league(6 matches 0 points). This man Gignac has been the in the team since 2010.Since past 4 years,he has serving Marseille but this season he had performed expectionally well for men in blue and white scoring 12 goals in 25 appearances.He is expected to leave the club if they don't qualify for the champions league this season.

4.Vincent Aboubakar(FC Lorient)

Here comes the Cameroonian international  who came from Valenciennes last season to Lorient in the summer transfer window.His arrival has boost up the confidence of the whole team .This 22 year old Striker is improved a lot this season  scoring 12 goals in 26 appearances compared to(last year he had scored 2 goals in 28 appearances for Valenciennes).

3.Alexandre Lacazette(Olympique Lyonnais)

Next up is Lyon's No.10 who is enjoying the best form of this season. He has scored 13 goals and has 2 assists for Lyon this season. Lyon have jumped from 10th to 6th position in past few weeks due to his goals scored at regular intervals in the white jersey. Liverpool and rivals Arsenal are said to be thoroughly interested in securing a move for this free scoring Frenchman and in case,Les Gones fail in their bid to make it to Europe,Lacazette may be on his way out.

2.Edinson Cavani(Paris-Saint Germain)

The former Napoli man has scored 14 goals for men in dark blue this season.Though,he was little sloppy before the winter break and had been missing chances regularly but he has enjoyed a memorable comeback by scoring against french rivals Marseille last week and is starting to regain his lost touch. Rumours are coming he is set to leave Parisiens and sign for either Manchester United or Chelsea in the upcoming transfer window.

1.Zlatan Ibrahimovic(Paris-Saint Germain)

Here comes the top scorer with 22 goals and 10 assists this season Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the person who makes Psg history. He always wants more from his team and is hungry for goals.His astonishing goal scoring ability,unmatchable leadership qualities and his impeccable skills makes him a major contender for 2014 Ballon d'or.

  

 

David Moyes unsure over van Persie's future

Robin van Persie is reportedly unhappy under David Moyes

Following a recent run of poor results ,David Moyes is reportedly pondering upon Robin van Persie's status quo at Manchester United.He has been privately unsure over Robin van Persie's future and is casting doubts over the same. For more ,Click Here-  David Moyes unsure over van Persie's future | FTBpro