Soccer World: Which team will qualify in Group B along with the group winners Inter Milan?

In the qualification group stage process in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League, the fight to qualify in Group B looks to be quite a difficult task for all teams concerned.

The Italian outfit Inter Milan have won Group B by a achieving a total of 10 points, with no other team being able to catch them. This puts Inter in good stead for when they play in the Knockout Phase of the prestigious competition.  
The other teams that reside in Group B are as follows: Trabzonspor (2nd), Lille (3rd), and CSKA Moscow (4th). My favoured team, other than Inter Milan, is the French side Lille. People placing a Champions League bet should remember this.

They have being playing okay in the top tier of French football and currently reside in 3rd position. They’ll need to pick up their form in the league, and attempt to transfer a good run-of-form into the Champions League to ensure qualification. So, in answer to the question in the title – ‘Which team will qualify in Group B along with the group winners Inter Milan?’ – My thought is that current French champions Lille will qualify. Those who bet on Champions League games should bear this in mind.

Their next, and final matchup consists of playing Turkish outfit Trabzonspor at home. The result in this match seems quite obvious in foresight, but the Turkish side have shocked us all before. Take for example the match between the Italian powerhouses Inter Milan, and Trabzonspor.

Now although the Italian side were clear favourites, the Turkish club pulled out all the stops and claimed that all-important 0-1 victory away at the San Siro, Milan. Another reason that makes Lille more likely to qualify, is the fact that Russian outfit CSKA Moscow are playing Inter Milan at the San Siro. For obvious reasons the Italian side are clear favourites and I can imagine the result ending in a 3-1 victory to the home side.

Beye wants Doncaster stay

Habib Beye is keen to stay at Doncaster Rovers for the rest of the season as he has no desire to head back to his parent club.

The right-back joined the Yorkshire club on loan from Aston Villa until January, but he is hoping to secure a longer move after making his first appearance in a 0-0 draw with Watford this weekend.

"Beye told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I think I will be here all season because I don't want to go back to Villa.

"Unless Doncaster kick me out, I will be here all season. It's a great club and I want to be part of it."

Although the side are struggling near the wrong end of the table, Baye is happy to stay and do his bit to drag them out the relegation zone. Those looking at the online Championship betting should remember this.

He pointed to their 0-0 draw with Watford as a sign that the team is heading in the right direction, although admit the side would have to work hard to get out of trouble.

Doncaster have been extremely active in the loan market since making an agreement with agent Willie McKay which sees him representing them in the transfer market.

He has been charged with finding players which can help in their survival fight and has made a number of additions.

Marc Antione Fortunre, Carl Ikeme and Herold Goulon have all arrived at the club in recent weeks, while El-Hadji Diouf has teamed up with the club on a free transfer.

Soccer games:Ferguson to go with youth

Manchester United will continue their policy of fielding a youthful side in the Carling Cup when they take on Crystal Palace in this week's quarter-final tie. Sir Alex Ferguson revealed he would be making wholesale changes from the side that were held to a draw at home to Newcastle at the weekend, with the majority of senior players expected to be rested once again.  Those looking at the odds carling cup should bear this in mind.

Mame Biram Diof and Federico Macheda have been restricted to Carling Cup appearances so far this season, and the attacking duo are expected to once again be handed a chance to impress in this tournament. Ferguson also revealed exciting youngster Ravel Morrison, who made the bench for last week's Champions League game against Benfica, will be likely to once again make the match-day squad. Anyone placing a Carling Cup bet should remember this.

"There will be complete change. Just the same as we had at Leeds and Aldershot. All the younger players [will come in] – Zeki Fryers, the two Da Silvas [Rafael and Fabio] are possibles," he said.

"Ravel Morrison was in the squad for Wednesday's game [against Benfica], and he'll possibly be on the bench, at least, in midweek. But I've got other players needing a game like Mame Biram Diouf and Federico Macheda."

The youthful squad will need to be fully focused for their clash against an in-form Palace side. Dougie Freedman's men have enjoyed a somewhat surprisingly strong start to the season in the Championship, currently 10th in the table. The London club will certainly give United a game and Ferguson will be hoping his young side can handle the pressure. 

Soccer World: Tevez eyeing Milan escape-route

It isn’t quite the beloved Buenos Aires Carlos Tevez is so desperate to return to, but the warmer climes and glamorous image of Milan seems a decent back-up option for the Argentine.

His relationship with high-flying Manchester City has been dead for a while, perhaps even before his contretemps in Munich last September. Now he doesn’t even pretend to care about his job, showing the barefaced cheek to simply not turn up for training and instead play golf – in front of the cameras - thousands of miles away in his native Argentina. All while picking up in the region of £250,000 a week.

Now it has been revealed that officials from AC Milan have begun talks with Tevez’s advisors over a deal to take him to Italy.

This is where the Carlos Tevez money machine kicks in. There is no doubting his talent, he is always among the favourites in the top scorer betting ,and his high workrate and energetic style makes him popular with the fans.

But his career is beginning to follow a pattern – with big money moves every couple of years, with his ‘advisors’ and various other hangers on earning very tidy sums for negotiating on his behalf.

Was it the influence of these people, lurking in the background, that unsettled Tevez in the first place?

We can only speculate, but there will certainly be some hard negotiating in the coming weeks. City are desperate to get him off their books before he starts to corrode their promising campaign to date, but they are also rich enough to be able to command a significant transfer fee – they are pretty much the only club in the world who could actually ‘let him rot in the reserves’.

Milan, despite their stature in the World game, don’t have bottomless pockets either so they will be hoping to take advantage of the saga and snap up a talented player on the cheap.

And surely Tevez is keen to play live football again? Or maybe he isn’t, and that’s his problem. But if that is the case then he (and his advisors) shouldn’t be taking vast sums of money with one hand but slapping his employers in the face with the other.

Spurs can Win the League - Redknapp

Yesterday evening, Emmanuel Adebayor scored a couple of goals in Tottenham Hotspur's match against Aston Villa to help Spurs climb to third place in the Premier League, displacing Newcastle United.

The result, hewn from the grass at White Hart Lane, had a profound effect on the Londoners' coach, Harry Redknapp, who has since tipped his club to claim their first league title since the 1960/61 season. Anyone looking at the best online football betting should remember this.

Spurs have won eight of their last nine encounters, a tally equalled by table-toppers, Manchester City, who have not lost a game this season, but fell to a draw with Fulham on September 18.

Manchester United, the only other club above Spurs in the league, after City, have won six of their previous nine fixtures. The Red Devils' first (and so far, only) loss of the season was their infamous 6-1 drubbing by City, on October 23.

“The title is a possibility; it's not impossible”, explained Redknapp, in the aftermath of last night's encounter with the Villa.

However, despite his newfound optimism, which came after his first day back in charge at Tottenham, following heart surgery, Redknapp remains realistic: “If we keep up our form, we'll win the league, but it will be very hard.”

Spurs' chances at claiming the gold is directly tied to the performance of Manchester United and Manchester City, who will need to falter on their quest for the Premier League title, to give Tottenham a shot at the title.

Chelsea and Arsenal, although they endured shaky starts to the 2011/12 campaign, should not be written out of the title race just yet.

Can Croatia make an impact at Euro 2012?

Croatia, or formerly known as Yugoslavia, have been quite a force in the history of the World Cup and the European Cup respectively. Although they have never quite made it to a final, they still remain to be a team of which other national sides fear. In the qualification group stages Croatia – nicknamed The Blazers – finished 2nd in Group F narrowly missing out on 1st position by a mere 2 points.

The other teams that resided in Group F were as follows: Greece (1st), Israel (3rd), Latvia (4th), Georgia (5th), and Malta (6th).  The Croatian’s best result had to be their 3-1 Home victory against Israel. After going 1 goal down in the first half, Slaven Bilic – the current manager of Croatia – must have had some serious words with his team, as the Croatians came managed to bag the 3 goals in the second half to ensure that all important victory. Anyone planning to bet on Euro 2012 will have been impressed.

The most disappointing result that The Blazers endured was the 1-0 away defeat against national footballing minnows Georgia.  Currently, Croatia’s most prolific player has to be Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Luka Modric. The Croatian star has had a massive impact on the Premiership since joining Tottenham from Dynamo Zagreb for a fee thought to be in and around the region of £16.5 million.

He is sure to take his excellent form from the Premier League, and focus on the up and coming European Cup. Croatia’s last matchup saw them face Turkey in what was the European Championship Qualifying playoff. The first leg ended in a 3-0 away victory for The Blazers after goals from Ivica Olic, Mario Mandzukic, and Vedran Corluka.

The second leg ended in a 0-0 draw ensuring Croatia’s qualification to the European Cup. Now although Croatia are one of the underdogs in the tournament, I could see them getting to at least a quarter-final, if not a semi-final.

Soccer World: Capello pleased with England's double win

England manager Fabio Capello revealed he had ‘found what he was looking for’ after victories over Spain and Sweden.

The Three Lions defied the football betting on Saturday to overcome European and World Champions Spain, with Frank Lampard grabbing the only goal.

Then on Tuesday Gareth Barry’s header deflected in off Celtic defender Daniel Majstorovic to give England their first win over Sweden since 1968.

But what pleased Capello the most, as well as those who watch Live Football Online at home, was the emergence of several young players, giving real competition for places.

The performance from the likes of Kyle Walker, Jack Rodwell and Phil Jones means that many of the established order are no longer guaranteed a place, meaning there is a real battle on to make Capello’s final squad for next summer’s European Championships. Something that pleases the Italian.

"It was important to win and important to beat Sweden after 43 years, but, for me, it was most important to see Jones, Walker and Rodwell play against a team which is really organised on the pitch and difficult to play against," said Capello after the game.

"The answer that I received from the performance was really important for me. These three players played really well.

"The last two matches, against Spain and Sweden, have been really interesting. During these games I was looking for something new and I found it. I found three really interesting players. These three players are really good technically, really good physically and all three are fast. That is important in modern football."

At the end of the season I will decide on my squad. I hope that all the midfield will be fit but Rodwell is a really interesting player. A young player. The competition to play at the Euros will be really, really strong and I hope that competition involves all these players."

Soccer World:Lambert glad for chance to catch breath

Norwich City have made an impressive start to their latest campaign in the top flight of English football, but manager Paul Lambert is grateful for the current international break which he believes will give his squad the chance to take stock of their achievements to date and recharge their batteries ahead of the next stage of their season.

Speaking this week to BBC Radio Norfolk he was full of praise for his players but admitted that he was relieved for the breathing room ahead of another tough stack of fixtures:

"It's been relentless. The break will galvanise us again. The first game back though is Arsenal which will be another mammoth task – but it's something we love doing."

Highlights of the campaign so far have included wins against Swansea, Sunderland and Bolton; a 1-1 draw at Anfield, and as a hard-fought point against Blackburn Rovers during which Lambert saw his side fight back from 3-1 down with just ten minutes remaining on the clock. People following the Premier League betting should bear this in mind.

The Canaries have really been up against it so far this season – especially in defence where they have seen long-term injuries to Zak Whitbread and Elliott Ward leave them so short in the centre-back department that full-back Russell Martin has filled in on a number of occasions – but with Martin now ruled out of action with an ankle knock, that leaves just a threadbare defensive unit at Lambert's disposal. The Premier League betting predictions reflect this.

After Arsenal, Norwich will face QPR, Man City, Newcastle and then Everton – a run of fixtures by any team's standards – and with the Canaries still yet to keep a clean sheet this season, shipping a massive 22 goals in all competitions, Lambert will have his work cut out keeping things tight at the back until he can bolster his ranks in the January transfer window.

Soccer World:Rovers looking to turn performances into points

There is no doubting just how tough the Blackburn boss has had it since being appointed manager last season. The media have insinuated that underhanded tactics were involved to remove his predecessor with Kean waiting in the wings as heir apparent; the fans have become disillusioned with both his tactics and transfer policy, and they have now grown exasperated by his bullish refusal bow to the virtually continual protests against his tenure. However, down but not out, the Scot is viewing the impending international break as a chance to regroup before his team manufacture a push up the league.

Following a tough start to the season which has seen them pitted against Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, Kean is confident that with their next six league fixtures scheduled against Wigan, Stoke, Swansea, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion and Bolton he will see his side’s recent strong performances converted into points – which in turn will see them projected up the table. The latest football betting odds suggest they will find things tough though.

Speaking after the 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Chelsea, he remained upbeat and denied that a sense of panic had set in around Ewood Park: 

"Now we have got games against teams around us and if our levels are as high as they have been then I am convinced we will pick up points." 

With the pressure on the Rovers’ board to sack the manager set to increase in coming weeks, Kean needs to find a way to back up these claims – and quickly. After some sections of the Ewood Park faithful found an ingenious way around the recent banner-ban within the stadium by flying a plane across the skies above Blackburn on Saturday, wielding the all-too-familiar "Steve Kean Out" message, it seems that there will be no let up for the beleaguered boss until positive results start flowing.

Soccer World: Wigan look doomed after latest defeat

They may have suffered eight defeats on the bounce before – on two occasions in fact – but this latest nightmare run could prove terminal for Wigan’s Premier League hopes.

Their latest defeat, at Wolves on Sunday, left them bottom of the Premier League without a win since August. Yes, it is only November, with plenty of football still to be played, and Wigan have always being among the favourites in the relegation betting  in their seven year stay in the top flight to date, but the options available to boss Roberto Martinez and chairman Dave Whelan appear limited.

Martinez has changed Wigan’s style of play in recent years, moving away from the more rugged, direct football of his predecessors.

However, in order for that to be successful you need players with enough technique to pull it off. The summer departures of Charles N’Zogbia and Tom Cleverly hit the Latics hard, and with Whelan seeking to cut costs Martinez has not had the funds to bring in direct replacements. Neat, passing football rarely flourish in uncompromising relegation battles.

He should be commended for rejecting the advances for Aston Villa in the summer in order to stay loyal to Wigan, but now his chairman is facing a test of his own. There are plenty of examples down the years of club’s failing to act decisively in order to dig themselves out of trouble, while others have made a tough – but ultimately successful - decision.

My hunch is that Whelan will not sack Martinez, he knows the restrictions his manager is under and has a long enough memory (unlike many other Premier League chairman) to remember all the good things Martinez has done.

Next up for the Latics is gargantuan relegation clash with Blackburn, a point above them at the foot of the table. Lose that -and with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool to come in their next six games – then you can bet on relegation finally coming to haunt Wigan and their fairytale run in the Premier League come to an uncomfortable end.