TFT Issue 345!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
Real Zaragoza vs Atletico Madrid – away win at 4/5.
Today’s featured game is the Primera Liga game between Real Zaragoza and Atletico Madrid.
Real Zaragoza are currently propping up the Primera Liga table following a disappointing season and are very likely to go down. However, an unexpected three points from their trip to the Mestalla means that hope has been kindled in the Zaragoza camp. They’re only six points behind Villarreal CF now and with no side below 13th having been able to string two wins together of late, Zaragoza are not out of this relegation dogfight yet.
Well, that’s what they believe, at least. Me? I think that they’re done for. In Spain’s Primera Liga, teams have to either be strong defensively and take their chances at the other end or they have to attack and score goals; they’re the only two styles that work. Zaragoza do a very poor combintion of both in the sense that they attack and…don’t score whilst defending without keeping clean sheets. Zaragoza are easily the weakest side in the top flight for defending with only Lanzaro demonstrating any kind of ability positionally and that’s a huge problem for Zaragoza. The introduction of Jimenez as the boss demonstrated intelligence and Zaragoza have played better football since his arrival. Indeed, how else would mediocre target man Postiga become so integral to their plans? The Portuguese forward returns for today’s game, incidentally. Out go integral attacker Lafita and Argentinian defender Alvarez, however.
With Juan Carlos, Lafita, Barrera, Postiga, and Luis Garcia in their ranks, you have to feel that Zaragoza have enough going forward to score goals. However, that’s one thing that they’ve consistently not done until Jimenez took over at the club. Now Zaragoza are attacking and scoring goals fairly regularly but I just think that it’s too late for them to save themselves from relegation, especially with such a vulnerable defence.
Atletico Madrid go from strength to strength following a dominant win against the ever-impressive Athletic Club de Bilbao in their last game. This side is truly playing for boss Simeone; I’ve seldom seen this Atletico side work as hard as they have. Even when facing the adversity of absentees, Atletico have remained strong as a unit and flourished as a result.
For today’s game, Atletico have their usual absentees although this time they’re in the form of Gabi, Juanfran, Silvio, and Tiago. You’ll notice that most of those players are midfielders, which is fine as that’s the area that Atletico Madrid have most cover for, especially with ex-Santos playmaker Diego back in action for today’s game. There’s more than enough in the Atletico Madrid midfield to deal with their rather predictable hosts, in my view.
The important thing today is for Falcao to take his chances, which is something that he does very well. Zaragoza have momentum and they need the points more than their opponents. However, they’re an ineffectual side so if Atletico play the patient game then they should be able to counter-attack very well indeed. So long as Falcao does what he does best today then I’ve no doubts over the outcome as Atletico are more than good enough to keep their hosts out if they maintain their composure.
Read what you will into Zaragoza’s win at Valencia lately. I personally attribute it to Valencia bottling it at home against a lesser club, which is far from unusual. If Zaragoza do the business here then I’ll be a lot more impressed with them than I currently am. Atletico Madrid have a much better attack and defence than their hosts and are playing better football. With Diego back pulling the strings for the visitors, I can only see an away win here at 4/5.
Verdict: Atletico Madrid to win at 4/5.
Additional games
TB Tvoroyri vs Vikingur Gotu – lay Vikingur Gotu at 5/6.
The oldest club in the Faroe Islands finally returns to the Meistaradeildin so TB Tvoroyri will be keen to get off to a good start, I’m sure!
Now, whilst their new pitch is being laid, they’re going to be playing their home games in Suduroy. This is a neutral venue and to be honest their new pitch should be ready in a couple of weeks so it’s hardly the end of the world for TB.
Transfer-wise, TB have been quite active in the market and yet quite mysterious with it too. They’ve signed a few Serbian players who are rumoured to be doing well but no names are being divulged. A couple of names did come out, however, one of which was former Ghana international Samuel Ayew Yeboah, who brings some much needed strength and pace to this TB side. Another signing that has been confirmed is that of ex-Faroe Islands international captain Oli Johannesen, who may be 40 but is still capable of producing the goods. He gives TB more experience than they previously had and throw into the mix the depth that TB have apparently got and we have a side that’s more than capable of avoiding the drop. The important thing is to start the season well, however, and they need to get something from this game as a result.
Fortunately, fate has been quite kind to them by dealing them a home game with Vikingur Gotu. Vikingur are one of the bigger sides in the Meistaradeildin and were one of the better sides over the past few years too. They weren’t really in the same bracket as EB/Streymur but they were a top five side, basically. However, rumour has it that finances are tight at Vikingur and their lack of transfer activity would certainly back that theory up.
I mean, the most fundamental problem that Vikingur have is that the top goalscorer in the Faroe Islands (Justinussen) has left to play for Jonkopings Sodra in Sweden pre-season. He was everything to them in attack last season and bagged just short of a quarter of their away goals in the Meistaradeildin last term, not to mention how many he created with his devastating pace on counter-attacks! Vikingur Gotu have floundered for months, trying desperately to find replacements. Northern Irish striker Munster came on trial but was allowed to leave as he wasn’t what they were looking for. In the end, Vikingur were able to capture something of a celebrity in the football world (at least by Faroese standards) by signing ex-PSV Eindhoven youngster Lasse Qvist. The Danish striker was notorious for his lethal pace during his younger years and big things were expected of him. He sort of disappeared and he wouldn’t be in the Faroe Islands now if he still showed that ability. Nonetheless, it’d be stupid to write him off from rediscovering it in a league that he’s frankly a lot better than. Still, it’s a bold move from Vikingur because if Qvist does fail, which he has in other leagues for the last few years, then Vikingur will do well to finish mid-table.
You see, Justinussen wasn’t the only player to leave. No, his fellow forward Simin Hansen departed for reigning champions B36 Torshavn, which again doesn’t help. He may not have fit in too well there but his experience will be missed. Now Vikingur have gone back a few years with these sales because it’s all down to the excellent Vatnhamar in midfield, who, to be fair, can win most Meistaradeildin games on his own. He’s an excellent playmaker and goalscorer at this level. To only have one talented and proven player at this level is scary, though. Bartalsstovu, Sam Jacobsen – they have potential but not the experience. Vikingur swooped to sign Skala striker Brian Jacobsen and the youngster is reportedly doing well but again, it’s another kid. Where’s the experience? They signed Bassene to bolster their midfield and he could ironically debutise against one of his former clubs today but this Vikingur side is short on depth, quality, and experience. It’s not the kind of side that I would take to win away from home at the moment – let’s put it that way!
The one factor that concerns me here is Gregersen. At centre-back, he’s one of the best players still plying their trade in the Faroe Islands and he unfortunately plays for Vikingur Gotu. Without him, their defence would be ruined and I’d give them an outside chance of going down with the proviso that Qvist doesn’t suddenly turn it on. Nonetheless, it’s their attack that makes me think they’ll be weak and the hosts do have capable players so for me, there has to be value in laying Vikingut Gotu as the odds on this game are based entirely on last year rather than the current year.
Verdict: Lay Vikingur Gotu at 5/6.
HB Torshavn vs B68 Toftir – lay HB Torshavn at evens.
And here we have another Faroese side feeling the pinch – heavyweights HB Torshavn. They were so close to an unprecedented relegation last season that it doesn’t bear thinking about for HB fans. How a side can drop from title contenders to relegation battlers I don’t really know but that’s exactly what happened.
HB’s biggest problem is scoring goals. I’d always maintain the case that they have one of the best midfields in the Faroe Islands and that has only been added to pre-season with the return of ex-Manchester City playmaker/supporting striker Mouritsen. He’s a great addition to this HB squad and improves a midfield that already contains Faroe Islands captain Benjaminsen in the middle, the skilful Samuelsen on the right, set piece specialist Poulsen, battling Thorleifsson – the list goes on. Up front, though, who is going to score their goals? There’s only old Andrew av Flotum that can find the net and he’s finding it hard to stay fit in his advancing years, hence HB struggling so much last season. They’ve done very little to improve their chances of scoring goals this season other than to bring more creativity into the squad which they didn’t frankly need. It was far more essential for Clementsen to sign a striker but they didn’t and that could be a big problem. I mean, seriously – if Vikingur Gotu can sign Qvist, why couldn’t HB Torshavn take that chance? They need a striker desperately! Clementsen has also signed Brazilian left-back Santos from EB/Streymur. He’s been in the Meistaradeildin for ages and knows the lay of the land. He’s prone to red cards and sensational goals so I suppose it was redundant for me to write that he was Brazilian! You can see the purse strings have tightened, though. HB won’t fork out for another manager, hence them giving Clementsen the job for this season, and they won’t sign a striker. It’s a problem that I’m keen to see how they address because every side in this division scores goals and if HB aren’t then they’ll go down, no matter how good their midfield is.
B68 Toftir have the potential to be one of the surprise packages this season. After their heroics of avoiding the drop following the worst start to the Meistaradeildin that they could possibly imagine, they battled their way to avoiding the drop and here they are now, large as life and twice as natural.
Let’s look at why they struggled, though. For me, it’s always important to know why something happened, not that it did happen. If you can understand why then you can anticipate what might happen in future, which is what I am doing here.
B68 lost their footing at the start of last season because they had no home ground until part-way through the season, hence them being drubbed so freely for the early part of the season. Heads dropped and in a squad with limited ability, that’s just fatal. Still, B68 found character and they’re back in the swing of things this season. Their new stadium is ready, which helps. They’ve been incredibly smart pre-season by poaching the manager of bitter rivals NSI Runavik, a man called Pauli Poulsen. He did a good job with NSI Runavik and plainly has the respect of his players because international midfielder Justinus Hansen and left-back Einar Hansen have both left NSI Runavik to join him at rivals B68 Toftir. The first task that awaited Poulsen as boss was to ensure that his side scored goals, though. Senegalese duo Keita and Camara are expected to miss the start of this season through injury, which posted B68 a problem. Poulsen was smart, though – he signed a lightning fast Nigerian striker called Ukpai to bolster their ranks and then made arguably the signing of the season – Christian Hogni Jacobsen. This guy was the leading goalscorer for three consecutive years in the Meistaradeildin (2007-2010) and was set to move to Denmark last season after ending his stay with NSI Runavik (God, they’re going to hate B68 more than ever this season!) but he surprisingly came back to the Faroe Islands to play for B68 Toftir! Yet another NSI old boy finds his way here so we can expect a few heated derbies this season! Nonetheless, what this does is it gives B68 a bloody good attack, a top manager, and some very experienced heads. Well, B68 weren’t title contenders to begin with but these signings make B68 at least a comfortable mid-table side, in my view. Morale is high with this signing, so much so that even the departure of goalkeeper Thomsen won’t dampen spirits although it’s doubtful that ex-07 Vestur Sorvagur goalkeeper Jorgensen can fill his boots.
So what we’re left with here is a giant Faroese club with a top midfield and mediocre attack hosting a very underestimated but talented B68 side that can score goals. Anyone else think the odds on the home win are too short? I do! For me, the value is in laying the hosts at evens.
Verdict: Lay HB Torshavn at evens.
AZ Alkmaar vs RKC Waalwijk – away win with +1.5 handicap at 10/11.
The wheels are gradually falling off AZ Alkmaar’s campaign and a complete lack of depth is the reasoning behind it. On paper, their starting eleven is good enough to win the Eredivisie. Take any of those players out and the replacements just aren’t good enough. They’ve struggled enough without holding midfielder Wernbloom, who moved to CSKA Moscow on loan, but now the onus rests squarely on the shoulders of powerful striker Altidore and playmaker Elm. Limit those two and AZ become a lot more predictable and average.
Ahead of this match, AZ have failed to win in three consecutive games in all competitions. They lost 2-1 in Italy against Udinese but still progressed through to the latter stages of the UEFA Europa League before drawing a blank with awful away side NAC Breda in a 0-0 game and then crashing out of the KNVB Beker a few days ago where plucky Heracles Almelo took them to extra-time and won 2-4. That’s two home games in a row that AZ have failed to win now and the fact is that for the last couple of months, they’ve not been anywhere near as masterful nor as prolific on their home turf and sides are beginning to capitalise on that.
AZ have a big game with Valencia coming up in a few days; guess which one out of that game and this one will take priority? Yes, that’s right – the history-making game with Valenica. AZ don’t have depth and if they rest so much as a couple of first-team players then I fancy them to really struggle here.
Additionally, I love betting for RKC Waalwijk in some way because they’re the biggest surprise package in the Netherlands, for my money. They don’t show it with their goals tally because finding the net is their weakest area but this side plays some lovely football and are very hard to break down. AZ will need to be at their best to win this game and I just don’t rate the chances of that occurring with the above in mind.
RKC have had a nice long rest ahead of this game with an eight-day gap since their 1-0 win against De Graafschap. RKC have only lost once in their last five games in the only game that they didn’t “show up” in, which happened to be at the Amsterdam ArenA and saw them take a beating. That was the only Eredivisie game that RKC have been outplayed in since the middle of January, however. In every other game they’ve outplayed their opponents, which is very impressive when you consider that they’ve faced Groningen away, Feyenoord away, Vitesse at home, and even Heerenveen at home. RKC finished the game against Heerenveen with ten men but still dominated even then – I remember watching it. Had it not been for a couple of clearances off the line or the frame of the goal, Heerenveen wouldn’t have taken three points from that game.
So – can RKC do the damage? I suppose that’s the big question. AZ are at home and you have to expect them to find a way through at some point. I believe RKC are fresh enough and confident enough to cause an upset here though. They can score a goal and help this bet massively or they can defend properly and frustrate their hosts. So long as RKC don’t play in this game like they did against Ajax then this tip is a winner. Therefore, with all of the above taken into account, I have to give the visitors a +1.5 goal head start at 10/11.
Verdict: RKC Waalwijk to win with a +1.5 handicap at 10/11.
Tromso vs Fredrikstad – under 2.5 goals at 5/6.
The Eliteserien in Norway returns at long last and this game sees the furthest north side competing in the top flight of European country hosting relegation battlers Fredrikstad.
Fredrikstad are fortunate in a sense because this is one of the longest trips that a Norwegian Eliteserien side can make as Fredrikstad itself is very close to the Swedish border in the south of Norway, just south of Oslo. Imagine playing this game mid-week or after a hard stint of games when you need points! It’s a nightmare trip to make and Fredrikstad will be thankful for small mercies, I’m sure.
In my eyes, that’s all that they’ve got to be thankful for. The pitch at the Alfheim is hard and the artificial turf is a friend of nobody but the sides that are used to playing on it, such as Tromso! It may be Spring but you’d do well to see it 250km inside the Arctic Circle, which is where Tromso play. So, yeah – Fredrikstad will have to do well to conquer the geographical and phyiscal elements here, and that’s before we even look at the quality difference!
Tromso are better than Fredrikstad although not to the degree that the odds suggest, in my view. Tromso are very good at keeping sides out and at keeping the ball but scoring goals? It’s not their forté. Abdellaoue and Rushfeldt were the primary sources of goals for Tromso last season but Abdellaoue has moved to Denmark to play for FC Copenhagen and Rushfeldt has retired, at long last. The latter was a very good player but he was the kind of player that can be replaced fairly easily in the sense that he was big, strong, and good in the air – that’s really not a rare sight in Norwegian football! I can rattle off ten forwards in Norway with those attributes so it’s no surprise that Tromso have managed to replace him by signing another veteran striker, Ole Martin Arst, who is back for another stint with Tromso following a few years of absence. He’ll cover for Rushfeldt fairly well, in my eyes – same type of player. Abdellaoue, though – nobody can replace him. Tromso signed Zdenek Ondrascek on loan from Ceske Budejovice but he’s completely inconsistent in front of goal although his workmanlike approach to football should suit Tromso’s pressurised style. The rest of Tromso’s transfer activity has been to poach players from local rivals Tromsdalen so we can expect more of the same from Tromso as what we saw last season although they do have a potential weapon in Thomas Kind Bendiksen, who has returned to Norway from Rangers in Scotland – it’ll be interesting to see how he does.
Last season, Fredrikstad had four weapons. Their first weapon was their fanatical fans at their home games. Fredrikstad are very well-supported so sides find it hard to go and face them there, which is something that won’t be a problem today for obvious reasons. The other three weapons were their players in the form of centre-back Piiroja and attackers Borges and Elyounoussi. Estonian centre-back Piiroja has left Fredrikstad; he now plays for Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands. Borges has left Fredrikstad; he now plays for AIK Solna in Sweden. This leaves Fredrikstad with one good player by my estimation so it’s no surprise that I’m not the only one tipping them to have a long and potentially disappointing battle with relegation. Financial problems for the club meant that there were departures for Askar (Brann Bergen) and Thomassen (Valerenga Oslo), which when added to the departure of Piiroja, makes their defence absolutely useless. Had Tromso not been short of attacking options here, then I’d have almost certainly handicapped Tromso.
However, it’s going to take time for Tromso to come to terms with their new players etc. so although they should dominate this game, I don’t think they’ll score as many as the should. Fredrikstad are in no position to compete with anyone right now with only ex-Heerenveen holding midfielder Thomas Holm joining from Molde FK and Norway international goalkeeper Knudsen joining from troubled Stabaek providing any kind of defensive quality for this side.
The Tromso win should be a given here but I will not bank on it as we need to see how Tromso play in the final third with their new attackers. However, given that Fredrikstad scoring can only occur from magic from Elyounoussi, it’s safe to say that I don’t think the visitors will score in this game. Tromso don’t have the right to explode into this game either so a 1-0 or 2-0 scoreline would be the most I expect. Either way, taking under 2.5 goals at 5/6 could be a real bargain here.
Verdict: Under 2.5 goals at 5/6.
Levante vs Osasuna – lay Levante at 4/5.
I watched Levante’s game in San Sebsastian lately against Real Sociedad and they didn’t do much for me, to be honest. Their counter-attacking methods are good when deployed correctly. Kone was an absolute nightmare for Real Sociedad to handle and it showed with his goal, albeit Claudio Bravo being at fault for not getting down to the shot quickly enough. Still, Levante needed a dubious penalty and a bit of luck to take three points from that game as they did very little else other than sit back, counter-attack, and make the wrong decisions in the final third. Defensively, they did alright but without doing anything special. They did the most stupid thing that you can think of in the Basque country by falling behind after a short period of time and the hosts should have made them pay but an unnecessray red card for Elustondo effectively wrote that game off for Real Sociedad, although it’s amusing to note that they still dominated play even with ten men.
Levante have had a good season and their home form has been especially good but do you really think that they’ll end the season with only four less home wins than Real Madrid? I don’t – I think the gap will be bigger because that’s how it tends to go. Levante have done very well this season but it can’t last forever as they lack the quality and the depth to enforce it. There are opportunities in which Levante can capitalise and win games but there are some games where their counter-attacking style is not as effective and this is one of them, in my eyes. Osasuna are an absolute nightmare to play against because they play each game as if it’s their cup final and work their backsides off in the process. It’s no coincidence that the only sides to have lost less away games than Osasuna on the road this season are the current top three in the Primera Liga, I assure you! Without being a very talented side, Osasuna have great cohesion and organisation and that is something that Levante really won’t like here. For me, there’s a lot of value in laying the hosts in this game because they’ll have to play very well to get a result against a side like Osasuna.
Verdict: Lay Osasuna at 4/5.
Team news
Bulgarian A PFG:
Levski Sofia – No absentees.
Minior Pernik – Tom and Trayanov are absent.
Montana – Lichkov is absent.
Botev Vratsa – No news.
Cherno More Varna – Atanasov is absent. Iliev returns.
Litex Lovech – Popov is absent. Nicacio returns.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv – Georgiev and Dyakov are absent.
CSKA Sofia – Anise, Trifonov, Stoyanov, and Yanchev are absent. Hadad and Tomas may debutise.
Svetkavitsa – No news.
Lokomotiv Sofia – Mladenov, Ivanov, and Dafchev are absent.
Cypriot Division 1:
Apollon Limassol – Benzoukan, Kolar, and Neva are absent.
Anorthosis Famagusta – Martins and Rongato are absent. Sprongel and Laborde are doubts.
Enosis Neon Paralimni – Yakubu, Semedo, and Petkov are absent.
Alki Larnaca – Barge, Beckel, Glikorov, and Dobrasinovic are absent.
Ethnikos Achnas – Vukcevic and Pincelli are absent.
AEL Limassol – Enrique, Parpas, and Edmar are absent.
Nea Salamis – Saavendra and Grimes are absent.
Aris Limassol – Stepanov, Markou, Elia, Gonzalez, Kompoyo, and Grujic are absent.
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Viktoria Zizkov – Stastny, Kalod, Cermak, Folwarczny, Bartl, and Valenta are absent.
Jablonec – Kocourek, Vukovic, and Novak are absent. P.Pavlik is a doubt.
Hradec Kralove – Klapka, Rezek, and Fischer are absent.
Mlada Boleslav – Johana, Opiela, Fabian, Synek, Scuk, and Kulic are absent.
Teplice – Ljevakovic is absent.
Sigma Olomouc – Petr and Horava are absent. Jirous and Veprek are doubts.
Danish Superligaen:
Silkeborg – Risgard is a doubt. Bech and Holst return.
FC Copenhagen – No absentees.
Brondby – Femi is absent. Nilsson and J.Kristiansen return.
Lyngby – Lekic and Aabech are absent. Anders Christensen returns.
OB Odense – Falk is absent. Djemba-Djemba, Ruud, Gislason, and Mendy return.
HB Koge – No news.
AC Horsens – Spelmann returns.
FC Nordsjaelland – Granskov, Sise, Bechmann, Mtiliga, Okore, and Stockholm are absent. Bjelland returns.
Hungarian Soproni Liga:
Szombathelyi Haladas – Vujovicsra, Toth, and Rajos are absent.
Ferencvaros – Somalia is absent.
Gyori ETO FC – Patkai is a doubt. Volgyi is absent.
Paksi SE – No absentees.
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Beitar Jerusalem – Neutral venue.
Maccabi Petah Tikva – Elbaz and Sansoni are absent. Damari returns.
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Ekranas Panevezys – No news.
Tauras Taurage – No news.
Banga Garzgdai – Butkus, Ivanauskas, and Bitinas are absent.
Vilnius – Grigalevicius returns.
Atlantas – No news. President has been sacked. Game played in Gargdzai.
Dainava – No news.
Dutch Eredivisie:
AZ Alkmaar – Benschop and Johansson are absent.
RKC Waalwijk – van Dijk, Castillion, and Bridji are absent.
De Graafschap – Gyasi, Sreckovic, Meijer, van der Pavert, Wormgoor, and Rose are absent.
Feyenoord Rotterdam – Fernandez, Vilhena, and Ramsteijn are absent.
Heracles Almelo – van der Linden, Rienstra, and Ter Horst are absent.
FC Utrecht – Mulenga, de Kogel, Nilsson, Asare, and van Dijk are absent.
AFC Ajax Amsterdam – Ooijer, Boerrigter, van der Wiel, Sigthorsson, Sulejmani, Boilesen, and Janssen are absent.
PSV Eindhoven – Isaksson is absent.
Polish Ekstraklasa:
Lech Poznan – Henriquez, Tonev, and Wojtkowiak are absent. Massive backroom upheaval planned with wage restructuring etc. following the news that Lech will not compete in Europe next season.
Slask Wroclaw – Cwielag and Pietrasiak are absent. Wasiluk is a doubt.
Ruch Chorzow – Burliga is absent. Dokic, Grzyb, and Zienczuk are absent.
Wisla Krakow – Jaliens, Sobolewski, and Paljic are absent.
Polish Liga 1:
Nieciecza – Baran and Martus are absent.
Polonia Bytom – No news.
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Beira-Mar – Artur, Turan, Nuno Coelho, and Pedro Moreira are doubts. Hugo returns.
CD Nacional de Madeira – Stojanovic, Marcio Madeira, Elizeu, Edgar Costa, Skolnik, Marcelo Valverde, Juninho, and Oliver are absent. Madrid, Claudemir, and Todorovic return.
Vitoria Setubal – Neca, Djikine, Jorge Goncalves, Jose Pedro, and Leal are absent. Suswan returns.
Uniao de Leiria – Elvis is absent.
Rio Ave – Pateiro is absent. Jorginho returns.
Vitoria Guimaraes – Anderson Santana and Freire are absent. El Adoua and Joao Paulo return.
Pacos de Ferreira – Sassa, Tony, and Manuel Jose are absent.
Porto – C.Rodriguez, Djalma, Danilo, and Maicon are absent. Fernando returns.
Russian Premier League:
Rostov-na-Donu – Radic and Kalachev are absent.
Spartak Nal’chik – Ruhaya, Berhamov, Sheriev, Cebotari, Golichev, and Goshokov are absent.
Dinamo Moscow – Fernandez and Kuranyi are absent.
Spartak Moscow – Kayumov, Welliton, and Rodriguez are absent.
Zenit St.Petersburg – Danny and Faizulin are absent.
Rubin Kazan’ – A.Eremenko, Carlos Eduardo, and Orehov are absent.
Anzhi Makhachkala – Eto’o is absent.
Kuban’ Krasnodar – Armas and Bucur are absent.
Scottish Premier League:
Rangers – Naismith is absent.
Celtic – El Kaddouri, Majstorovic are absent. Hooper and Forrest are doubts.
Serbian Super Liga:
Hajduk Kula – No news.
Partizan Belgrade – Volokov is absent. Kamara is a doubt.
Slovenian Prva Liga:
Mura 05 – No news.
Olimpija Ljubljana – Ivelja, Ranic, and Andelkovic are absent.
Maribor – Ibraimi is absent. Arghus is a doubt.
Celje – Gobec and Bakaric are absent. Triglav – Dolzan and Diallo are absent.
Koper – Hadzic, Struna, and Linic are absent.
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Zaragoza – Lafita and Alvarez are absent. Ruben Micael and Postiga return.
Atletico Madrid – Gabi, Juanfran, Tiago, and Silvio are absent. Diego returns.
Espanyol – Hector Moreno, Sergio Garcia, Mattioni, and Thievy are absent. Verdu returns.
Malaga – Baptista, Toulalan, and Juanmi are absent.
Levante – Lopez is absent. Valdo returns.
Osasuna – Nekounam, Balde, Kike Sola, and Masoud are absent. Lolo returns.
Athletic Club de Bilbao – San Jose, Gurpegi, Ocio, Castillo, and Igor Martinez are absent. Llorente returns.
Sporting Gijon – Canella, Gregory, Nacho Cases, and Bilic are absent.
Real Betis Balompie – Iriney, Fabricio, and Pereira are absent.
Racing Santander – Gullon, Francis, Tono, and Acosta are absent. Cisma is a doubt.
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid – Michel, Pulido, and Dani Pacheco are absent. Labaka returns.
Villarreal CF – Catala and Rossi are absent. Borja Valero and Marchena return.
Turkish Super Lig:
Ankaragucu – Mehmet Cogum is absent.
Antalyaspor – Sammy, Deniz Baris, Musa, Minev, Ndjock, and Ugurr Inceman are absent. Tandogan is a doubt.
Eskisehirspor – Sezgin Coskun and Alper Potuk are absent.
Gaziantepspor – Kerim Zengin and Bekir Ozan are absent. Akin and Gulle are doubts.
Karabukspor – No absentees.
Kayserispor – Cangele, Engin Bekdemir, Navarro, Kamil, and Amrabat are absent. Durak is a doubt.
Manisaspor – No absentees.
Sivasspor – Hayrettin Yerlikaya is absent.
Orduspor – Numan is absent.
Genclerbirligi – Curri and Aykut are absent.
Samsunrpo – Selim Teber, Saffet, Muray, and Fink are absent. Gekas is a doubt.
Mersin Idmanyurdu – Andre Moritz and Mustafa Keceli are absent.
Galatasaray – Yekta, Aydin Yilmaz, and Elmander are absent.
Trabzonspor – Vittek and Glowacki are absent.