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England's Premier League
16:05 London "Tottenham Hotspur" (3rd place) - Liverpool "Everton" (6th place)
Results of the last five league matches: "Tottenham Hotspur" - 3 wins and 2 losses; "Everton" - 3 wins and 2 losses.
In this match, teams fighting for a place in next year's UEFA Champions League face each other. They both have 6 points, but "Tottenham Hotspur" has played one more game, so in case of a victory, "Everton" would have a great chance to catch up with their competitors in the near future. Furthermore, Gareth Bale, who suffered a brutal ankle injury in the Champions League match against Basel, will not play for the home team. The list of injured players also includes William Gallas, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe, so Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas will have to think hard about the squad for Sunday's match.
Everton will also play without some key players. Belgian Marouane Fellaini and South African Steven Pienaar are suspended, so the visitors will have to manage without them.
The outcome of the match will depend on how well the players who spend less time on the field will perform. Considering all the circumstances, it should not be surprising if Everton wins away. The team has proven capable of defeating their opponents, as they beat the London visitors 2-1 at home.
2013.04.08, Monday
Italy's Serie A
21:45 "Roma" (7th place) - Rome's "Lazio" (6th place)
Results of the last five league matches: "Roma" - 3 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss; "Lazio" - 2 wins and 3 losses.
This will not only be the Rome Derby, but also a battle for a spot in next season's Europa League. Four teams are currently vying for the top 2 spots in the standings, so any lost points could have serious consequences. "Lazio" has been struggling lately. The club is still fighting on two fronts - Serie A and the Europa League, but they have only won every other game for a long time. The "Eagles" suffered a painful defeat from Fenerbahce of Istanbul this week and face a very difficult task of retaliating at home next week. Whether the team will have the strength to achieve such important victories is a complex question. After exerting all their efforts in the Rome derby or the "Derby della Capitale", they may run out of steam for the return match against the Turks. Looking at the match against eternal rivals Roma and missing out on the Europa League, the team may have to have a serious conversation with the club's management at the end of the season. It's certainly not an easy situation for head coach Vladimir Petkovic.
England's Premier League
22:00 "Manchester United" (1st place) - "Manchester City" (2nd place)
Results of the last five league matches: "Manchester United" - 5 wins; "Manchester City" - 3 wins and 2 losses.
Almost all football fans agree that there is no intrigue left in the current English Premier League. "Manchester United" leads by 15 points, with only 8 rounds left until the end of the season. So unless "Manchester United" stops playing and loses 6 matches, or "Manchester City" rises like a phoenix from the ashes and wins all the remaining matches... Of course, this is just a fantasy from the fiction section. Looking at everything realistically, this will be just another derby where the teams will fight for pride and the fans. In these cases, points in the standings mean nothing, and the teams step onto the field to fight for other things. "Manchester United" will seek to prove that they are the best team in the country this season, while "Manchester City" will try to assert themselves against their eternal rivals, as a victory will allow them to proudly say, "We beat the champions on their turf."
2013.04.10, Wednesday
UEFA Champions League, quarterfinal
21:45 Turin "Juventus" - Munich "Bayern"
The first leg ended with a 2-0 victory for Munich "Bayern".
This pair had caused the most discussions before the first match. Some experts praised the Italian iron defense, while others praised the German attacking arsenal. The match in Munich showed that Munich "Bayern" really has a powerful frontline and is a real contender to win this year's Champions League, as they beat not just anyone, but Juventus, who had only conceded 4 goals in their previous 6 matches. Gianluigi Buffon had a difficult time during the visit to Munich, and some football experts didn't hesitate to call the experienced Italian national team goalkeeper a pensioner. Was it just a bad day, or is it time for the team's goalkeeper to think about football boots, or more precisely, the hanging of his gloves? On Wednesday, Buffon will have a great opportunity to prove whether he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level. However, this match will be a test not only for the goalkeeper but for the entire Italian team, as they will have to rewrite club history to advance to the next stage, having lost 0-2 in the first leg. So "Juventus" faces a daunting task.
2013.04.11, Thursday
UEFA Europa League, quarterfinal
22:05 London "Tottenham Hotspur" - "Basel"
The first leg ended in a 2-2 draw.
London "Tottenham Hotspur" and "Basel" probably caused the biggest surprise of the quarterfinals in the first leg. It's truly surprising that a team like "Basel" managed to play a draw away against "Tottenham Hotspur", who have been performing very well in the English Premier League and eliminated Inter Milan in the previous Europa League stage. So the biggest question is whether the English club will be able to defeat their surprise opponents at their own stadium. Or maybe the Swiss have prepared a few more unpleasant surprises for the visitors from England? And Basel has already proved that they are capable of doing so in the 2011/2012 Champions League season when they defeated "Manchester United" 2-1 at home.
