Pro Eleven Headline News
SUPER SUNDAY : Liverpool v Chelsea
Both clubs trail league leaders Manchester United by two points, but with United able to stretch that advantage to five by Saturday evening, a defeat for Liverpool or Chelsea could be a major blow to their challenge.
Despite a strong first half to the season, Liverpool are currently experiencing their worst run of form of the campaign, having failed to record a league victory so far in 2009.
Chelsea, on the other hand, appear to be returning to form following their crippling 3-0 loss to United earlier in the month.
Two wins on the trot have seen the Blues' flagging campaign reignited, and a victory against Liverpool would undoubtedly send out a signal of intent to their title rivals.
However, Luiz Felipe Scolari's side will first have to overturn a dreadful record against the rest of last season's top four this season, having lost all three meetings to date.
Team news
Liverpool are likely to return to their strongest starting line-up after the midweek draw with Wigan, meaning that Xabi Alonso, Albert Riera and Dirk Kuyt should all be recalled.
Fernando Torres is almost certain to lead the line for the Reds, but fellow striker Robbie Keane may have to settle for a place on the bench once again.
Chelsea are unlikely to be changed from the side that defeated Middlesbrough on Wednesday, with two-goal hero Salomon Kalou continuing alongside Premier League top goalscorer Nicolas Anelka up front.
Deco may come in for Florent Malouda, but the Londoners are likely to look for continuity as they go in search of a vital win.
Possible starting XIs
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Kuyt, Alonso, Mascherano, Riera, Gerrard, Torres.
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole, Mikel, Ballack, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka, Kalou. SkySports
AC Milan face a major test at Lazio
Lazio are in poor form, without a win in three matches, including two defeats in a row and there is pressure building on Delio Rossi. The Rome giants will have to rely on their main strength, their attack which includes three great talents.
Tommaso Rocchi has claimed five goals this season, Goran Pandev eight and the fabulous Mauro Zarate has eight goals and six assists to his name. In Rossi's 4-3-3 formation thoese three players are crucial, as they are the only ones, along with Ledesma who can create chances as well as score them.
Lazio will have to manage without the banned Fabio Firmani and Pasquale Foggia, but besides them, will have a full squad to choose from, and nothing but a win will be acceptable for their increasingly angry fans.
For the Rossoneri, things are improving thanks to a run of five matches without defeat, just two points behind Juventus and eight behind leaders Inter. Diego Milito's late goal was real blow on Wednesday night and cost Milan two points but they seem to be starting to click.
Since the arrival of David Beckham to Milan, the team has improved, as he seems to successfully fill the gap in the center/right position of midfield after Rino Gatusso's season ending injury. In addition, Alexandre Pato is really starting to show why he is considered a wonder kid with seven goals in his last six matches.
Carlo Ancelotti's side will miss the banned Mathieu Flamini and captain Paulo Maldini as well as injured Kaladze, Nesta, Gattuso and Borriello. Ancelotti will likely play his regular 4-3-2-1 formation with the ambition to claim another win, and wait for Inter and Juve to slump, as they truly believe that another Scudetto is still in reach.
Expected line-ups:
Lazio (Probable): Fernando Muslera, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Sebastiano Siviglia, Emilson Cribari, Stefan Radu, Ousmane Dabo, Cristian Ledesma, Cristian Brocchi, Mauro Zarate, Goran Pandev, Tommaso Rocchi.
Milan (Probable): Christian Abbiati, Gianluca Zambrotta, Giuseppe Favalli, Marek Jankulovski, Philippe Senderos, David Beckham, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini, Clarence Seedorf, Kaka, Alexandre Pato. IMScouting
Beckham may play in UEFA Cup for AC Milan
AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said Saturday he has not ruled out including David Beckham in his UEFA Cup squad.
The list of 25 players must be submitted to UEFA by midnight Sunday. Beckham's loan spell at Milan is due to end on Mar 8 and he was not expected to be one of the players named.
However, striker Marco Borriello is not expected back from a knee injury until April, potentially freeing up a spot for the England midfielder.
"The delivery of the UEFA list is tomorrow night at midnight. Beckham's eventual insertion in the list is up to us to decide and will not be forced on us," Ancelotti told the club's website.
"The choice of players to put in the list is delicate and we shall need to consider the fact that Gattuso is showing he is likely to recover sooner than originally thought. (Alessandro) Nesta is recuperating and Borriello could be useful when he returns. Therefore it will be a careful valuation that will also consider players' psychological well being." Canadian Press
Juventus suffer set back against Cagliari
Juventus' hopes of catching Serie A league leaders Inter Milan suffered a major blow on Saturday when it lost 3-2 at home to Cagliari.
Had it won Claudio Ranieri's side would have closed to within three points of Inter, but now Jose Mourinho's side can widen the gap to nine points when it takes on Torino on Sunday.
Worse still, if AC Milan also wins, Carlo Ancelotti's team will leapfrog Juventus into second place.
Inter top the table with 49 points, Juventus are second on 43 and AC Milan lie third with 41.
"Cagliari had a great game, a very good game. You could see from what they did against Inter Milan (1-1 draw) and Lazio (4-1 win) that they would give us a lot to worry about," Ranieri said.
"We've only given away five games at home, so our defense is better than this. We need to watch (the match) and then discuss it. We shouldn't have given away two goals when we were leading 2-1," he added.
In form Cagliari, which hasn't lost since returning from the winter break, took the lead against the run of play on 16 minutes when Davide Biondini headed in Michele Fini's cross at the far post.
Mohamed Sissoko brought the home side level on 31 minutes, heading in Alessandro Del Piero's corner.
On 38 minutes Juventus took the lead when Pavel Nedved picked up a weak header to shoot low past Federico Marchetti to give Juventus the halftime lead.
Cagliari equalized on 54 minutes. Andrea Cossu was released on the left and Jeda reached his cross to score his eighth goal of the season.
The winner came on 78 minutes. Alessandro Matri sent Andrea Lazzari into space behind the Juventus defence and made up enough ground to score from the return pass and put Cagliari three points from the Champions League places.
"This evening the team had a great game. It took it's chances and then at the end we didn't give Juventus anything," Cagliari coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
In the night's earlier match Napoli and Udinese scored two first half goals apiece to draw 2-2.
Ezequiel Lavezzi gave the home side the lead in the 24th minute, following good work by his attacking partner German Denis and Marek Hamsik added the second three minutes later when he headed in Walter Gargano's freekick.
Antonio di Natale scored his 11th goal of the season on 32 minutes after Paolo Cannavaro had brought down Kwadwo Asamoah to close the deficit, before Fabio Quagliarella scored an acrobatic volley from outside the penalty area on the stroke of halftime.
International Herald Tribune
Real Madrid tops Numancia for sixth straight win
Raul and Arjen Robben scored and Real Madrid held on for its sixth straight win, 2-0 over Numancia on Saturday in Spain's La Liga, despite playing a man down in the closing stages.
Madrid pulled within nine points of idle leader Barcelona, which plays Sunday. Numancia, the only team to beat Barca this season, lost for just the third time in 10 homes matches and remained just five points clear of the drop zone.
Raul opened the scoring at Estadio Nuevo Los Pajaritos in the 48th minute and Robben doubled the lead in the 56th.
Raul scored his 10th goal of the season early in the second half, firing from the center of the penalty area into the bottom right corner. Robben's goal, off an assist from Raul, was driven from just outside the box into the lower right.
Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago received his second yellow card in the 79th but Real held on. Numancia lost for the fourth time in its last five matches.
Also Saturday, Fernando Llorente and Susaeta scored in the final 20 minutes as Athletic Bilbao edged Malaga, 3-2.
On Sunday, Barca visits Racing without injured defender Carles Puyol, Osasuna hosts Mallorca, Espanyol hosts Recreativo, Deportivo hosts Villarreal, Atletico Madrid hosts Valladolid, Real Betis hosts Getafe, Valencia hosts Almeria and Sporting Gijon hosts Sevilla. Sports Network
