Way better on the prediction front last week, as I predicted four correct outcomes (I picked six matches last week) and nailed three scores: Porto 2-1 over Benfica, City falling 1-2 to Spurs and Juve moving to the top of the table over Napoli, 1-0. This trend will not continue. Here are the best matches of the weekend:
1. Chelsea vs. Manchester City, Sunday 11:00 a.m EST Fox Sports 2
FA Cup football dominates England this weekend and the biggest matchup is between the last two League winners as Manchester City travels to West London to face Chelsea. The Citizens stumble into the Cup tie after conceding a late goal to Spurs last week while watching their distant hopes of a quadruple trophy haul fade away.
It is unclear what kind of resources Manager Manuel Pellegrini will be willing to put on the pitch with a midweek journey to Kiev for the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage on the horizon. Chelsea walks into the match with their (masked!) heads held high even after suffering their first loss under Guus Hiddink.
The Blues lost 2-1 to ZLATAN and P.S.G. but escaped Paris with an all-important away goal. Expect Hiddink to load the pitch with a top class side and at least one other masked man, as Chelsea doesn’t have another match of consequence for almost 20 days.
Prediction: Look for Batman to score, perhaps on a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta (Robin), 1-0 for the Blues.
2. Atletico Madrid vs. Villarreal, Sunday 2:30 p.m. EST beIN Sports Espanol
Atletico has seen Barcelona stretch its lead to six points after a midweek makeup match, while a newly refocused Real Madrid side sits one point behind them in the table. The Madrid sides meet next week, but Diego Simeone’s cannot get caught looking ahead to their hometown derby (or a midweek trek to the Netherlands in the Champions League).
Villarreal arrives at the Vicente Calderon Stadium unbeaten in their last six matches and secure in fourth in the Spanish table. Do not expect a shootout in Madrid as Atletico have conceded 11 goals in 24 league matches while Villarreal has only allowed 18. In addition, Villarreal has nine 1-0 victories under its belt during this campaign. Impressive!
Prediction: No shock as no goals are scored, 0-0.
3. Napoli vs. Milan, Monday 3:00 p.m. EST beIN Sports USA
Napoli had a rough week with twin 1-0 losses to Juventus to concede first place in Serie A and Villarreal to fall behind in their Europa League knockout tie. Leading scorer Gonzalo Higuain must start to find the back of the net again if his side is going to keep the pressure on Juve.
Milan head to Naples unbeaten in their last nine matches with their sights set on securing a European qualification. If Milan makes a run at Europe they will do it on the shoulders of their Columbian striker Carlos Bacca who has scored in five of his last six matches.
Prediction: Higuain scores as does Bacca as the sides split the points and Juventus gets further away, 1-1.
4. Bologna vs. Juventus, Friday 2:45 p.m. EST beIN Sports
Speaking of Juve, the Old Lady of Italian football looks to make it 16 straight victories when they head to Bologna to kickoff the football weekend. Juventus has steamrolled the competition but do not be surprised if the league leaders are a little unfocused when they travel to Bologna on Friday.
Bayern Munich will be in Turin next Tuesday for the first half of their Champions League knockout tie. The German champs cast quite a shadow and keeper Gianluigi Buffon will need to focus his side if they are to leave Bologna with all three points.
Prediction: It is ugly but Juventus finds a late winner and extends their streak to 16, 1-0.
5. Shrewsbury Town vs. Manchester United, Monday 2:30 p.m. EST Fox Sports 1
The Red Devils are a mess. Their last match in England saw them lose to Sunderland. In the midweek they compounded the misery by losing 2-1 in Europa to Danish minnows Midtjylland. Wayne Rooney is hurt and will miss significant time and Louis van Gaal only has one win this month. Ouch.
Yet, redemption could be near as Man U journeys 70 miles south to face League One side Shrewsbury Town at their quaint New Meadow grounds on Monday in their FA Cup match. Who knows what kind of side van Gaal would present but United should be prohibitive favorites over their hosts who are 59 rungs lower than the Devils in English Football.
Prediction: Pedigree conquers pride as Man United wins 3-0.
Off the Grid Special: Bayer Leverkusen vs. Borussia Dortmund, Sunday 9:30 a.m. EST
There is very little Bundesliga on TV this weekend as Fox promotes the FA Cup and the Daytona 500 so viewers will miss Chicharito welcome Dortmund to the Bayer Arena on Sunday. It is available through Fox Soccer 2Go, which is running a free February special so fire up those tablets if you want to see the second and third best teams in Germany square off.
Prediction: My wifi gets a workout and Borussia shuts down Leverkusen, 2-0.
