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The battle for the top spot in the second Bundesliga points table is now only between St. Pauli and Werder Bremen. Because the Darmstadt was lost to Bremen and is now 3 points behind. Still, it is uncertain which team will qualify for the Bundesliga. Because, although the performance of the teams was stable at the beginning of the season, now the performance of the teams is not stable. Also the point gap between them is not much. So if a team loses a match, it will be difficult for them to qualify for the Bundesliga.
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Their chances are very big now, especially if their opponents can be said to be below them even though they are indeed good clubs in every league they run.
Leipzig and Atalanta will be very difficult to predict who will win in this match but if you look at it, it is very likely that Leipzig will win.
On the other hand don't forget West Ham, I think this can also be a candidate to be reckoned with now especially they have also beaten Sevilla in the previous phase
Suddenly now Barcelona is talk of soccer community again as few weeks back there were in talk due to their poor performance and management issues but now suddenly with the arrival of Xavi they are completely different team with some good vision for future and end of this season with now they have only one chance to win UEFA Europa Cup. Now with current form they have very fair and good chance for this because as per table no team is having good quality for defeating them but in soccer we can expect any big upset in any match which could usual business. Frankfurt is very difficult club as they recently beat another giant Sevilla and with few other teams also having good chance for doing upsets like Atlanta and West Ham. The opponents that Barcelona is facing in the Europa League seem to be less in power than Barcelona. Obviously, Barcelona is the talk of the town right now, they have always been among the talks but this time it's for their good performance. I also like the approach of Xavi because he has made this team go from zero to hero. without him, I am quite certain that it was not pretty much possible. I think if Xavi is given a lot more time, he will be able to get Barcelona back to their glory days. |
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Bayern Munich has the financial status to get potential players that they need, and right now they are readying the new contract they will give to Lewandowski, and I think Robert Lewandowski sure can give a price he would like, and not like Dortmund, that they don't have the capacity to rehire Erling Haaland but if Dortmund, with Erling Haaland would have teammates that Lewandowski have then it might be a different story, or we could surely see a good competition between the two.
I believe that Bayern never really did any insanely high priced purchases so far and just got good players that showed themselves in Bundesliga and just kept on going that way and they got a great success out of it. Winning 6 cups in a single season in 2020 was the high point of this. Because of this, they are not looking at players who are 100+ million and they do not aim to get some of the worlds superstars. Definitely Lewa could be a great one right now, deserved the award really, but they made him into that as well, they are not getting ready made players, they are improving the ones they get. Haaland could be 150+ million and they probably won't even look at him, if they did, they could have afford him and get him and could be so great for them. Bayern Munich did not look like making stupid purchases because they approached certain players who have really great amount of skill but their playing for relatively smaller teams for smaller than Bayern Munich. that's why Bayern Munich offer them a reasonable price for the player and the club had to sell those players for the money but once those players went into Bayern Munich, they became a hundred times better. Anyway, I don't think they are going to look for Erling Haaland either. they will be looking for some player who has good potential but not too high market price. |
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I think every board is independent in deciding how many test matches will be played in there home tour. For instance, in NZ there are always 2 test matches in every series. They don't like playing much test. If board is getting benefit only then they are playing more test cricket. I do agree that there cricket fans like T20 format only.
As per the ICC rules for the World Test Championship (WTC), each full member need to conduct at least one test series against each of the remaining 9 full members, and there should be a minimum of 2 test matches in each of these series. So the national boards are forced to include test matches in their itinerary, even if they have little interest in doing so. And this is one of the reasons why I always say that the WTC has made cricket more boring. Ideally national teams should only play one test series (2-3 matches) per year. It is actually going to have a negative effect on this cricket. Because people want more action and they will get that in ODI and t20 cricket. So, in this rule test cricket will be like the YouTube ads. I think we all understand how annoying YouTube ads can be, and when we watch a video on YouTube and a promotional advertisement pops up, we just want it to finish or skip it. I think that the same thing is going to be happening to test cricket. |
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The pitch is a batting-friendly pitch. I expected better scores from the Australian batsmen. 391 runs on such a pitch does not seem to be enough. The Australians needed to collect at least 450 more. It is foolish to think that Pakistan will lose all their wickets very soon. We have seen Pakistan batting in the last two Tests. They have played very well in the previous two Tests.
You are right. The pitch is a batting pitch. And 391 runs on such a pitch is not enough. Pakistan lost their first wicket by just 20 runs. And till today they have collected 152 runs so far without losing any other wickets. Abdullah Shafique is unbeaten on 75 and Azhar Ali is on 56. And their striker rate is less than 40. They are batting very well. Since today is the third day and looking at Pakistan's batting style, it looks like they will be able to bat all day today. So the match is most likely to be a draw. |
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Besides experience, Bayern players are extremely team-fixated. That's one of the qualities the club looks for in new signings. This is also the reason why Bayern would never sign players like Messi, Ronaldo, Drogba and others (if they had the chance), because they would upset the team structure. In my opinion, there is no top team in Europe, apart from FC Liverpool perhaps, where all the players line up in such a way without airs and graces and special treatment.
How is Lewandowski different from the listed players? I think none of the listed players would break the system, the fact that these players are bright personalities does not prevent them from playing team football, but the fact that they "take over the game and waste scoring chances" is their job. The striker must shoot on goal even from uncomfortable positions, some of these shots are converted into goals and some will be unsuccessful. And at this moment, some fans will say - but he could have made a pass, oh, what an individualistic player he is. The best ability of the great footballers in the world is that they are not one-dimensional. they are quite flexible in their playstyle and often they can show some mesmerizing skills that are quite unbelievable for a lot of people. In the case of Robert Lewandowski, I think he is a player who has adapted to the playstyle of Bayern Munich really well. and obviously I agree that a striker should be able to shoot from uncomfortable positions. But a good striker will always somehow manage to get to the position where he is comfortable and be able to manipulate the play. |
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snip
I also think Barcelona will win this Europa League. Of the remaining candidates, only Atalanta and West Ham can be singled out, but Barcelona look much better. As soon as Barcelona were relegated from the Champions League many predicted they would win the Europa League, and there is no doubt that they will play in the final. I don't think it's because they had a good game against Real Madrid, which makes them the biggest candidate for winning the Europa League. They are really getting better compared to a few months ago. And on the other hand, we've seen Real Madrid drop a little in their last games. So this result, despite being a surprise, is not so strange to the point of Barcelona becoming the "best team". We saw that Barcelona had a difficult game against Galatasaray, despite the victory. Even though the next match for the Europa League could be more accessible, he continued to think that Barcelona cannot win this competition. I think it is going to be the opposite because Barcelona seems to be doing really well right now. And the win against the league leader Real Madrid is going to give them a big boost in confidence. And I am thinking that confidence is going to carry out in the Europa League matches too. I know that Barcelona did not have a very convincing match against Galatasaray but I think we all are forgetting that the team is in this position because they deserve it (Galatasaray). |
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It seems that Inter Milan is getting worse after getting another unsatisfactory result when they meet Florentina. Now they have to be 6 points behind AC Milan who on the same day earned. victory. Even though Inter Milan has one game ahead, it is not enough to overtake Milan. Losing a lot of points from a few games, they have to be content with the position they have now.
It is so surprising how Inter Milan were top of the league last month but have won only one of their last seven games and now sit third in the standings, three points behind leaders Napoli who are on 63 points and Ac Milan 66 points. The more Inter Milan are slipping, the wider the chances they are given Ac Milan to clinch the title, they still have a game at hand hopefully good results in their next game. I felt like Inter Milan exhausted its energy trying to beat Liverpool and qualify for UCL quarter finals. They have never been the same since then. The energy in the team has dropped and it is totally affecting their performance. They don't have a winning mentality anymore. They are now back to being a mid-table team. The performance of Inter has deteriorated quite quickly and heavily in my opinion. You know, they had a really commanding position in the league before but now they really don't seem to be winning the league title this season. If they actually want to be alive in this title race they will surely have to win the next match against Juventus otherwise it will be Juventus taking their place and being amongst the favorites to win the title. |
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Roma successfully beat Lazio at home with a score of 3-0. They could create a quick goal in the first minute through Abraham, then he again listed his name on the scoreboard in the 22nd minute, then Pallegrini scored in the 40th minute, it also closed the tap for Roma's goal. In the second half there were no more goals created, either from Roma or from Lazio to minimize the gap.
Tammy Abraham broke the confidence of Lazio's players by scoring in the first minute of the match. As a result, Lazio failed to make a very good attack. Roma's victory was almost certain after a 3-0 lead in the first half. So in the second half, they kept trying to keep the defense strong and attack. But I expected at least one goal from Lazio. |
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Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona
Barcelona has completely destroyed Real Madrid in Bernabeu. I did, however, bet on Barcelona winning. But I didn't think they will win so extraordinarily. Barcelona has scored 4 goals, Real Madrid could not score any. Benzema was absent from the match. This proves once again that the Real Madrid squad is terribly dependent on Benzema for the score. They must reduce this dependence. Otherwise, Real Madrid will not be able to win in important matches if Benzema is injured.
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In fact, Benzema single-handedly caused Madrid to knock out PSG last week. Making a hat-trick against PSG in 20 minutes shows how good you are. If they hadn't had Benzema, PSG would have just moved on to the next round.
However, Benzema cannot do it alone. Without assists from 2 creative midfielders of Real Madrid (Kross and Modric) and wingers (Vinicius and Asensio), Benzema will be difficult to score. I think all players of Real Madrid have contributed to winning the match against PSG. Even Benzema can make a hattrick, Real Madrid will be defeated if they have weak defenders. So, we also need to appreciate how good the performance of Real Madrid defense line is, nowadays. All players do contribute according to their respective portions it's just that no matter how good the defenders and midfielders are without scoring goals they will never be highlighted in this case Benzema gets it not all strikers can make a hat trick especially in a super big match like this only great players can do it. Benzema has always been known as a savior in crucial matches that's one of the reasons he was never sold. At the moment, Benzema is the most important player in the Real Madrid team. And I think it would be almost impossible for Real Madrid to win against any big team if Benzema is injured. Because the team depends a lot on Benzema. Even if he does not score a goal, the players are mentally stress-free even if he is in the team. As a result, the performance of the players is better. |
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Another defeat by Indian Woman in the World Cup even though they scored a decent total with a blistering innings from Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar and a slow paced innings from Mithali Raj and still Australia was too good especially their top order Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning and it looks like they have the complete team to win this world cup.
Indian Women does the best, but they weren't able to take some early wickets. This is the reason for the loss against Australia Women. If the partnership were broken at certain time interval surely the batting order will collapse, but Australia used to gain confidence when the partnership gets built. India have lost its matches against New Zealand, England and now Australia. This narrow it's entry to the top four. As said Australia is strong enough to hold the Cup once again. Winning against Australia was not easy. They are the strongest team in the tournament. And they are still undefeated. However, the performance of India's batsmen is very commendable. They were able to give a target good enough. If the Indian bowlers had performed a little better, India might have won. But the bowlers' performance was poor. Now, it remains to be seen whether the bowlers' performance is poor or more experienced than the Australian batsmen. |
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Inter Milan lost points in another match. Fiorentina was a enough strong opponent. However, if Inter Milan could have performed better, they could have won. Inter Milan's performance in this match was very poor. Fiorentina's players have been more aggressive than Inter.
Having lost points in several consecutive matches, Inter Milan are far behind in the title race. They are 6 points behind AC Milan. Inter's chances of winning the title now seem slim. Because their performance is deteriorating day by day.
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I really don't understand why Liverpool is not sorting out the problem with Mohamed salah's contract because he has done quite well with Liverpool.
Well, so Liverpool certainly wants to extend with Salah. If that hasn't happened yet, then there are only two reasons for me: Either Salah demands so much money that even Liverpool doesn't want to pay that much, which is rather unlikely for me, or Salah doesn't want to extend and is waiting for good offers from other clubs. The last option seems the most likely to me. I don't know if any other team has shown interest in Mohamed Salah but if his contract does not get renewed I think he will be approached by other big teams. I think Bayern Munich and PSG are on that list. And probably Chelsea has a chance too. -
They are trying - but Liverpool is not a financial giant like Real, PSG or City. You saw what happened to Barcelona with their huge contracts - Liverpool cannot afford to give Salah an astronomical salary. Salah wants one though because he knows he can get it in some other clubs, so they are still working on it. Salah wants to stay, Liverpool wants him to stay, but so far neither side is willing to make a big compromise. I still think he will stay - but it will be a hard deal to negotiate. I understand the logic of both parties here but one will eventually have to compromise. Otherwise, I think Mohamed Salah is eventually going to be approached by other big teams who will be able to give him more money. I don't think it will hurt Liverpool to give him a little more money but once they do that other players will also make their demands. |
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-snip
Trailing by 436 runs and losing 1 wicket does not mean they are out of the match. Still 3 more days left and WI can chase those run if they play sensibly on day 3, they need a big partnership West Indies are still trailing by 153 runs and they have four wickets in hand. But, West Indies did a good job, Even though they are trailing they make sure that they are playing a lot more overs. It's the fourth day and session two and I don't see any results except for a draw in this match. And that happened because the West Indies played a lot of overs. England scored 509 runs in 150 overs. On the other hand, West Indies have scored 354 runs, they have already played 152 overs. that alone has made the draw quite obvious right now. |
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I think tonight will be a battle between Nantes and Lille... Both teams need to pick up points to pull away from each other and fight for a place in the top 5! The last time Nantes won was in 2015, but today bookmakers are giving equally high odds to win around 3.0... I'd risk betting x2, with a good odds of 1.4...  Although Lille's performance is a bit weak this season. However, at the moment their performance is quite stable. They have been undefeated for the last 5 matches. Also, Lille has a more experienced team than Nantes. In this match, Lille will definitely play for 3 points. My expectation is that they will succeed in getting 3 points. However, it seems that the players of both teams will be able to score goals. |
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Napoli will host Udinese today, a win will be their target to match the points tally of AC Milan who are now at the top of the standings with 63 points. Udinese themselves are in an unlucky state following sub-optimal results in their last few. Napoli are also not so good looking in their last 5 matches. But in this match I believe Napoli will be able to get 3 points.
Napoli have lost a lot of points in the last weeks and there is no chance of losing any more points, if they lose they will have no chance of becoming champions. Udinese is not a good team and I don't think they will have much chance in this match, Napoli will win the match comfortably. Milan need to lose points these weeks or Napoli won't stand a chance  To continue to be on the path of the Scudetto with Milan and Inter, of course Napoli must be able to get points in the rest of their existing matches, currently the three teams have quite competitive competition to go to the fight for the Scudetto title and if one team loses points in one match only of course it will make the chances of the Scudetto getting smaller, indeed Udinese is currently ranked 14th, but that does not mean they are a weak team and easy to beat, even in the last few matches of Udinese, they were able to trouble other strong teams such as Lazio, Milan and Roma , so I think today Napoli will have a difficult match even though they are playing at home. We know anything can happen in a match but it's almost impossible to beat Napoli at home especially against Udinese honestly the two teams are in different classes The worst thing that can happen is a draw but still unlikely I'm sure Napoli will not waste opportunities to continue to add points this should be a great opportunity to take over the standings for a while. I agree with you. It is unthinkable that they will lose to a weak opponent in a home match. Napoli may not be in very good form now. In the last few matches they have not won, lost points. However, I see less chance that they will lose points against Udinese. Moreover, they need to win this match very much. Otherwise, they will fall behind in the fight to win the title. |
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I can't be not happy about opponent that Barca got. Yeah, we had problems against Galatasaray, so, Eintracht won't be easy too. But it's not worth to expect easy opponents at this phase of tournament.
Leipzig - Atalanta sound interesting and not predictable. It wouldn't be bad pair even in Champions league. In West Ham - Lyon pair I see Hammers as slighlty favorites. And Braga - Rangers pair sounds least sexy from all, I expect Rangers to go through.
Don't forget that the Frankfurt team has been able to qualify for this round after beating a team like Real Betis. Although their performance in the league is weak, maybe they will continue their best efforts to do well in the Europa League. Barcelona is strong, but it is foolish to think that they will win easily. The match between Leipzig and Atlanta will be very interesting. Both teams are very strong. They will also want to win the Europa League title. We will see one of these two teams in the final. Frankfurt have doing well so far until qualify on quarter final but I think not enough stronger for Barcelona exactly Aubameyang have good and top performance trough against with Frankfurt during with Dortmund until Arsenal and always scoring goal. I see potential for Barcelona continue to semi final on UEFA Europa League and have chance get first trophy for Xavi Hernandez if keep consistent for 1st and 2nd leg against with Frankfurt. So far as the UEFA Europa League chance for Barcelona to get trophy after have out on Copa del Rey and La Liga title race have close by Real Madrid. The outcome of this match will probably depend on the first leg. In the first leg, Frankfurt will play at home. Barcelona will only be able to qualify for the semi-finals if they are able to win this match. Because I have full confidence in Barcelona that they will win the home match. I don't think it is possible for Frankfurt to come to Camp Nou and win against Barcelona. All of Barcelona's players are now able to perform well. |
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We are going to have Napoli - Udinese as the opening game on this weekend. Napoli are clearly a highly favourite here and they already destroyed Udinese away before like 4-0. Udinese still haven't started to pull themselves together in the Serie A. Because of these facts, I don't expect Napoli to make any mistake. This one should end up with a clear victory for Napoli. And if I'm not mistaken, Napoli will be the temporary leader in the standings then too. I just love the current rivalry for the title a lot. In any case, Napoli is the favorite of the upcoming match, but I want to say that it's not enough to be a favorite, you just have to manage to win. The destruction of Udinese does not mean any fact when there is a championship race and there are teams like Milan and their sworn friends from the same you know which city  Napoli have no choice but to win if they want to win the title. Because the points gap between the top 3 teams in the table is very small. The team that loses points in a match will continue to move away from the title. And against a relatively weak team, you must achieve 3 points. If Napoli lose to Udinese then I don't think they deserve to win the title. |
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I can't be not happy about opponent that Barca got. Yeah, we had problems against Galatasaray, so, Eintracht won't be easy too. But it's not worth to expect easy opponents at this phase of tournament.
Leipzig - Atalanta sound interesting and not predictable. It wouldn't be bad pair even in Champions league. In West Ham - Lyon pair I see Hammers as slighlty favorites. And Braga - Rangers pair sounds least sexy from all, I expect Rangers to go through.
Don't forget that the Frankfurt team has been able to qualify for this round after beating a team like Real Betis. Although their performance in the league is weak, maybe they will continue their best efforts to do well in the Europa League. Barcelona is strong, but it is foolish to think that they will win easily. The match between Leipzig and Atlanta will be very interesting. Both teams are very strong. They will also want to win the Europa League title. We will see one of these two teams in the final. |
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