Moscow is on fire: Spartak Moscow is hosting Zenit and CSKA Moscow is hosting Lokomotiv Moscow in the 2 derby games of the Russian league. It is worth mentioning that these 4 teams currently hold the top 4 spots on the table.
Napoli and Juventus shouldn’t be proud: Napoli is hosting Juventus tonight but none of the teams should be proud for their performance this season since they have managed only 1 win each in 5 games.
A critical situation: Wolves’ coach Kenny Jackett, MK Dons’ coach Karl Robinson and Preston’s coach Simon Grayson need to prove themselves today in order to keep their chances of staying at their teams. MK Dons is hosting derby and Preston is hosting Wolves.
Rumours and problems: The speculation is that Bristol Rovers is ‘on sale’ and Mansfield and Yeovil have a lot of problems in coming up with a starting line up in their games against Plymouth and Hartlepool respectively, at home.
Hannover to improve performance: Hannover’s head coach Michael Frontzeck needs to help his team improve its performance, starting from today’s away game against Wolfsburg in what is considered to be a derby game in the North of the country.
At their best: Hamburg and Schalke are at their best and they face each other today in a game where, based on the odds, Schalke is considered to have more chances in getting the 3 points.
St Gallen’s promise: St. Gallen looks refreshed after the new coach has arrived, posing a serious threat for Grasshoppers, away from home. Basel managed 8 consecutive wins before coming to a halt last week but today it has a great chance to come back to good business in its home game against Lugano.
Under severe scrutiny: Salzburg is holding the 4th position of the table with only 4 wins in 9 games and in the first game of the second round it is hosting Mattersburg, which is sitting one point above Salzburg on the 3rd position of the table.
Paderborn is the next stop: St.Pauli looks to be an unstoppable train this season and if it beats Paderborn away from home today, there is a high probability that it will climb at the top of the table.
Galatasaray is aiming for its first home win: Galatasaray has managed a lucky win against Trabzonspor away from home in its last game for the league and today it is hosting Gaziantepspor and is aiming for its first home win and its 3rd win in a total of 6 games.
Finland’s cup final: Mariehamn and Inter Turku are playing against each other in the final of the cup competition, a game that will be played at Haka’s home ground, which has a maximum capacity of 3500 fans.
Dijon’s great tradition: Dijon has managed 5 wins and 2 draws in its last 7 games against Laval, which hasn’t scored a single goal in them. Dijon holds the top of the table and has scored 16 goals in 8 games this season that is 2 goals per game on average.
Aberdeen’s concentration: After its elimination from the league cup competition, Aberdeen will fully concentrate to the league. Today it aims to manage its 9th win in 9 games this season, this time against Inverness away from home.
Popovic to quit: Zaragoza’s fans want Popovic, the team’s head coach, to quit. The manager keeps his support for Popovic and a member of the board has criticized the manager for his support to the coach!
Olympiakos’ mind is in London: Olympiakos is playing at home against Giannena and has a number of players absent from the starting line up but the team’s mind is mostly in next week’s Champions League game away from home against Arsenal, in London.
It’s a matter of priority: Halmstad is dealing with a number of problems but it has to beat Malmo at home in order to keep its chances for European qualification alive. Malmo has set today’s game as a priority before next week’s Champions League game at home against Real Madrid.
Mourinho’s first time: Chelsea is playing away from home against Newcastle and it is worth noting that Chelsea has never enjoyed a victory, in 5 games with Murinho as head coach of the team.