Chelsea vs. Manchester City / Premier League – For the very end of this Saturday’s program within the 23rd round of the English Premiership we have another match that could easily decide on the new champions of England. Namely, the leading Chelsea and the second-ranked Manchester City, who currently has five points less meeting at Stamford Bridge, so that in case of victory of the “Blues” it could actually become an advantage that they would very difficult to drop by the end of the season. Otherwise, the autumnal duel between these rivals at Etihad ended with a draw, while last year both of their championship matches went to Chelsea, and only one to Manchester City in the FA Cup. Begins: 31.01.2015 – 18:30 CET

Chelsea
However, all of these statistics does not really have a particularly great weight, because this is that could bring a new title for Chelsea which is why coach Mourinho said that they first of all have to be patient and smart if they want to leave Stamford Bridge satisfied on Saturday. However, the “Blues” have in the last two rounds showed all their strength when they first celebrated at home with 2-0 over Newcastle and then away at Swansea come to the glorious victory of even 5-0.

On the other hand, the “Citizens” have in the last two rounds won only one point and escaped the big five points from Chelsea, which means that they will be a lot more relaxed in this derby. Otherwise, the “Blues” were recently eliminated from the FA Cup after a shocking home defeat by Bradford, but they at least partially redeemed to their fans in the rematch in the League Cup semi-finals when they after extra time celebrated over Liverpool. However, in that match striker Diego Costa had a brutal start and he therefore got the suspension, while the slightly injured defender Filipe Luis and midfielders Mikel and Fabregas are also very questionable for this Saturday’s match.

Probable lineups Chelsea: Courtois – Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta – Matic, Ramires – Willian, Oscar, Hazard – Drogba

Manchester City
As for the current champions of England, they are welcoming this great derby at the worst possible moment and it is therefore very difficult to predict what we can expect from them on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. Specifically, we have mentioned earlier that coach Pellegrini won only one point in the last two league rounds, and thus spoiled all the good things they have done in the previous period because they have are now practically in a situation that they certainly should not lose away match against Chelsea.

And it all really started after the away draw at Everton, but then they experienced a real slap in the face against Arsenal who defeated them with 2-0 at Etihad, while in the end everything was spiced with the identical home defeat by Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. Of course we should particularly note that the “Citizens” are without a goal scored in three games, so now against the “Blues” we can expect a lot more offensive approach, but certainly the most is expected from Aguero. As for absences due to injuries only defender Mangala and midfielder Nasri are out of action, while midfielder Yaya Toure and striker Bony are both at the African Cup of Nations.

Probable lineups Manchester City: Hart – Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy – Fernando, Fernandinho – Navas, Silva, Milner – Aguero

Chelsea vs. Manchester City PICK
After three desperate performances of Manchester City, this away match with Chelsea actually represents a real test of maturity for them and therefore we expect them to present themselves somewhat more offensive than usual, while on the other hand Chelsea will certainly try to strike a final blow to their only competitor in the fight for the title, so perhaps it is the most realistic to expect a lot of goals.

Pick: over 2.5 goals

Stake: 5/10

Odds: 1.95

Elche vs. Levante / La Liga – This is going to be a derby of the rear and ending of this La Liga round, and also the end of the first half of the season, given that it is 19th round. Both teams are positioned in the relegation zone and the difference between them is that Levante has two points more than Elche, who won last week while Levante drew. Both teams were eliminated from the Cup last week, where Elche was outclassed twice by Barcelona and Levante was able to honourably say goodbye with a victory. Last season they played the only two H2H matches in La Liga and then at this stadium the result was 0-0, while Levente won in the front of their fans by 2-1. Begins: 12.01.2015 – 20:45 CET

Elche
Elche is the penultimate in the standings and therefore it is clearly in a difficult situation, but what encourages it what they showed in the previous two rounds against very unpleasant opponents. We will not count into that two Cup match against Barcelona because Elche didn’t shine there and was eliminated by 9-0 in total. Immediately after the lottery draw Elche had said goodbye to this competition, which was confirmed later with the defeat at the Nou Camp by 5-0. The championship is much more important and the second leg was duly played but nothing more. They didn’t manage to exploit completely changed team of the Catalans, because they were again defeated with a high goal difference.

However, in the championship they won away in Bilbao that after they drew with very unpleasant Villarreal, in a match in which had reached a backlog of two goals. That is a positive series of two matches that they certainly want to continue with and coach Escriba had rested most of the regulars against Barcelona, so now on the pitch goes almost the same team as in Bilbao, where the handicap is absence of stopper Lombana, who has five yellow cards and will be probably replaced by experienced Pelegrin.

Probable lineups Elche: Tyton – Suarez, Roco, Pelegrin, Cisma – Gonzalez, Pasalic – Rodriguez, Fajr, Niguez – Jonathas

Levante
Levante was too eliminated from the Cup so they can now focus at the championship and the battle for survival. They were eliminated in a slightly different way from the Cup but by a weaker opponent than it is Barcelona, so they managed to win Malaga in the second leg with insufficient 3-2. However, the victory could be significant because they had regained confidence and won after more than two months when they outplayed Almeria at the beginning of November. In the meantime, they played six league matches and three in the Cup.

It is good that they have scored three goals because the inefficiency was Levante’s big problem so this might change now. The bad is that Barral, who scored two goals in the turnaround against Malaga, cannot play now due to yellow cards as it seems that he is in a good goal-scoring form. Besides him there will be no Karampelas, which is not a big handicap, because experienced Juanfran can cover the left flank. The good news is that midfielder Diop suspension is over and he will play in this match.

Probable lineups Levante: Marino – I.Lopez, Vyntra, Navarro, Juanfran – Diop, Simao – Inavschitz, Ruben Garcia, Morales – Casadesus

Elche – Levante PICK
It seems that this might be a close affair and it is not excluded that it be so, but we will contrary to expectations predict that will be more goals than it is usual for these teams, because Elche play better and Levante indicated its form with victories in the Cup, so they could play openly in this match.

Pick: over 2 goals

Swansea vs. Chelsea / Premier League – This is definitely the most interesting duel in this Saturday’s program within the framework of the 22nd round of the English Premiership, because the ninth Swansea  meet with the leading Chelsea in Wales, which currently has a large 19-point lead. In addition, the “Reds” from London can boast that they made four consecutive wins in their mutual duel and so they in September last year celebrated on Stamford Bridge celebrated with 4-2. Begins: 17.01.2015 – 16:00 CET

Swansea
But before that all their duels were extremely hard and uncertain and therefore in the team of Swansea hope that they can now in front of their fans provide decent resistance to the current leader of the Premier League. Especially because the atmosphere in the team was improved a little bit after two consecutive draws in the league and routine placement into the next round of the FA Cup after celebrated over Tranmere with even 6-2 away. However, now they themselves are aware that they must not play nearly as offensive, because they will confront the team that will certainly punish the slightest mistake in their defence.

In addition, the Welsh attack is considerably weakened after their top scorer Bony has left the team a few days ago, who is normally located on the African Cup of Nations, but it did not stop him to officially confirm his move to Manchester City. On the other hand, the management of this team did not waste time and they expressly brought a young and talented striker Oliveir from Benfica, but he will probably be only the first backup to a much more experienced Gomis. Let us add that the injured striker Montero will miss the match due to his injury, while midfielder Ki Sung-Yong is still at the Asian Cup.

Probable lineups Swansea: Fabianski – Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor – Britton, Shelvey – Dyer, Sigurdsson, Routledge – Gomis

Chelsea
Unlike Swansea, the team of Chelsea is awaiting this match after two routine home wins, first by celebrating in the FA Cup with 3-0 against Watford, and then last weekend in the championship with 2-0 against Newcastle. Of course their coach Mourinho is very relieved after two triumphs, because they had previously experienced an unpleasant championship defeat of 5-3 away against their city rivals Tottenham, while a round earlier they just came to a point in Southampton, by playing 1-1.

However, after the victory over Newcastle and a draw of Manchester City against Everton, the “Reds” again have two points more than their only real rivals for the title, so they will now with even more confidence meet the always unpleasant and tough Swansea. This actually means that coach Mourinho will this time primarily try to save the goal, while in attack he mostly trusts in his biggest stars, Diego Costa and Hazard. As for absences, only the slightly injured defender Azpilicuete will miss this match due to injury.

Probable lineups Chelsea: Courtois – Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis – Matic, Fabregas – Willian, Oscar, Hazard – Diego Costa

Swansea vs. Chelsea PICK
Of course the leading Chelsea applies for a big favourite in this away match against their old rivals Swansea, but considering the last few away games, we believe that they will this time, be a lot more careful and with a quiet and smart tactics try to come at least to a minimal victory.

Pick: under 2.5 goals

Stake: 4/10

Odds: 1.87

Valencia hosts Almeria in the 19th round of the Spanish Primera Division. A win is a must for Valencia after Sevilla grabbed the 4th place for them, having 1 point ahead and 1 less game played.


Valencia is coming after a 2-0 defeat at Espanyol which meant elimination from the Copa Del Rey … it was the second bad game for Valencia after last week they barely got a 1-1 draw at Celta and Celta could have won. But “Los Che” have extenuating circumstances for the cup loss, because they played more than 75 minutes with 10 men (Mustafi red card) and even so managed to keep a clean sheet until the 80th minute. Now Valencia will hope that they can get back to winning ways at home … where they have been dominant and defeated Real Madrid two weeks ago playing some really top class football. Team news for Valencia say that Piatti and Otamendi are unavailable.



Almeria not doing so well lately … 2 losses and 1 draw in the last 3 games, scoring just 1 goal. Last week they lost 2-0 at home to Sevilla and followed that up with a 1-0 cup defeat to Getafe, sending them out of the Copa Del Rey. Visitors would love a point here as they are now tied for the 18th place with Levante and relegation looms. Team news for Almeria say that Bifouma, Martinez and Gonzalez are all unavailable.

Valencia is so strong at home, only Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao took points here in Primera. Also 6 of their 7 home wins in Primera Division came by a form of handicap, only Real Madrid managing to “only lose” by 1 goal. Hosts have so much quality in their roster and this is the perfect opportunity to recover after two matches without a win. Almeria is playing bad football at the moment … expect a solid performance by Valencia and a classic home win by 2 or 3 goals. My tips here will be Valencia to win and cover the 1,5 goal handicap in the process. Correct score prediction: Valencia – Almeria 3-0.

Pick: Valencia -1,5
Odds: 2.05