It’s All Quiet On The European Front.

By Andy Jones

An interesting week; domestically, United took a beating at home to Chelsea, while on the European front they were so close to going through to the semi finals of the Champions League. Arsenal too were thumped by Barca and Messi, or should I say Messi with a little help from Barcelona. With no English teams left, for the first time in a number of years there will be those who simply won’t follow the Champions League and while I myself would have liked to see at least one English team go through (preferably my own), I am looking forward to this new “experience” and I think it clearly highlights that slowly, the shift of footballing power is moving away from England. However, with the title trio, now all out of the Champions League, it means they can all concentrate their efforts on the Premier League, which should add to this enthralling final couple of games. In the Europa League, Liverpool saved themselves at Anfield. That place is still a European fortress while Fulham continue their hunt for glory by winning one nil against the German Champions all thanks to a Bobby Zamora goal, surely Capello has got to be keeping his eye on him for the World Cup.

And on the topic of cups, this weekend sees Spurs take on Portsmouth, a game which they should easily win and I’m sure Harry Redknapp is over the moon that the game is being played at Wembley rather than his old stomping ground down at Portsmouth. I would like to say you could see a bucket load of goals in this game, especially as Tottenham have been in good form at the moment. But Portsmouth have been a completely different team in the FA Cup compared to the league, they’ve got grit and determination, they know this is their only chance of winning something now that they are certain to get relegated, so who knows maybe the underdog will win? The other semi final is Aston Villa vs Chelsea, and while I’d like to be kind to Villa, they haven’t hit the same heights as last season and the 7-1 thrashing Chelsea gave them not too long ago will be on their minds. Chelsea should go through, but they too can have an off day. Expect Villa to play with some venom, closing players down and making use of Milner and Young down the wings, especially when Yuri Zhirkov, the attack minded left back, goes bombing down the field. There will be a hole and you can expect Villa to try and exploit it.

And finally, pick of the weekend games:
Manchester City vs Birmingham is the game to watch this weekend in the league, City will want to consolidate fourth place with a win to ensure they stay one point ahead of Tottenham, but don’t expect Birmingham to be push overs, they’ve shown this season that their defence is solid and organised, this will not be an easy game for City unless Birmingham implode. The other games I would like to recommend for this coming week, one is Spanish and you surely know, El Clasico takes place this weekend, as Barcelona travel to the Santiago Bernabeu to play Real and the other big game is English and during this coming week, the North London Derby: Arsenal vs Spurs. With my team walking injured it seems, Spurs will be licking their lips, but I’m confident my boys will do the business!