Manchester United v. Reading (FA Cup 5th Round Replay)
3 PM, FSC
Reading just need to do what they've been doing all year, except even better. Man U is on a tear and not even Marcus Hahnemann, Kevin Doyle, or Mr. Leroy Lita himself is enough to scare the Red Devils.
Prediction: 2-1, the Royals fight but give in to a Nemanja Vidic header and Cristiano Ronaldo strike. Lita does get one for the Royals.
Wednesday, February 28th
Blackburn v. Arsenal (FA Cup 5th Round Replay)
3 PM, FSC
Blackburn will have its hands full. Though they could have some help from the FA on this one. Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor could be out for this match due to their roles in the 90th minute brawl in the Carling Cup final this past weekend. Look for Frenchman Jeremie Aliadiere or Julio Baptista to get the start in place of Adebayor. He's decent, but containable. American GK Brad Friedel will certainly be tested in this one.
PREDICTION: Blackburn 3-2. Yes, a high score I know. It will be scrappy but both Benni McCarthy and Shabani Nonda will contribute in this one with David Bentley hitting the third. Thierry Henry will score 1, Van Persie the other.
Lazio v. Catania (Serie A)
5 PM, FSC
Watch this for Goran Pandev. He's pretty damn good. Macedonian strikers often don't get a lot of press though. At 23, he's got 27 caps for the Macedonian national team with 10 goals. He's already got 7 this year for Lazio and 11 last year in the Serie A.
Real Betis v. Sevilla (La Liga)
5:30 PM, GOL TV
Sevilla is the team of the season so far. With Frederic Kanoute in crazy form and recent Russian signing (a while ago) Alexandr Kerzakhov, Sevilla has as strong a strikeforce as any. Add in young Brazilian Daniel Alves at right wingback and Italian Enzo Maresca, Danish Christian Poulsen, and the young, talented Spaniard, Antonio Puerta and you have an international mix of damn-goodness. If you don't want to watch a new team - you can watch Barcelona take on Real Zaragoza at 3 PM on Gol TV or you can see Inter take on Udinese at 9 PM same channel. All three and you're a nut.
Thursday, March 1st
D.C. United v. CD Olimpia (2nd Leg, CONCACAF Champions Leg)
7 PM, FSC
With the aggregate at 4-1, United really has to screw this one up to not push through to the semis. Look for the Moose to get more time and we might even see the newbie 17 year old Bryan Arguez. That Palacios guy though is big trouble.
Prediction: 1-0, Luciano Emilio.
Houston Dynamo v. Puntarenas (2nd Leg, CONCACAF Champions Leg)
9 PM, FSC
Down 1-0 on aggregate, the hole is not that deep to get out of. I can't imagine Brian Ching, Brian Mullan, or Dwayne DeRosario letting this one slip through their fingers.
However, the odds are against them. I have faith.
Prediction: 1-0, Dalglish scores - Houston wins on PKs cause they like to do that.
Saturday, March 3rd
Newcastle v. Middlesbrough (Premiership)
11 AM, FSC
Finally, Oguchi Onyewu on TV. Hopefully, they don't cough up three more points to a team they shouldn't (they lost to near bottom dwellers Wigan 1-0).
Prediction: 2-1, Lee Cattermole the young M'Boro defensive midfield scores on a 30 yard shot, but both Scott Parker and Obafemi Martins scores two second-half goals to save the win at St. James Park.
Manchester City v. Wigan (Premiership)
2:30 PM, FSC
Odds are Damarcus Beasley won't get in til the 60th minute onwards. The game will certainly be scrappy and probably going to end up a 0-0 draw. With 1 point in their last 4 games, however, Man Citeh needed this win desperately. New free transfer signing Emile Mpenza, pretty decent Belgian dude, will look to help Citeh NOT repeat their last performance against Wigan.
PREDICTION: 1-0, Man City pull a win off a controversial goal by Hatem Trabelsi. You probably thought I was gonna say Joey Barton.
Sunday, March 4th
West Ham United v. Tottenham (Premiership)
11 AM, FSC
The relegation battle continues although it seems pretty safe to say that WHU will be playing Championship ball again next year. If there is a guy capable of leading a team out of the cellar I would hope it would be Carlos Tevez. He's gaining form. Slowly but surely. Spector should be back in the line-up, back from a yellow card accumulation suspension. Dimotar Berbatov, however, has been ridiculous as of late.
PREDICTION: 3-1, Tottenham - Berbatov 1, Defoe as a sub scores 1, Lennon 1, a Calum Davenport against his old team pulls one, just one, back.
Other important televised games:
EPL --------- Portsmouth v. Chelsea, Saturday 3/3 12 PM
Serie A ----- Lazio v. Sampdoria, Sunday 3/4 9 AM (American ex-Red Bull Gabriel Ferrari might get into this one!)
Bundesliga -- Schalke 04 v. Hamburg, Friday 3/2 2:30 PM (no Benny Feilhaber unless some injuries happen over the week)
There are others I know. These were my personal selection. Check out www.soccernet.com or www.foxsoccer.com to find the rest!
Hopefully, I will have a Lyon game preview before their match vs. Saint Etienne on Saturday, March 3rd.
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