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What a classic!

Champions League - FC Porto vs Liverpool (0-2 Agg)

When the draw for the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League was made, many seen FC Porto and Ajax Amsterdam as the ‘easy’ ties. Liverpool, though, found out that, despite winning 2-0, Porto are no mugs. Can the Reds go to Portugal and produce a similar performance to the masterful display that they offered here in 2018?

FC Porto News

If the Dragons are to do something special here, they’ll be doing so without Vincent Aboubakar. The Cameroon international misses out here, but Porto will be buoyed by the return of Yacine Brahimi, Pepe and Hector Herrera. As three of the most important players for the Portuguese, it will be interesting to see how Liverpool handle a more in-form FC Porto side.

Expect Moussa Marega to offer ample threat in the wide areas and up front. Meanwhile, the onus will be on Herrera and Danilo Perreira to control what will be a hotly contested midfield.

Liverpool News

The only doubt here for Liverpool will be that of Jordan Henderson. The Reds captain, rejuvenated as an 8 in recent weeks, has been integral to some excellent form for the Reds. The return of Andy Robertson, though, will help to make up for his loss. Expect Naby Keita or Georginio Winaldum to get a game in the middle alongside Fabinho.

Dejan Lovren might come in for this one, having impressed in the Anfield match after a long injury lay-off. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez are nearing a return to fitness, but will likely miss out here: the lead is not large enough to risk either.

Verdict

Score draw. Liverpool to open the scoring and render the tie almost impossible to win for Porto. Porto, though, are no fools: they are European giants in their own right and have improved massively from last year. An exciting & intense score draw.

Newcastle vs Palace

With both sides fighting out for the ‘glory’ of mid-table comfort, Newcastle United welcome Crystal Palace. This has been a rather dull affair in recent years, with only one thriller – the 5-1 shellacking that Palace handed out in November 2015 – standing out. Most games are single goal affairs, and the first encounter this year produced a meek 0-0. With both sides in total comfort and probably not much to play for, expect both sides to perhaps play with a bit of freedom. Often, though, this can also breed conservatism.

Newcastle News

The Toon will be looking to recover from a rather listless loss against Arsenal on Monday. They produced little and came forward without much gusto, and were soundly beaten by the better team. Knowing that a win would give them more or less total safety and put them ahead of Palace does offer incentive for the home side.

They’ll be looking for Salomon Rondon to continue his good firm, backed up by his companion in Ayoze Perez. The pair have struck up a good partnership this year, and could be important for any three points gathered in this one.

Crystal Palace News

The Eagles have nothing to really play for, except for places in the team next year. Some significant change is expected to come in the summer, with likes of Wilfried Zaha and Aaron Wan-Bissaka expected to move on to bigger clubs. Until then, though, more signature wins – like one at St. James Park – could help get some of their better players even more impressive moves.

With security more or less assured, too, Palace can afford to play without the usual conservatism that a Roy Hogdson side sticks to.

Verdict

Score draw. Newcastle are flagging a little, and without the feelgood factor of a Rafael Benitez extension (though being discussed) means there is not much on this match. Both sides will go for it, but we can’t see it being enough to create anything other than a solid score draw.

Premier League: Tottenham vs Arsenal

As one of the biggest derbies in the Premier League, meetings between Tottenham and Arsenal are often frenetic, exciting affairs. This one, though, has a hell of a lot riding on it: Spurs need a win, and a result, to help get their season on track. Arsenal need to win to make sure they can continue their push for the top four: with Manchester United and Chelsea having winnable fixtures, they could fall dangerously behind. Spurs, though, could get dragged out of the title race entirely and into the battle for the top four themselves – there’s a lot riding on this derby.

Tottenham Hotspur News

Despite the very impressive form of Harry Winks, rumors persist that he’ll miss out in favor of Victor Wanyama. The Kenyan brings steel and strength to the middle of the park, and could be the perfect choice for a game like this. Expect Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min to start up top for Spurs, perhaps in a 3-5-2 formation with Christian Eriksen running the show from the middle of the mark.

The performance of Danny Rose and Serge Aurier, though, will be very interesting indeed.

Arsenal News

The Gunners are expected to line up in the much the same way they have recently – a 3-5-2 themselves. With Lucas Torreira, Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka playing together, there’s plenty of energy and steel in the middle of the pitch for the Gunners.

Wing-back, though, could be an issue; Saed Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have struggled throughout the season, and we could see them continue to do the same here against the pace of Spurs.

Verdict

Spurs win. Arsenal dispatched Spurs with relative ease in the return fixture, but we can see Spurs picking up their game again ahead of a challenging tie against Borussia Dortmund. This is, though, likely to be a tight and tense game – with so much riding on it, it’s easy to see why.

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Arsenal vs Tottenham

As a truly classic English football fixture, the game between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur is well worth keeping an eye on. Both sides have been very impressive this year, though Arsenal are beginning to enter a minor blip – despite a 2-1 win against Bournemouth last time out, they have looked a touch jaded.

Spurs, though, are flying after dismantling Chelsea and then putting Internazionale to the sword in Europe. With Arsenal coming back from a politically intensive trip to Kyiv, could we see Spurs get a result at Arsenal? With Arsenal winning one of their last six derbies, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility.

Arsenal News

With the likelihood of Arsenal resting a lot of players after their European tie on Thursday, they should come into this one mostly full strength. The return to form of Shkrodan Mustafi was much-needed, as is the constant firepower of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

If they can get to this game without any major injuries at the back, they should feel pretty good about getting a result here.

Spurs News

Spurs will arrive at the Emirates flying after a major win in midweek against Inter. However, they are enjoying a very impressive run of results mostly at home. Away from home, especially against Arsenal, results have been much less impressive.

This should be an intense game, so expect Spurs to stick with their tight and offensive midfield diamond that they have been using recently to great effect. In getting the most out of their key players, it offers a versatility that should help to congest the game and slow down Arsenal.

Verdict

Spurs to win. It might seem controversial given their away day derby record, but a win for Spurs here feels very much possible. Arsenal have toiled in recent weeks, and they might just find that Spurs, flying from their recent wins, have just a touch too much energy for them in this one.

AFC Bournemouth vs Manchester United

While things might have calmed somewhat at Manchester United, it’s telling that a win here might not even be enough to propel them ahead of Bournemouth. While the Cherries are wonderfully over performing under Eddie Howe, United have not performed anywhere near their expected quality for the majority of the season.

Can a trip to Bournemouth be the right remedy to the uncertainty around United? It worked with the dominant win in their trip to then high-flying Watford: it could happen again here, too.

Bournemouth News

Bournemouth should come into this one feeling pretty chirpy about their chances of a big showpiece win here. They have some great attacking player, with the trio of Calum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and David Brooks creating an interesting British trio up top who are making a huge impression.

With the Colombian destroyer Jefferson Lerma impressing many in the middle of the park (and covering up a slow start to the season for Lewis Cook) and the defensive trio of Nathan Ake, Steve Cook and Simon Francis making a big difference, they have no real reason to fear United in this tie.

United News

Manchester United, though, are seeing a bit of an upturn in form from some of their more important players. Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba have formed a decent little triangle with Luke Shaw, while there is a decent return to form coming at the back with some more stout, stoic defending in recent weeks.

While Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof do not look entirely solid together, they aren’t the horror show they can appear.

Verdict

We can see this being a hard-fought draw. United aren’t quite on the losing habit as they were, and will see a point here as decent enough progress. We can’t see Bournemouth overcoming their big-club hoodoo at home here – but they are more than good enough to take something. If they finally cast-off that mentality, they could probably give United a beating.