Some exciting matches today with Zenit St. Petersburg set to host Borussia Dortmund while Olympiacos welcome Manchester United to Greece. While the chances of a sweep of victories for visiting sides as happened in the first round of games of the Round of 16 seems unlikely, the idea is not too outlandish. Let's take a look at the games with Zenit coming off of an extended period of down-time. While many of their players will be fresh, the likes of Danny, Shirokov, and Ansaldi are out through injuries of one kind or another. Respectively, that puts out of commission a quality forward, midfielder, and defender - not the kind of losses a team like Zenit want going into a match with fierce German opposition. If Hulk and Alexander Kerzhakov are in form though, the Russians may well make it through the round. As for Dortmund, they have been lacking Gundogan, Subotic, Blaszczykowski, and Sven Bender for such a long time that hopefully Klopp has reshuffled the team in a manner that allows them to remain competitive away from home. If Hummels and Reus can come back into the team, their chances look much better. Either way, it is almost always difficult to travel to Eastern Europe and Dortmund's loss over the weekend to Hamburger SV will not have helped matters.
Turning our attention to the match-up between Olympiacos and United now, the Greeks simply have to perform well at home. Roberto has been good enough in goal for them, however without the goalscoring talent of Javier Saviola I would be surprised if Olympiacos could muster the necessary firepower to get them past the English. Nevertheless, it Kostas Mitroglou has a great game - and if Alejandro Dominguez can increase his goal tally - the Greeks might just have enough to knock United out. At least, they should put on a good show at home. Speaking of Manchester United, the Red Devils cannot be said to be in the best of form. Their case is not improved by the absence of defenders such as Rafael, Phil Jones, and Jonny Evans. While De Gea has performed admirably for Manchester, he needs some help. Nani and Danny Welbeck are both out still, meaning the Greeks will largely concern themselves with shutting down the likes of Wayne Rooney and Antonio Valencia (and if Robin Van Persie plays, don't be surprised if he fails to make an impact). Hope you enjoy the games!
No comments:
Post a Comment