Round 3 - Predictions revealed

Kamran
Newcastle 1 - 1 Benfica
Carzola ------------ Fellaini

Benfica had to work for this draw as they were chasing most of the game but deserved a point in the end. Newcastle took the lead very early on when Ibra held the ball and held off 3 players beore slipping it through to Carzola who dinked it over the keeper. Newcastle kept possesion but couldnr find space as Benfica held firm. Ibra smashed the bar from a free-kick and that led to Benfica charding up the other end and RVP got fouled. RVP then curled a delighted ball for Fellaini to head home. The home side piled on the pressure but Benfica again, held firm
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Schalke 2 - 1 Spurs
Villa ------------- Bale
Berbatov

Super sub Berbatov came off the bench and made an immediate impact and took all the headlines. Spurs started strongly and silenced the crowd when Bale cut in and unleashed a stinging shot to lead. Schalke hit back with Villa tapping in from Fernandinho's low cross. Both defences didnt take chances but when Berbatov came on he received the ball and played a neat 1-2 with Maxi before curling past Hart.
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Napoli 0 - 1 Porto
---------------- Ribery

Porto were relieved to take all 3 points as this stubborn and well organised Napoli side gave as good as they got. Napoli should have taken the lead but Cavani's header only found the bar. Porto stayed patient and in the in end Tevez and Ribery combined and Ribery tapped the ball home for the winner.
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Valencia 1 - 1 Lazio
Kroos ----------- Robben

Both teams may be unhappy with the point after both had great chances to nick it at the death. Mandzukic had a 1v1 with the keeper but Buffon stayed strong and prevented the striker from the winner. On the other end Tello rounded the keeper but he took it quite wide and his shot came off the post. Earlier both teams went for it and Robben with the pick of the goals as he breezed past Terry and passed it cooly.

Cor Blimey Guvnor
Newcastle United 2 - 1 Benfica
Ibra ----------------------- RvP
Sanchez

Newcastle edge this one in overall quality and being at home as well saw them push forward and pen Benfica back for large periods of the game. Benfica are strong through the middle but lost out on the flanks where both Sanchez and Ben Arfa enjoyed success against the opposition fullbacks. The home side scored either side of half time to establish a comfortable two goal lead but RvP showed that he must never be discounted and will score goals for Benfica as he got across Coloccini to steer home a Gaitan cross. It proved to be only a consolation in the end however.

Napoli 1 - 2 Porto
Cavani ---- Tevez, Ribery

Interesting match up here with Napoli going with 3 centre halves and 2 wingbacks. They prove a constant threat to a Porto side whose main weakness is at fullback. Through the middle, Porto are quite a threat however with Yaya and Sneijder controlling play well for the visitors. Pedro and Ribery exploited gaps behind the wingbacks when the home side lost possession in advanced areas leading to classic counter attack goals to give Porto a two goal lead on the hour mark. Cavani pulled one back after more good work from Maggio but Cesar made two top class saves late on to ensure the points when back to Portugal.

Valencia 1 - 1 Lazio
Xavi ----------- Mandzukic

A frustrating afternoon for the Mestalla faithful as the visitors played well and could have come away with all three points barring a late drive from Xavi to rescue a point. Both defences are solid with good CB pairings who, in the main, got the better of their opponents. Valencia have two top class wide men but both can flatter to deceive at times and today both did not quite find their best crosses as Drogba cut a frustrated figure in the middle. Lazio have a underrated striker in Mandzukic but his stock should start to rise and he heading the visitors in front on the half hour from a Hazard centre. It was looking like one of those days for Valencia until Xavi's late intervention.

Atletico Madrid 2 - 0 Roma
Falcao 2

Atletico have some excellent players. Ozil was not comfortable wide right but he is a versitile player and did his job well. Suarez is top class as a foil for the predator Falcao who bagged both goals today. Roma have a threat up front with Cisse and Lamela just behind but their wide men struggled to make an impact and despite the class of De Rossi in centre midfield, he was too tied up protecting the back four to allow him to influence play further up field. More recruitments needed for Roma if they want to challenge for the top places. Madrid look good but greater balance in the side will be needed when they face stronger opposition.

CaptainUnited
Newcastle 2-1 Benfica
cazorla,ibra
rvp

Schalke 0-2 Spurs
bale,Higuain

Valencia 1-0 Lazio
drogba

Atletico Madrid 3-0 Roma
schwein,suarez,falcao

Hodgey
Newcastle 2-1 Benfica
Cazorla, Sanchez
van Persie

Newcastle will be relieved they managed to scrape a victory here as Benfica are a tenacious, troublesome side. The hosts have an amazing attacking quartet and it was Cazorla who put them ahead. Ben Arfa did some good work on the left-hand side before firing in a low ball which rebounded to Cazorla to curl into the corner. By contrast, Gaitan and Menez were frustrated for large periods and couldn't get into the game. Luckily, Kagawa was inspired and took the game by the scruff of the neck, lofting a pass over Coloccini for van Persie to lash past Krul on the full. The game looked to be heading for a draw but Sanchez had other ideas, jinking past the ageing Abidal before producing a lofted finish.

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Schalke 0-0 Spurs

Going forward I just felt these two sides lacked something decisive today in what could have been a great match. Fernandinho was granted his first start by Guv after impressing for Shakhtar but he didn't deliver today against Ekotto, who I believe to be a solid left-back. Unfortunately the same cannot be said defensively speaking about Gallas who will need to be improved upon by Pull. Similarly, Schalke are formidable defensively on the flanks but are lacking guile and quality in the middle, Carvalho sadly past his sell-by date now. Despite having two of the world's best strikers, neither side could carve out any clear-cut chances and the game ebbed out to a stalemate.

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Napoli 0-2 FC Porto
Ribery, Pedro

Bizarre formation by Napoli today but FC Porto were the stronger side anyway. Their front four can rival that of Newcastle, and it was their two wingers who were the most dominant today by a long-stretch. Match that with Yaya Toure in midfield, FC Porto can more than give any side in the league a run for their money in my opinion. The Ivorian is in high-demand and it's not hard to see why, his penetrative runs causing Napoli all sorts of problems early on. It was his pass too that allowed Ribery the space to score Porto's first, the Frenchman nut-megging de Sanctis. Pedro is a winger who is underrated by many for me; the Spaniard keeps his place in a ridiculously talented Barcelona side and impresses regularly. Indeed, he took advantage of poor Napoli defending to add the second.

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Atletico Madrid 2-0 Roma
Puyol, Falcao

People may say that Atletico rely on Falcao but if that is the case, we may as well call Roma Daniele de Rossi instead. The Italian club are in dire straits for me and need to sell de Rossi to improve their side on the whole. The Italian midfielder is carrying them single-handedly and even then that is nowhere near enough for Roma. Atletico have bags of talent in their side, not least the Columbian striker Falcao, but they have a few issues that need to be ironed out; Ozil is not a winger, Affelay is too hit and miss, and, for me, Pereira is by no means a solid right-back. Nevertheless, Carles Puyol put his side ahead with a commanding header from a corner, rising unmarked at the near post. Falcao then got his customary goal, sprinting past Burdisso and side-footing into the far corner.

Russell Elmo
Newcastle vs Benfica
2-2
Ibrahimovic x2 - RVP x2
Two closely rated teams both with inform front men. I think that the middle battle would be an interesting one but the likely outcome would be a draw.

Schalke vs. Spurs
0-2
Higuain x2
I don't like how Fernandinho has been played out in right midfield. He's done an excellent job in DMC for Shakhtar and should of been played there and with that he would have quelled Spurs' onslaught. Also there are better players out there in AM than kaka. Don't understand why he's still being rated.

Napoli vs. Porto
2-1
A tight contest today. Think de Marcos is a weak point in what is a great formation for Napoli and good to see Soddy sticking with what have made them a force IRL and for that I give the win to them. Think hamsik should be playing up alongside Cavani and Lavezzi. Porto need improving at the back.

Atletico Madrid vs. Roma
2-0
Sorry to be blunt Roma need improving all over the field. they're going up against a strong side in Atletico Madrid. Though don't like Ozil playing out wide. IMO he's more effective sitting in AM

Hero
Schalke 0-2 Spurs
Bale, Higuain

Schalke for me is still a side that's split between youth and guys that aren't as good as they once were and for this battle was won between Bale and Rafael as the Brazilian's strength is certainly not being pegged back by a speed merchant. Mata & Higuain both tormented the creaking Carvalho.

Napoli 2-2 Porto
Lavezzi, Cavani - Ribery, Toure.
Cracking game between Porto's galacticos and a well thought out side in Napoli, whilst one side is full of individual flair the other plays as a team and a draw the fair result. For me Porto need someone to work with Tevez upfront rather than have him as the lone striker.

Valencia 0-1 Lazio
Hazard
Really hard game to seperate here and very difficult to way up the pros and cons of both sides as neither side has any glaring weak points to them, I think it would have come down to a moment of genius from the Belgian Ego to get the win.

Athletico 3-1 Roma
Falcao x 2, Suarez - Cisse
Only one clear winner here, Falcao and Suarez are currently on fire in RL and there just isn't a way to contain the South American pairing. Add to that you have Ozil supplying them and that is one potent strike force.

Marky
Schalke 2-2 Spurs
(Fernandinho, Villa) (Mata, Higuain)

Schalke have the stronger defence but there's only so much they can do against Mata, Higuain and Bale. Spurs' defence is still weak though, and are able to hit back thanks to the very in form Fernandinho.

Napoli 2-3 Porto
(Cavani, Lavezzi) (Tevez, Ribery, Pedro)

Porto have a stupidly strong attack but are vulnerable with M'Vila not up to it at DM. Napoli usually strong with their 3-4-2-1 but their back 3 against Porto's front 4 just equals goals for Porto. Cavani and Lavezzi hit back for Napoli but its too little too late.
Napoli 2-3 Porto

Valencia 1-2 Lazio
(Navas) (Mandzukic, Hazard)

good to see Valencia playing Navas at RW, he causes Lazio plenty of problems that side although Schmelzer copes pretty well. The midfield 5 of Lazio win this game IMO, even with the class midfield 5 of Valencia, I just feel they don't gel as well as Lazio's side. Tello playing at AM for Valencia compared to Kroos for Lazio being a big part of that. And with Drogba playing in China, he's not going to play well against quality defenders.

Atletico Madrid 3-1 Roma -
(Falcao x2, Suarez) (Cisse)

easy win for Atletico. Roma are too dependent on De Rossi to do the dirty work, and considering the CB's aren't good enough, it spells trouble as the scary partnership of Suarez and Falcao cause problems and create goals, with a consolation from Cisse towards the end. Roma need to improve their defence and get a more natural CM to play alongside De Rossi IMO as Pjanic is too attack minded.

Sodhat
Newcastle 1-1 Benfica
Ibra; RVP

Schalke 1-3 Spurs
Villa; Higuain, Mata, Bale

Valencia 1-2 Lazio
Robben; Hazard, Shaqiri

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Roma
Falcao