Fulham v HamburgLiverpool v Atletico Madrid
Thursday, April 29
Fulham v Hamburg
Verdict: Fulham are favoured to progress into their first European Cup final after a scoreless draw in Hamburg. The London side were rarely troubled in Germany in what can be described as a professional away performance. As the home side, Hamburg predictably controlled possession but were restricted mainly to wayward long-range shots from Trochowski.
On the weekend, Fulham rested nine first team players in their 2-1 defeat at Everton while Hamburg rested only a few in their respective 5-1 loss at Hoffenheim. In further developments since the first semi-final encounter, Hamburg manager, Bruno Labbadia, was releaved of his duties following the loss in the Bundesliga on the weekend. Skills coach, Ricardo Moniz, will take over the reigns as a temporary replacement.
Fulham have a doubt over top marksman, Bobby Zamora, after he limped off in Germany with an achilles injury.
Fulham have an impressive home record at this level of European competition, undefeated in their last 15 at Craven Cottage (11 wins 4 draws). This run includes recent wins over Juventus (4-1), last year's German Champions Wolfsburg (2-1), and last year's Europa League Champions Shaktar Donetsk (2-1) - a fine collection of scalps indeed. Hamburg have lost four of their past six away games in Europe. On evidence of the first leg, this poor run may continue as they will again have a difficult time breaking down Fulham's organised backline. On the other hand, I expect the Londoners to be a different proposition in front of their home support. They have several skillfull, underestimated, and experienced players in their midfield ranks such as Murphy, Gera and Duff that can create openings for themselves or for the like of Dempsey and Zamora. With the home side expected to control most of the possession at Craven Cottage, I expect the above-mentioned players to cause a host of problems against a toothless Hamburg side. In addition, despite Roy Hodgson's sound bytes that Zamora is doubtful, I fully expect the frontman to play.
Pick: Fulham -0.25AH @2.05 (pinnacle, 10 units)
Fulham 2 - 1 Hamburg
No comments:
Post a Comment