UEFA Cup: Unbalanced City prepare for return of the "Macsh"

Europa League / Dan Fitch / 05 November 2008 / Leave a Comment

Dan Fitch looks forward to hearing Steve McClaren's Dutch accent when FC Twente visit Eastlands. But the ex-England boss is doing ok in Holland and his side could cause Robinho and co a few problems...

Thursday night brings another thrilling instalment of everyone's favourite massive inconvenience; the UEFA Cup group stages. Three English clubs are in action, in the competition that is only fondly thought of by the controllers of Channel Five and ITV4.

Manchester City face FC Twente at Eastlands, in what promises to be the most interesting clash of the night, if only because we might once again hear Steve McClaren's impression of Martin Jol.

Whilst laughing at McClaren has grown to be a national obsession, it should be pointed out that he's doing reasonably well in Holland. FC Twente are currently in sixth place in Eredivisie, with just two points separating them from the top of the league.

They have won their opening group game against Racing Santander and can be backed at [5.5] to win Group A. This is City's first game in the group and an opening win here should see their Group A price drop slightly from [2.52].

City have floundered recently after a decent start to Hughes' reign and their loss of form has shown up the lack of balance in the squad. Hughes has still to settle on a left-back, whilst his most experienced strikers have recently been absent and are arguably not up to the job anyway.

Vassell and Benjani both played for the reserves this week and it's likely that Hughes will opt for their experience, having seen youngsters Danny Sturridge and Ched Evans fail to inspire over the last two games. Less good news is the confirmation that Martin Petrov will be out for four months and City will badly miss his directness up the left flank.

Manchester City are [1.47], with the draw [4.6] and FC Twente [8.8]. Considering City's current form, this price looks a little short. A half time/full time win for the home side can be backed at [2.14], which looks a better value bet, alongside perhaps 0-0 as a correct score at [15.5].

Harry Redknapp's revival of Tottenham faces a new challenge on Thursday, as Spurs face a side that they are actually expected to beat, when they take on Dinamo Zagreb at White Hart Lane.

As well as clearly instilling some much needed confidence into Tottenham, Redknapp has also profited from simply playing Luka Modric and David Bentley in their correct positions.

Another difference is that Redknapp has made it clear that he sees the league as his priority and therefore will reverse Juande Ramos' baffling decision to only play Ledley King in the UEFA Cup. With Vedran Corluka cup tied, Michael Dawson is likely to get his first start under the Redknapp regime, alongside Jonathan Woodgate.

Roman Pavlyuchenko is also cup-tied, so Darren Bent should start on his own up front, with Modric in support. The Croatian will be looking to impress against his former club and will be keen not to be upstaged by his replacement Pedro Morales. The Chilean international has been a great success since his transfer, scoring five goals in eleven games.

Redknapp has so far preferred to use Aaron Lennon from the bench, but following his contributions as a substitute against Arsenal and Liverpool, he must surely be given a starting berth. Having had to chase their last two games until the final minute, Tottenham will be eager to attack from the off and build an early lead.

Tottenham are [1.49], with the draw [8.4] and Dynamo Zagreb [8.4]. Zagreb won their first game and can be backed at [5.1] to win Group D, with Spurs available at [4.3] having lost their opener with Udinese. With the Italians and Spartak Moscow also in the mix, this is a tough group, making a Spurs win here an absolute necessity.

Aston Villa have already overcome a major UEFA Cup obstacle in beating Ajax in their first game and will be looking for another win when they travel to Slavia Prague, to more or less guarantee qualification to the knockout stages.

The Group F betting sees Villa as favourites at [2.0], though they do have a difficult away tie at Hamburg to come, with the Germans available at [2.2] to top the group.

Martin O'Neill's side suffered a disappointing result on Monday night against Newcastle, which has been somewhat buried under the mountain of media attention focused on that idiot Joey Barton. Villa missed out on a chance to leapfrog Arsenal and enter the Champions League places, as their attackers wasted a number of chances in the first half.

Villa boast a small but competitive squad and O'Neill has indicated that he plans to use this match to give a first team opportunity to those on the fringes such as Curtis Davies and Steve Sidwell. O'Neill is clearly confident that such changes will not prevent Villa from being able to defeat a Slavia Prague team that were knocked out of this competition by Spurs last season.

Slavia are the current Czech league leaders and have won all of their home league games. Their dangerman is the powerful 19-year-old forward Thomas Necid, who is the top scorer in the Czech league with seven goals and has agreed a deal to join CSKA Moscow in the January window.

Slavia Prague can be backed at [3.1], with the draw [3.45] and Villa the [2.48] favourites. In the outright winners market, Villa and Manchester City are both available at [19.5], with Spurs [26.0]. As ever, it's probably wise to see who drops down from the Champions League before dipping your toe into this particular water.