Serie A Game of the Week: Napoli Vs Juventus 1/3/13

The two top teams in the Italy come up against each other in the Serie A Game of the Week this weekend, when Napoli host Champions Juventus on Friday night in Naples. A win is a must for the home side if they are going to push Juve all the way for the title, as they currently sit 6 points behind The Old Lady in second place. You would think that a win for Juve will end Napoli's hope of a first Serie A title since 1990.

Juventus will go into the game as favourites, as they won 2-0 in the return fixture back in October, and Napoli haven't been in the best of form themselves recently, winning just 2 of the last 6, drawing their last 3 league games to Udinese, Sampdoria and Lazio, scoring just one in those 3 games.

Player to watch: Even though he hasn't scored since Napoli's 1-1 draw with Fiorentina on January 20th, the Serie A top scorer with 18 goals Edinson Cavani is the Player to Watch in Friday's match. Napoli have struggled to score of late, which is no coincidence with Cavani's barren spell in front of goal, but they will be hoping he is back to his best if they are to beat the Champions.

Follow @Soccer_Xtra for team news and live score updates throughout the game, and check back to www.soccer-xtra.blogspot.com for a match report afterwards.

La Liga Game of the Week: Real Betis 3-0 Malaga

Real Betis moved to within 1 point of 6th placed Real Sociedad with a comfortable 3-0 home victory against Champions League chasing Malaga. The home side made a fantastic start and were ahead after just 30 seconds when Jorge Molina headed past keeper Willy at the near post from a corner. Betis doubled their lead in the 28th minute when Mario Alvarez headed home from another corner which saw more poor defending from Malaga.

The home team wrapped up the points on the stroke of half time after a flowing Betis move first saw Dorlan Pabon's header well saved by Willy, but the forward was on hand to turn the ball home from a tight angle. Ignacio Camacho received a red card on the hour mark for the away side after picking up two bookings to rub salt into the wounds, but their was no further goals leaving Malaga only 1 point clear of 5th placed Valencia after the weeks matches.

Starting Line Ups:
Real Betis: Adrian, Nacho, Angel, Mario, Amaya, Benat, Canas, Carlos, Molina, Pabon, Campbell

Malaga: Caballero, Demichelis, Lugano, Antunes, Sanchez, Joaquinm Toulalan, Camacho, Isco, Portillo, Saviola

Serie A Game of the Week: Inter 1-1 AC Milan

The Serie A Game of the Week between Inter and AC Milan has ended as a 1-1 draw this evening. Milan dominated the first half, and opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Kevin Prince Boateng superbly found Stephan El Shaarawy, and the forward expertly finished past Inter 'keeper Samir Handanovic with the outside of his right foot. AC could, and should, have scored more before the half time whistle was blown, with Mario Balotelli having a header brilliantly saved by Handanovic, before the former Man City striker poked a shot straight at Handanovic minutes later. Inter would have been happy to still be in with a chance at half time.

And Inter began the second half far better than they did the first, with Guarin forcing a superb save from Abbiati, and with 20 minutes remaining, they were rewarded for their improvement. Nagatomo crossed for substitute Ezequiel Schelotto on his Milan Derby debut to head past Abbiati in Milan's goal, and equalise for the home side. The final part of the game was end to end as both sides went in search for a winner, but no real clear cut chances were created, with the game ending all square at 1-1. Inter remain 5th on 44 points, 2 places and 1 point behind 3rd placed Milan.

Starting Line Ups:

Inter: Handanovic, Zanetti, Juan Jesus, Ranocchia, Nagatomo (Chivu 77), Gargano, Cambiasso (Schelotto 68), Alvarez (Kuzmanovic 74), Guarin, Palacio, Cassano.

AC Milan: Abbiati, Abate, Zapata, Mexes, De Sciglio, Muntari (Ambrosini 90), Montolivo, Nocerino, Boateng (Niang 81), Balotelli, El Shaarawy (Bojan 87)

Premier League Game of the Week: Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea

Manchester City did all they could to try and keep pressure on local rivals Manchester United with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Both sides started the game nervy with real cut chances few and far between. It wasn't until after the interval that the game sprung into life.

5 minutes into the second half Demba Ba beat the offside trap and was fouled in the penalty area by an onrushing Joe Hart leaving the referee no option but to point to the spot. But Frank Lampard saw his penalty superbly saved by Hart which kicked the home side into life. 10 minutes later and the home side were ahead. Yaya Toure collected the ball on the edge of the area, skipped past 2 defenders before curling the ball past Petr Cech and into the far post. And the game was ended as a contest with 5 minutes to play when Carlos Tevez smashed home from just outside the box.

Starting Line Ups:

Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Clichy, K Toure, Nastasic, Milner, Garcia, Rodwell (Tevez), Silva (Lescott), Y Toure, Aguero (Nasri)

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, David Luiz, Cahill, Ramires, Lampard (Oscar), Mata, Mikel (Torres), Hazard (Moses), Ba

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La Liga Game of the Week: Real Betis Vs Malaga 24/2/13

Fourth placed Malaga will be looking to strengthen their hold on their Champions League place when they travel to Betis having won their last 2 away league games. But the home side sit in 8th position and are unbeaten in their last 3, but have not beaten Malaga in the league until 2004.

A win for Malaga will move them to within four points of third place Real Madrid, who came from a goal down to win at Deportivo on Saturday and a win for the home side will move them into 7th place and give them a realistic chance of a Europa League place at worst.

Player to Watch: The Spanish midfielder has been key to Malaga's success in both the league and Champions League this season and will no doubt spearhead any threat the away side have. Isco was recently capped by Spain in a 3-1 win against Uruguay.

Soccer_Xtra Prediction: Real Betis 1-3 Malaga

Premier League Game of the Week: Man City Vs Chelsea 24/2/13

The Premier League game of the week involves the English Champions and European Champions, in a must win game for the home side. Roberto Mancini's side currently sit 15 points behind rivals Manchester United at the top of the table and anything but a win would surely see an end to City's title hopes.

Chelsea come into the game after scrapping through the their Europa League tie against Sparta Prague thanks to a late Eden Hazard strike. Chelsea have a impressive record away at City in the League winning 10 out of 15 meetings but have lost on their last 3 visits to the Etihad Stadium in the league. If Manchester City fail to win it will be the first time they have gone 4 league games without victory since November 2009.

Player to Watch: Chelsea's midfielder Frank Lampard has been in fantastic form since the turn of the year and is only 3 goals behind Bobby Tambling's All time club record. He makes his 550th appearance for the club and will be key if Chelsea are to have any success tomorrow.

Soccer_Xtra Prediction: Manchester City 2-2 Chelsea

Serie A Game of the Week: Inter Milan Vs AC Milan 24/2/13

The Serie A game of the week this weekend is without doubt the Milan derby between Inter and AC Milan this Sunday evening. Neither Inter or AC look like they will challenge Juventus for the Serie A title, but that takes nothing away from the importance of the game to the fans of both sides. Just 1 point separates the two teams currently, with AC sitting in 3rd on 44 points, and Inter 5th on 43 points.

With only the top 3 in the Serie A qualifying for the Champions League the following season, it looks as if Inter and AC will be fighting it out for 3rd place, as Juve and Napoli look likely to occupy the top two positions come May. Form does go out of the window in fixtures of such magnitude, but Milan must be the more confident of the two after beating Parma 2-1 in their last Serie A fixture, whereas Inter lost 4-1 away to fellow Champions League hopefuls Fiorentina, applying more pressure onto manager Andrea Stramaccioni.

Player to watch: The player we feel that could have a massive impact on this game is Milan striker Mario Balotelli. Balotelli of course left Inter for Manchester City in 2010, before signing for boyhood club AC last month. He has scored 4 times in 3 league games so far, meaning he is heading into his first game against his old club in prime form.

Soccer_Xtra Prediction: Inter 1-3 AC Milan