Finally a break last weekend, which resulted in a small plus. Both Palermo and Manchester City won their matches quite comfortably.

This weekend there is a pretty meager supply since there is nothing to play for in the majority of matches, especially in Italy and England.

This weeks bank: Arsenal - Fulham (0-1 hcp) 1 1:53

Arsenal are still missing some of their players with Fabregas being the most severe loss. A big plus for Arsenal is that Van Persie is back.

Fulham have questions for Duff and Zamora, both are likley to rest so they will be fresh for  the final in Europa League.

Arsenal need to get a win to secure third place which will give them a direct spot in the Champions League. After the defeat to Wigan the Arsenal team have seemed. In the last game they lost to 1-2 at Bramall Lane. Arsenal need to be on their feet now if they are going to keep their third place.

Fulham have focused on the matches in Europa League for the last few months. That was very evident in the 0-1 defeat to Stoke at home this week. My guess is that Fulham will rest all as many players as possible.

A highly motivated Arsenal should win this game with at least a couple of goals.

Most likley: Palermo - Sampdoria 1 2:10
 
I have played Palermo at home any times this season and with great success. Palermo is the league's second best home team with 13 victories and five draws. They are in good  form, in the last two matches at home  they have beaten Milan 3-1 and  Siena. Palermo are two points behind Sampdoria currently in fourth place. Palermo needs three points here.

Sampdoria have somewhat surprisingly climbed up on Champions League place after a successfull campaign during spring. They are coming off a stretch with five straight wins against a strong teams, such as Rome and Milan. Sampdoria depend a lot on the strong attacking pair Pazzini and Cassano.

This is s match with the same meaning as Tottenham - Manchester City in England. As I mentioned Palermo needs a and I think home advantage will tip the scales here. Palermo has more than twice as many points at home to compared to Sampdorias away record (44 to 21) and this says something about the importance of playing at home. I also think that Palermo is a slightly better team in general. 2.10 is nothing extra but it will do!

Idea of the week: Valladolid - Racing 2 4:00
Valladolid have pretty big injury problems. This weekend they lost two new players to injury, a back and a midfielder. This means Valladolid are missing more or less all their midfield.

In the Racing camp things looks good, the team has only three old injuries but no new problems.

Valladolid is next to last but is only two points behind the teams above. Valladolid is coming to this game with just one point in the last two games but before that they had a better stretch of matches.. The team can’t score!

Racing is also involved in the relegation battle and are currently only one point above the line.. Racing has an even worse trend than Valladolid with three straight losses. It has however been agianst strong teams and in the last game (1-5 against Sevilla) they completley fell apart towards the end of the game.

I think that the teams are basically even on a normal day. Valladolid has considerably more injuries and mustplay for a win which may be open up for counter-attacks for Racing. Home and Away is also no factor in this game, Valladolid is weak at home with only 17 points this season, and Racing is better away than at home 22 points this season. A away win at four times the money is a really good bet!