Georgian Goals in Ukraine and Failure of Ananidze

Arsenal” Kyiv gained important 3 points in the 28^th round of Ukrainian Premier League. “Arsenal” beat “Karpaty” 3:2. Though, Aleksandre Kobakhidze scored goal of victory – at the 82^nd minute, Georgian midfielder of “Arsenal” shot the ball from 11-12 meters and became hero of the match. Murtaz Daushvili was in the main staff. He played for the whole match.

Jaba Lipartia also showed up himself. “Zorya” played draw with “Vorksla” (2:2). Lipartia scored two goals: he advanced the team at the beginning of the match and then scored penalty.

“Spartak” Moscow continues unstable playing. The team lost to “Anzhi” Makhachkala. Jano Ananidze still was a substitute and started playing at the 62^nd minute instead of Rafael Carioca. The score was 0:2. At the 69^thminute, Nicolas Pareja kicked the ball in his goal and “Spartak” advanced 0:3.

Five Ways Milan Can Beat Juventus

1) Attack The Full-Backs

Robinho and Alexandre Pato have speed and trickery in abundance and Juventus’ full-backs are often highlighted as a weak point. If the speedy Brazilian duo attack the wide members of the Bianconeri’s four-man defense it will prove fruitful and stretch the Turin giants to their limits at the back.

2) Don’t Play ‘Just Give It To Ibra’

This is a follow-up from No. 1 that must be adhered to. In the past, tough-tackling center-back Giorgio Chiellini has succeeded more often than not in subduing Zlatan Ibrahimovic whenever they are involved in one-on-one confrontations. Making the Swede the focal point will play right into Juve’s hands and ‘total’ football will be far more successful than one-dimensional play through the 29-year-old striker.


3) Out-Think, Don’t Try To Out-Work In Midfield

Simone Pepe, Felipe Melo and Claudio Marchisio are all workhorses capable of running the socks off the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso or Clarence Seedorf – but they lack the creativity and skill on the ball that the hosts have. Get into a scrappy fight to the finish in the center of the pitch and the younger and more physical Bianconeri have the advantage. Let the ball do the work and Juve will be forced to formulate a new plan.

4) Play A High Defensive Line

With Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta enduring fitness problems, Juventus’ strike force is likely to be Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Del Piero, both of whom are second strikers and like to track back to make space to receive the ball. As a result, the red and blacks can play a higher defensive line - Alessandro Nesta and co. can push higher and be key members in maintaining possession.


5) Take Good Care Of The Ball And Be Patient

Juventus, without their suspended midfield darling Milos Krasic, will likely opt for a defensive and counter-attacking approach at San Siro and Milan cannot afford to be frustrated and cough up possession. Luckily, holding onto the ball is something the Rossoneri excel at. There’s no need to go gung-ho if Juve sit back and want to be pinned in their own half, so patience, as is often the case, could be a virtue here along with good movement on and off the ball.

Liverpool Manager Roy Hodgson Not Under Pressure To Sell Players In January

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has received a welcome boost after new owner John Henry insisted he will not be weakening the squad by selling any players in the January transfer window and will look to bring in reinforcements.

The American owner’s statement comes on the back of reported interest in Liverpool’s key Spanish duo Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina.

Both players have been linked with moves away from Anfield, with Reina reported to be attracting the interest of Manchester United.

But Hodgson, who has been in regular contact with the New England Sports Ventures group since their take-over, has been reassured that he is not under pressure to sell players.

However, he admits things could have been different had former co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett still been in charge.

He said: “The statements were totally self-explanatory and in line with everything John [Henry] and Tom [Werner, co-owner] have told me all along," Hodgson said.

"It is very much in line with our aims for the club.

"One of our aims for the club is to rebuild and restructure and get much stronger. The way we hope to do that is keeping our strong base of top players and adding more players to it.

"There have never been any discussions of the need to sell or get rid of players. All the talk has been of how we are going to make the team stronger.

He added: "It is a very different situation to the one I found myself in at the beginning. There was talk then of staving off administration and having to let players go.

"But the new owners coming in has completely changed the face of things and, as far as we are concerned, their statement is perfect. It is just what everyone wants to hear."

Bundesliga Preview: Mainz - Borussia Dortmund

Less Rock And Roll, More Championship Mettle

Rather appropriately from a team based in one of Germany's biggest carnival cities, there has been a fun factor about Mainz this season. The Bruchweg Boys have put smiles on the faces of many neutrals and made many friends along their path to the top of the Bundesliga. There will have been those who cringed at Lewis Holtby and Andre Schuerrle's attempts to rock and roll on German television but Thomas Tuchel's youngsters have been living it up on the pitch all season and enjoying almost every minute.

There is a deeper and more serious side however to Mainz's ascent. When any team is on a roll, if you'll excuse the pun, confidence remains high and the results continue to flow. Yet after taking the knock of a home defeat to the a wily and experienced Hamburg outfit, Mainz showed impressive character to win in the Bay Arena against potential title rivals Bayer Leverkusen. They find themselves again needing to bounce back tomorrow after a surprise cup defeat to border team Alemannia Aachen.

"Football is still played by human beings. Just because we beat Leverkusen, that does not mean we automatically have to beat second division Aachen. The cup has its own rules, that's part of the charm of the thing," remarked Tuchel in the pre-game press conference.

"So I do not understand that it should be an embarrassment for us just because we now beaten the smaller club. We have been giant-killing for weeks now in the league, "he continued.

Rather intriguingly, Tuchel then admitted to perhaps choosing the wrong strategy for the game. Mainz's success has been built upon a unique approach to every match, with considerable player input. Such public self-admonishment is not the sign of a coach who feels his team are temporary squatters at the top of the league. It will be interesting to see whether Tuchel can pluck another rabbit out of the hat, as he did with Andreas Ivanschitz last weekend. Otherwise, Dortmund have an array of players ready to pounce and reclaim the top spot.


Back On Familiar Territory

It has been far from the smoothest week in Dortmund as Der BVB first stumbled to a draw at home to an admittedly impressive Hoffenheim and were then eliminated on penalties in the DFB-Pokal by 3.Liga leaders Kickers Offenbach, whose general manager is none other than Dortmund legend Andreas Moeller. Yet, while it is easy to focus on the negatives, it is expedient to remember that despite a mediocre showing against Hoffe, Dortmund ground out a point (albeit with some controversy) in stoppage time. My colleague Clark Whitney astutely made the point that Dortmund do not know how to manage their way through a game, especially one in which it is not all one-way traffic but that they dug out a slightly undeserved point is reminiscent of Bayern Munich over the years.

Before the start of the season, Klopp made it clear that he was prepared to rotate in order to nurse the players through not only a potentially packed fixture schedule, but also to ensure they can have sufficient rest periods due to Dortmund's all-action style of play, which demands they cover as much ground as possible during the game. Shinji Kagawa is a player who is evidently not accustomed to this intensity in Japanese football and has shown signs in recent games of going off the boil. How Klopp shuffles his pack in the coming weeks up to the winter break may well determine their ability to truly sustain a title assault well into the spring. First though, he must pick his charges up from their surprise midweek cup elimination.

"We had to deal with a rather nasty evening. We have to taste defeat on occasions in order to have the drive to avoid such a repeat in the future," Klopp admitted in the pre-game press conference.

Klopp made reference during his remarks about Mainz's flexible tactical approach but he also pointed out that no matter what system they play, their style of play is rather similar to Dortmund's energetic brand of football and as such tomorrow's game will be won by the side who can out-do the other.

"We don't know exactly what we will be coming up against but we know what we must expect from the rightful leader of the Bundesliga. They are a side full of running, physically strong, very flexible and tactically very well set up."

"Mainz have the advantage of playing at home. But we don't feel outsiders at all."

TEAM NEWS

Mainz

Thomas Tuchel has not been a manager averse to rotation, much like his opposite number at Dortmund Klopp. He looks set to rest trio Niko Bungert, Miroslav Karhan and Lewis Holtby after the midweek cup defeat to Aachen. Mainz are without injured quintet Florian Heller, Heinz Mueller, Jan Simak, Zsolt Loew and Eugen Gopko.

Probable Starting XI: Wetklo - Zabavnik, Svensson, Noveski, Fuchs - Caligiuri, Polanski, Soto - Allagui, Schuerrle - Szalai


Borussia Dortmund

Juergen Klopp boasts one of the Bundesliga's deepest and broadest squads and it will be tested to the full in the coming weeks. Sebastian Kehl, Tamas Hajnal, Florian Kringe and Mohamed Zidan are all out. Patrick Owomoyela has not yet fully recovered from his injury and there are major doubts over Sven Bender and Jakub Blaszczykowski. Mario Goetze, Antonio da Silva and Marcel Schmelzer all look to have recovered from minor knocks picked up over the last week.

Marius Stankevicius Delighted With Sevilla Switch

Sevilla wing-back Marius Stankevicius has enthused over his loan move from Sampdoria, revealing that he has settled in quickly with his new team-mates in the south of Spain.

Stankevicius, who has been capped 49 times by Lithuania, admitted that the chance to join Los Nervionenses was too good to turn down.

"For me, Sevilla was a very important opportunity for my career, because they are one of the biggest teams in the world. It could be a chance for me to show my abilities," the 28-year-old is quoted as saying by Goal.com Spain.

Sevilla have an option to buy Stankevicius outright from the Blucerchiati at the end of the season, but the defender wants to concentrate on the here and now.

"The most important thing is to think about the present, because my intention is to do well for the team. A player is just a detail in the team, which must operate together in order to achieve the goals that it wants.

"Although I have only been here for a few days, I've received a very nice welcome from my team and from everyone. I have a really good feeling [about the season ahead] - everyone is working towards an objective and I'm generally feeling very comfortable."

Stankevicius is likely to be on the bench for Sevilla tonight when they take on Racing Santander at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.