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The race for the Stanley Cup is still wide open with no obvious favourite  appearing in any NHL betting despite the NHL being almost two-thirds of the way through the season and coming up to the break for the Winter Olympics.

As it stands it is hard to split the Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference, while Pittsburgh, Washington and New Jersey appear to be the class out East with the Ottawa Senators making a push to join them.

But it is hard even to call a favourite inside each conference at the moment, with most of the division races seeming likely to go down to the wire and with a big trade deadline coming on March 3, after which many of the leading candidates for the post-season could look very different.

Some (San Jose, Chicago and Washington) probably don’t need to make many changes to get a decent seeding but, with the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk probably available to a team willing to pay the price, there is still time for a team to make a season-changing move.

But of the teams contending at the moment, based on the current rosters,some NHL Predictions have San Jose Sharks down as the strongest as they made it 10 games without a defeat with a 5-2 hiding of Minnesota on Saturday.

They have scoring all over the ice, but it has been NHL leader Patrick Marleau’s goals that have come as the biggest surprise this season. Although he had a career-high with 38 in 2008-9, he is only one goal behind that already this time around and has only been held off the scoresheet three times in the last 14 games, 12 times finding the net.

Marleau has benefitted from the play-making skills of Joe Thornton, whose 55 assists lead the league as well, and with Evgeni Nabokov in such good form as well, being second in the league in goals scored is always going to mean there are plenty of chances to win games consistently.

The East’s best could just be the Capitals, who made it 10 wins on the bounce on Sunday against Tampa Bay and have scored more goals than anyone in either conference.

They boast the best player in the NHL right now, in Alexander Ovechkin, who is scoring at more than 1.5 points per game and is almost undefendable. He simply does everything on the ice for Washington, and in combination with Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, it is no lie to say they could have one of the best offenses in the last 20 years.

If they can finally settle on a goaltender between Jose Theodore, Michal Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov (currently out injured), and one of them steps up to the plate when called on, should they happen to face the Sharks in the season finale, what a sight it would be to behold.

Game : Ghana vs Egypt

Competition :- Final, African Cup of Nations 2010

Venue :- Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda

Date :- Sunday, Jan 31, 2010

KO time :- 17.00 Angolan time

Six time champions Egypt will look to make it three African titles in a row when they take on Milovan Rajevac’s Ghana in the finals of the 2010 African Cup of Nations on Sunday.

Bet on this African Cup of Nations final ( Ghana vs Egypt) with our recommended bookmakers after reading this preview

Ghana started off poorly as they were beaten by Ivory Coast but a 1-0 win over Burkina Faso was enough to see them qualify for the quarterfinals. They beat hosts Angola by the same margin in the last eight and again produced a repeat of the same against Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the semifinals.

Critics have accused this Ghana team of being too negative- they have only scored four goals in this tournament. However their defence has kept a clean sheet in their last three games, thanks to some heroics from Richard Kingston between the sticks.

Ghana’s defence will be sorely tested when they meet Egypt, who have scored fourteen goals in five games en route to the final. The Pharaohs have managed to do this despite missing the likes of Aboutreika, Mido and Zaki and the way they routed Algeria in the semifinals would certainly have given Rajevac something to think about ahead of the final.

Ghana form- last five games- most recent first- Ghana scorers listed alongside.

v Nigeria ( win 1-0) Gyan Asamoah
v Angola ( win 1-0) Gyan Asamoah
v Burkina Faso ( Win 1-0) Andre Ayew
v. Ivory Coast (Loss 1-3) Asamoah
v. Malawi (Draw 0-0)

As you can see, Ghana’s scorers look predictable. There are the front duo of Amoah and Asamoah with the likes of Ayew supporting them. Compare this to Egypt and you’ll see why most pundits favour the Pharaohs going into this game.

Egypt 4-0 Algeria ( Geddo, Zidan, Hosni Abd Rabo, Abdel-Shafy)
Egypt 3-1 Cameroon ( Ahmed Hassan*2, Geddo)
Egypt 2-0 Benin ( Al Mohammadi, Moteab)
Egypt 2-0 Mozambique (Dario Khan OG, Geddo)
Egypt 3-1 Nigeria (Moetab, Hassan, Geddo)

Mohamed Nagy Geddo has really impressed since making his debut for Egypt in January this year against Mali. Despite not starting, he always seems to be able to get a goal to his name.

Verdict:- Egypt gave it their all against Algeria in the semifinals because they wanted revenge for the World Cup elimination. That could work to Ghana’s advantage. The Black Stars’ strategy will be simple and one should not expect to see many changes to that adopted against Angola and Nigeria.

Egypt 3-1 Ghana ( Geddo, Moteab, Zidan/ Ayew)

Game :- Nigeria vs Algeria
Competition :- 3rd place playoff, African Cup of Nations 2010
Venue :- Complexo da Sr. da Graça, Benguela
Date :- January 30, 2010
KO time :- 17:00 Angolan time.

Both Nigeria and Algeria were found wanting at the semifinal stage of the competition. They have a chance to salvage some pride and get their hands on the bronze medal when they meet in the third place playoff in Benguela, a day before the finals.

Nigeria – recent form – most recently played games first

Nigeria 0-1 Ghana
Nigeria 0-0 Zambia
Nigeria 3-0 Mozambique ( Peter Odemwingie*2,Obafemi Martins)
Nigeria 1-0 Benin (Yakubu)
Nigeria 1-3 Egypt (Obasi)

In their semi-final, a solitary goal by Gyan Asamoah in the 21st minute was enough to relegate Nigeria to the third place playoff match. The Rennes striker was left unmarked at the near post and headed in Kwadwo Asamoah’s corner. Nigeria responded positively with Martins and Odemwinge. The Newcastle United striker wasted a couple of clear cut chances. When the Eagles contrived to keep their shots on target, Ghana keeper Richard Kingston proved to be an unsurmountable hurdle. Yakubu came on in the second half and had two decent chances which he wasted. Shaibu Amodu will be tempted to include Seyi Olofinjana, Kalu Uche and Dickson Etuhu in the starting lineup against Algeria. Onyekachi Apam will be available for selection after serving his suspension. Joseph Yobo will be the notable absentee at the back.

Algeria – recent form – most recently played games first

Algeria 0-4 Egypt
Ivory Coast 2-3 Algeria (Karim Matmour, Madjid Bougherra, Hameur Bouazza)
Angola 0-0 Algeria
Mali 0-1 Algeria (Rafik Halliche)
Algeria 0-3 Malawi

Algeria always seem to score in alternate games. Thus according to this statistic they should get at least a goal against Nigeria. Faouzi Chaouchi, Nadir Belhadj and Rafik Halliche can’t be the goalscorers as all of them have been suspended following their red cards against Egypt in the semi-final. Veteran striker Rafik Saifi faces a race against time to be fit for the game. If fit, he will be the Fennecs’ main threat in the attacking third.

Match Verdict:Algeria’s fralilties were exposed horribly by Egypt in the semis. Nigeria put up a more respectable performance in defeat. Going on current form, Nigeria should edge this one.

Nigeria 2-1 Algeria (Martins, Odemwinge // Matmour)