With all the excitement of the big game last night, I forgot to make my prediction before the game. So I guess we’ll just have to scratch them one from the list this week.

The Cowboys did win the game last night. The final score was 37-27 and while the Cowboys have to be thrilled with having the inside track for home field advantage in the playoffs, and while they must love the fact that they clinched a playoff spot with the win last night, the ‘Boys can be completely happy.

At times last night they looked very dominant. Their offense was pretty much unstoppable for the entire first half. But then they didn’t score a touchdown again until pretty deep into the second half.

The defense allowed far too many yards to a Packers’ offense that was led by second string quarterback Aaron Rogers after starting quarterback and MVP candidate Brett Favre left the game with an elbow injury. A championship defense can’t allow a team to be successful when they lose their starting quarterback.

Adding to the Cowboys’ worries has to be the fact that they were ahead 27-10 and they had the ball in the second quarter. They were near mid-field when Tony Romo missed a couple open receivers. Then the Packers busted a long touchdown run on 3rd and 1. Next thing anyone knew, it was 27-24 in the second half and the Packers had the ball.

But the Cowboys did pull themselves together and got their offense going again. If it wasn’t for a weird interception in the end zone (Tony Romo hit Terrell Owens right in the numbers, Owens bobbled the ball, and tipped it into the hands of Packers’ cornerback Al Harris) the score might have been 44-27.

So while there has to be concern by the Dallas Cowboys, they also have a lot to be pleased about and I bet any other team in the NFC would quickly and gladly trade places with them right now.

Certainly the Cowboys have a great, very great offense. And when that offense is rolling, no team can stop them. And any other year that offense coupled with their defense, would be enough to probably win the Super Bowl. But this isn’t any other year. This is the year that the New England Patriots might be the best team in the history of the game. And while what the Cowboys are is definitely the best in the NFC, it probably isn’t even close to being the best in the NFL.

(30)

Careful with this one. I rather fancy Levante to get their first away win of the season. Getafe had a pretty dismal midweek game at home to Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv, surprisingly losing by two goals to one. The weekend before they were held to a one-one draw away to Zaragoza, and need a win to get back on track. They are currently eleventh in the league and just three points above the relegation zone.
Levante for their part must have felt Christmas had come early last weekend. They fought a pitched battle at home to Betis and eventually came out as four-three winners. They now have three wins from four games and another three points in this match would see them come within two points of leaving the relegation zone. Something everyone would have found impossible to believe just a month ago when they were ten points adrift.
Historically, the games between these two teams almost always ends in a draw. From the twelve games played (including the matches when they were both in the second division), seven have ended in a tie. Of the other five, Levante have won four and Getafe just one.
Levante’s Juanma is doubtful to make the game due to injury, while Getafe are pretty much free of any important injury problems. Getafe’s defense on Thursday night in the UEFA cup game was an absolute disaster. The players were slow, disorganized and lacking in concentration. But the biggest problem at the moment is their total inability to score goals, and this will be their undoing at the Coliseum stadium come Saturday.
Levante also have a problem in front of goal, though. They have scored just once in six away games and this needs to change rapidly. The unusual thing is they have some good players in those positions. The Cameroon striker Riga is more than able, as is ex-Real Madrid midfielder Savio, even if he is getting on in years.
I’m going for an away win here, more because of Getafe’s inability to defend well than because of Levante’s superior fire power. I do feel though that now is the time for Levante to get their first away win of the season, and Getafe’s good run I believe is about to end.
Prediction: Away win (1-2)

Sevilla FC is acting like the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide of Spanish football at the moment. It isn’t known if the Sevilla who go into this league game against Almeria will be the well oiled machine that ended running rings around Arsene Wenger’s ‘B-side’ Arsenal in the Champions league, or the rusty, stuttering one that fell to Mallorca at home last weekend. On Wednesday they almost humiliated the English giants, taking all three points and at the same time stealing the top spot in group H of the top European competition. If they can find a way to play like that in the league, they will soon be in contention for a top four spot or even better.
But against Mallorca the players showed clear signs of an inability to communicate with each other, and this needs to be worked on. In this away game to Almeria, Sevilla find themselves in the unlikely position of being just three points from the relegation zone, albeit even if they are in tenth position. They really need to string a couple of wins together, and the Champions league victory in midweek could well be the trampoline they have been looking for.
Almeria seem to be in the beginnings of a crisis for the little club. They haven’t won in seven games and, although they managed to earn a hard fought point away to Villarreal at the weekend, are slowly but surely slipping down the table. They are now hovering in fourteenth place and just one point from a relegation spot and things aren’t looking too rosy in the near future.
In the team news, Sevilla captain Javi Navarro still hasn’t gotten over the knee injury that has kept him out of the side for most of the present season, and will probably need surgery. The French defender Julien Escudé will also miss this match owing to his continued muscular problems, but both Danish international Christian Poulsen and young Sevilla born starlet Crespo should be in Almería. The latter had to wear a protective face mask against Arsenal and will probably start on the bench here.
Almería will be without the suspended Juanito, the injured Bruno, and on loan goalkeeper Cobeño can’t play as it Sevilla is his club and he isn’t allowed to play.
I’m going for a Sevilla win here. They showed good form in midweek and I think this is going to spill over to the domestic league. Almería are starting to look like definite relegation material and I don’t think they will be able to stop the Kanoute/Luis Fabiano onslaught.
Prediction: Away win (0-3)

We’ve made it to halftime of the big match-up between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. So far the Cowboys have had the better of the match-up. They lead the Packers 27-17.

The good news for the Packers is that they scored a touchdown on their last drive of the half. If they hadn’t put together that drive then this one would be fairly lopsided as they get ready to play the second half.

The bad news for the Packers is that their All-World quarterback, Brett Favre, left the game with an apparent elbow injury. The Cowboys came on a corner blitz that Favre never saw and Brett was hit on the elbow as he threw. Cowboys cornerback, Nate Jones, actually got him in the elbow with his helmet.

The Cowboys offense has been moving the ball very well, thought the Packers did finally force them punt just before back-up Rodgers drove the Pack down. But Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo threw for nearly 200 yards in the half and three touchdowns. Number one wide receiver for Dallas, Terrell Owens, had six catches for over 150 yards and one touchdown reception.

The Cowboys have a couple of their own injury concerns as their best cover corner, Terrance Newman, missed a few plays with an apparent ankle or knee injury and their nickel linebacker, Kevin Burnett, left the game with a should injury. We’ll see if either of those guys return in the second half.

The Packers did have great success running the ball, which really surprised me. I didn’t think they’d be able to run the ball on Dallas. But Ryan Grant has about 90 yards and a touchdown at halftime.

The Packers will have to hope to come out at halftime and stop the Cowboys and then score themselves. If they can build off the momentum they gained at the end of the first half then this might be a very good game – as it was billed to be.

The Packers actually seemed to move the ball a lot better without Brett Favre in the game. And Tony Romo looked to be a little off on his throws toward the end of the second half. We’ll have to see how things will go in the third quarter. Will the Packers rally or will the Cowboys build a bigger lead?

(29)

It’s been a bad week for Valencia. No, I’ll change that. It’s been a bad year for Valencia. This club doesn’t seem to be able to get anything right. They were rather (un)dramatically thrown out of the Champions league on Wednesday following a dull goalless draw at home to Schalke 04, and need to beat Chelsea away to even qualify for the UEFA cup. In the league they are slipping too. The one nil defeat away to Racing de Santander did quite a bit of damage, pushing them down to sixth place in the table and five points from the top. Strangely, after thirteen games they still haven’t drawn a match, winning eight and losing five. Coach Ronald Koeman hasn’t made the impact he was hoping for, winning just one game in the last four, and he really needs to start moving things around if he is to last. A win against Athletic Bilbao here on Sunday will go some ways to giving him some credit, but I doubt whether the fans will be that over the moon.
For their part, Athletic Bilbao are having a grey season to say the least. They are one of those teams that largely go unnoticed, and more so this term. They are currently sitting in twelfth spot after winning just three games from thirteen, drawing five and losing the others. They are two points above the relegation zone and as always are candidates to go down, although in all the history of Spanish football they are one of just three who haven’t.
In the team news, Miguel Angel Angulo will get to play his three hundredth game for Valencia if he proves his fitness after missing the Champions league game owing to muscle strain. As for Bilbao, they will miss Aitor Ocio, who is suspended, and Fran Yeste is also doubtful.
I’m going for a draw here. Valencia can’t seem to do anything right at the moment, while Athletic haven’t won at the Mestalla stadium in over twenty years. That statistic looks set to be repeated once again, at least for this season.
Prediction: Draw (1-1)

It’s derby time in Barcelona city and this one is well worth watching. Barcelona at home are an incredible sight, strong, confident and determined. Away from home though things change. Drastically. Barcelona have played nine away games so far this season and have only been able to beat bottom club Levante and Stuttgart in the Champions league. On Tuesday they again came unstuck away from the Nou Camp when they drew to Lyon. Ronaldhino was left out of the starting lineup and didn’t seem to like being on the bench. Everything indicates that he will soon be leaving though. His destination is likely to be AC Milan when the transfer window opens in January.
Espanyol can consider themselves quite happy with the way the season is panning out for them. They are sitting in a Champions league spot in fourth place and just one point above their city rivals. A win here will catapult them into third or even second place in the league, so you can imagine how eager the players must be.
The last two confrontations between these two teams ended in a draw at the Nou Camp and a home win for Espanyol, with their captain (and very underrated striker) Raul Tamudo getting three of the five goals.
Barca are still feeling the effects of the ‘black sheep’ scandal and need a good win here to diminish any doubts over their form. They did get a good win last week at home to Recreativo, but the visitors didn’t really put up a fight. The best they could do was keep the score line to nil-nil until halftime, but then Barca increased the pace and were able to put three away in a game that they dominated from start to finish but never really impressed owing to the low level of play offered by the away team.
I’m not sure if Espanyol will get the win here, and a draw seems much more likely. Their defense is getting better with each game, and have conceded just three home goals this season so far. Thierry Henry missed the Lyon game due to a back problem and didn’t train on Thursday, so his participation in this match is more than doubtful. The good news though is that Samuel Eto’o is practically back to full fitness and could even take some part against Espanyol, although he won’t be in the starting lineup.
I’m going to stick my neck out again on this one and go for the draw. Both teams are at the top of the table and Barca could start Monday morning as league leaders if the other results go their way. I am doubtful that they can get all three points against this Espanyol, who are more and more impressive in each match.
Prediction: Draw (2-2)