Posts By: Brian Gilliland

Hamburg – Freiburg, Picks and Tips Hamburg, winners of the Champions League in the 1982-1983 season, last won the German Cup in 1986-1987. In the meantime, the team’s glory years have faded, and Hamburg has ended up in Germany’s second tier with little chance of promotion. Still, the north German team has a chance at… Read more »

Villarreal – Valencia, Picks and Tips Villarreal are the team of the moment in European football, after managing to shock Bayern Munich out of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals (2-1 on aggregate). The Iberians are preparing for the penultimate round of the competition. The second leg of the double-header against Liverpool will take place in… Read more »

Inter – Milan, Picks and Tips After 33 rounds of the Italian championship, Inter are in second place with 69 points. Guided by Simone Inzaghi, the title holders have the best attack in Serie A (68 goals scored) and the best defence (26 goals conceded). Inter are in excellent form having won their previous three… Read more »

Atalanta – Verona, Picks and Tips Atalanta has slipped a lot in the standings. And the poor form is being felt. The Bergamo outfit still have only a theoretical chance of making it to the Champions League, while the battle for a European Cup place is also fierce. Atalanta are currently in 8th position, four… Read more »

Napoli – Roma, Picks and Tips Napoli had won three straight Serie A games before last season’s match against Fiorentina. Neapolitan fans stormed the city’s ‘Diego Armando Maradona’ stadium and had high expectations of the favourites. However, Napoli seemed overwhelmed by the atmosphere in the stands and were 1-0 down from the 29th minute. Subsequently,… Read more »

Barcelona – Cadiz, Picks and Tips Barcelona comes after a disappointing failure. Defeat equivalent to elimination from the Europa League. The Catalans lost 2-3 in the return leg to Eintracht Frankfurt, after trailing 0-3 at one point! It was perhaps the biggest surprise of this knockout phase, of European competitions. The Germans were backed by… Read more »

Chelsea – Crystal Palace, Picks and Tips Chelsea started the post international break period in disastrous fashion. After 1-3 vs Real Madrid and 1-4 vs Brentford, things looked very bad for Thomas Tuchel’s side. But they recovered along the way and first beat Southampton 6-0 in the league. In midweek, the Blues came close to… Read more »

Sevilla – Real Madrid, Picks and Tips Sevilla managed to win the previous round their first game after a run of four consecutive games without a win in all competitions. The Andalusians got their revenge on regional rivals Granada, whom they beat 4-2. Diego Carlos, Lucas Ocampos, Rafa Mir and Alejandro Gomez scored for Julen… Read more »

PSV – Ajax, Picks and Tips PSV – Ajax, KNVB Beker final – Dutch Cup. In addition to the direct Dutch title race, PSV and Ajax will also meet in the Dutch Cup final. Both teams are in very good form at the moment, but a big plus for Ajax is the fact that they… Read more »

Sporting – Benfica, Picks and Tips After being knocked out by Man City in the UEFA Champions League last 16 (0-5 on aggregate), Ruben Amorim’s side had a straight league win. They go into the Alvalade duel having beaten Moreirense (2-0), Guimaraes (3-1), Ferreira (2-0) and Tondela (3-1). Sporting are second in Portugal, nine “lengths”… Read more »

Celtic – Rangers, Picks and Tips Celtic – Rangers, Scottish Cup semi-finals. The Old Firm promises to be incendiary and decisive for both sides. Both teams are in very good form at the moment and are in direct competition for both trophies at stake in Scottish football. The winner of this contest will play in… Read more »

West Ham – Burnley, Picks and Tips Despite having a weaker domestic season than their previous one, West Ham are making up for it in Europe, with the Londoners qualifying for the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. After overcoming competition specialists Sevilla in the knockout stages, West Ham also managed to eliminate Lyon. In… Read more »