Atletico Madrid v Sevilla:
Atletico still aren't sure whether Kezman will be available to them. He was sent off at the weekend for two yellow cards, but Atletico are appealing against the first of those two bookings, and the appeal is due to be heard this morning.
If Kezman is available, the team should be pretty much the same as last week, apart from the return of Martin Petrov in place of Molinero.
If Kezman is unavailable, ESPN think it's between Petrov or Ariel Ibagaza to play up front alongside Fernando Torres. If it's Petrov, then Antonio López would be the left-sided central midfielder, with Molinero on the wing, if it's Ibagaza, then Gabi would come into the starting lineup, alongside Luccin.
Maxi Rodríguez, Juan Valera and Zahínos are all out injured for Atletico.
Sevilla have doubts over their keeper, Palop, as he has both a muscle problem and the flu. They'll leave the decision until the last minute, but if he's missing then they could have a major problem. Reserve keeper Antonio Notario and B team first choice keeper Javi Varas are both injured too, so if Palop is ruled out then the keeper will be Pablo Vargas, 22 years old, and the reserve keeper for Sevilla B.
Sevilla will also be without Jesús Navas, suspended, and Aitor Ocio, injured, along with the long-term injured players. Kanouté returns after overcoming ankle problems.
PROBABLE LINEUPS (from ESPN):
ATLETICO MADRID: Leo Franco; Velasco, Pablo, Perea, Antonio López or Molinero; Galletti, Luccin, Ibagaza, Petrov or Antonio López; Fernando Torres and Kezman or Petrov.
SEVILLA: Palop or Vargas; Alves, Dragutinovic, Javi Navarro, David; Jordi, Martín, Renato; Adriano, Saviola and Kanouté.
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I was already interested in Atletico anyway, and I think those goalkeeper problems for Sevilla make me like Atletico even more. Even if Palop does play, it seems clear that under any other circumstances the club would've prefered not to play him, and so it may well be that they send him out there even if he's only 80% fit.
If Kezman misses out, it would be a blow for Atletico, I've been impressed with him this season (nothing like the player who was at Chelsea). Atletico's record in the games he's missed this season is 1-2-3.
Sevilla are 2-0-5 for their last 7 away games, but the two wins came at Cadiz and Santander, the bottom two teams in the home form table. Atletico, meanwhile, are on a run of 4 straight wins at home, and are 9 home games unbeaten. There's a clear motivation for Atletico to win tonight, too, as a win would leapfrog them above Sevilla, Celta Vigo and Villarreal and leave them in 6th place, a
UEFA Cup-qualifying position.
At the weekend, Atletico claimed a draw at Villarreal, although they maybe just about deserved to win it, and were certainly the better team up until Kezman got sent off. Sevilla meanwhile were pretty poor, and were held to a 1-1 draw by Mallorca.
The Atletico Madrid website also points out that Fernando Torres has scored in all three games he's played v Sevilla in the Vicente Calderón.I'm not normally a fan of goalscorer bets, but Torres is certainly in excellent form at the moment, and worth a couple of points on him to score at any time @ 11/10 with
Bet365.
I'm going to wait on the verdict of the appeal (and I think Atletico have got a decent case) before deciding on this one I think, but if the ban is removed, I'll be on Atletico. Will post up on here once I hear anything.
Torres to score at any time @ 2.10 2pts
Spanish midweek stuff 21-23 March
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. Two superb saves from Leo Franco. If you've got the option of betting on bookings in-running, I'd recommend overs. The game is niggly, the ref is incompetent, and I really can't see it finishing 11 a side.
