SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Liverpool v Manchester City Sunday 16:30, Sky Sports 1. Match Odds: Liverpool   3.40 , Man City  2.30 , The Draw  3.50 . This should be a truly fascinating Capital One Cup final at Wembley - Manchester City are clearly the better side, but Jurgen Klopp might be able to outwit Manuel Pellegrini tactically. Liverpool thrashed City 4-1 at the Etihad in these sides' last meeting, the Reds' best performance under Klopp so far. On that occasion, Liverpool played without a recognised central striker, with Roberto Firmino and Coutinho cutting through City's backline repeatedly. Things will be different this time around, with  Daniel Sturridge  leading the line - but City won't relish the prospect of taking on the two Brazilians once again. Liverpool seem likely to be unchanged from Thursday's narrow 1-0 victory over Augsburg in the Europa League, partly because Klopp still has major injury problems, and therefore not too many options across the pitch. The only si...

Manchester United v Arsenal Sunday 14:05, Live on Sky Sports 1 Match Odds: Man Utd  3.40 , Arsenal  2.50 , The Draw  3.30 . Arsenal thrashed Manchester United 3-0 in the reverse fixture - and Louis van Gaal will be determined not to commit the same tactical errors ahead of this meeting at Old Trafford. United's problem at the Emirates in October was Van Gaal's insistence on United  pressing  in midfield, despite the fact he fielded the somewhat immobile duo of Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Arsenal simply passed around them, and were three goals up within the opening 20 minutes. This time around, Van Gaal will field a more mobile midfield duo. In the 5-1 midweek victory over Midtjylland, he fielded Carrick alongside Daley Blind at the heart of the defence, with Ander Herrera and  Morgan Schneiderlin  in central midfield. The expected return of  Chris Smalling  at the back should push Carrick back into midfield, probably ...

Southampton  2.90  v Chelsea  2.76 ; The Draw  3.35 Saturday, 15:00 Southampton The Premier League's form team will be up to fifth for at least 23 hours if they avoid defeat against the soon-to-be-dethroned champions. Having been as low as 13th a mere six games back, the Saints are suddenly threatening to both qualify for Europe again and outperform last term's seventh place. It is an exceptional turnaround which, in case you somehow hadn't heard, has been built on the back of  six successive clean sheets , with Manchester United, Arsenal and West Ham among the sides to have failed to breach Fraser Forster since his return from long-term injury last month. The England squad member and the defensive colleagues who have assisted his shutout streak are all expected to be available to face Chelsea. Even long-lost Florin Gardos and Jay Rodriguez are back in training, though this assignment will probably come too soon. Beyond that, only the suspended Victor W...

Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid Saturday 15:00  (Live on Betfair Live Video) Real   1.84 , Atletico  5.10 , The Draw  3.75 La Liga's  most prolific attack  welcomes its  best defence  to the Bernabeu on Saturday. They are battling only for the minor places behind Barcelona in the title race, but that should take little of the heat out of this  Madrid derby . Atletico Madrid have won this fixture in each of the last two seasons and are unbeaten in five Liga derbies at home and away (W3-D2-L0). Across all competitions,  Diego Simeone  has lost just 1/11 to his cross-town rivals. Zinedine Zidane  has won 4/4 home games by the convincing aggregate score of 20-3, but is yet to take on anyone in the class of Atletico, who have conceded only five times in 13 away games this season. An expert away team with an excellent record against these opponents, we're siding with the underdogs. Recommended Bet Back Atletico +0.5 on the A...

Sampdoria v Frosinone Sunday, 14:00 There are two massive games to get stuck into this week, and more on those in a moment, but first what might prove to be  the bet of the weekend . I've talked before in this column about the recent disparity between Frosinone's form at home and away. At home they're measured and seem to play with the confidence of a team that feels that they can control and win games. Away from home, Roberto Stellone's side seem to become haphazard and wayward and simply try to outscore the opposition. And the statistics back this up: their last four home games have all gone Under 2.5 goals, with two of those finishing 0-0, while away from home things are completely different. In seven away games since the start of November, the fewest number of goals that a Frosinone match has featured has been three.  Over 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 have all come into play. Given that eight of Samp's last nine Serie A games have gone Over 2.5, and three of those ...

Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich Saturday February 27, 14:30 Despite the immense pressure being applied by second-placed Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich are still plotting their way towards an  unprecedented  fourth consecutive Bundesliga title. They were far from their best in last weekend's 3-1 win over Darmstadt, but the predatory instincts of  Thomas Muller  made the difference as he bagged a brace. The German international is having his best ever Bundesliga season - he has netted 17 league goals and set up five more, and he also scored the opener in the 2-2 draw at Juventus on Tuesday in the Champions League. His strike partner  Robert Lewandowski  made history in the reverse fixture against Wolfsburg, scoring five goals in nine minutes, as Bayern roared back from a goal down to win 5-1. It was a mind-boggling display  that I don't think Wolfsburg have really recovered from. Indeed, when the teams met later in the season at the Volkswagen Arena, Ba...