| MUMBAI:
Former England star Peter Reid believes none of the 4 English sides left in the
UEFA champions League will lose as the tournament starts its quarter final stage.
Reid, who will
be an analyst in the Ten Sports studio, is predicting a win for Manchester United,
at least a draw for Arsenal, and a 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Chelsea when
the UEFA Champions League quarter finals kick off live on Ten Sports this week.
"At the
quarter final stage of the UEFA Champions League there are no easy matches but
champions Manchester United have probably got the best draw against Porto,'' Reid
told Ten Sports before Tuesday night's big match. "I
think that they will be too strong for Porto and will get the victory at Old Trafford,"
he added. Defending
champions Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are among the leading European
clubs which will vie for a place in the last four stage of the UEFA Champions
League as the first leg of their home-and-away quarter-final matches takes place
this week. All
the live action from these crucial matches – featuring all eight teams as
they try to book their spots for the final in Rome later this year – will
be available exclusively on Ten Sports, the most watched sports channel in the
Sub-continent. The
two live matches scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, and Wednesday, April 8, are Manchester
United at home against Porto, and Liverpool vs Chelsea respectively. Both matches
start at 11:30 pm IST. The United-Porto match will be followed by slightly delayed
telecast of Arsenal at Villareal, while the Liverpool-Chelsea match will be followed
by the Barcelona-Bayern tie. The delayed live matches will start at 2:15 am IST.
Reid added
on Arsenal “they travel to Spain to face a very good team technically in
Villareal but will set themselves up for the counter attack, and with the likes
of Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabrgas and Emanuele Adebayor all returning from injury
I think the Gunners will come away with at least a draw." Manchester
United will be the favourites at home against FC Porto. Sir Alex Ferguson’s
men are unbeaten in 21 matches in the Champions League and have not been beaten
in their last 19 home matches. Also, Porto have never won in England, losing ten
of their last eleven matches on British soil. However,
it was that one draw – a 1-1 result in 2003/04 – which knocked out United
from the last-16 stage that season. And Porto, who made it to the quarters with
a 2-0 aggregate win against Atletico Madrid, will be looking for a repeat act.
Villarreal
would be looking to avenge their semi-final defeat by Arsenal three seasons ago
when they host the English club at El Madrigal for the first leg. It was the Spanish
Liga side’s debut in Europe’s elite club competition and they lost by
the narrowest margin of 1-0, with Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saving a last-minute
Juan Roman Riquelme penalty that would have taken the tie into extra time.
The Liverpool-Chelsea
match could turn out to be the best of the quarters as they meet for the fourth
time in last five seasons in the knock-out stage of the tournament. They met in
the semi-finals in 2005, 2006 and 2008, with Chelsea winning 4-3 on aggregate
last year. Liverpool are unbeaten in five home meetings with Chelsea.
Reid believes
that the first leg will be all square. “In the much anticipated all English
clash it will be very difficult to separate the two sides but I think Chelsea
are returning to their best and may well be able to get an away goal, probably
in a one all draw." Rafael
Benitez’s Liverpool, who advanced to their 13th quarter-final with an emphatic
5-0 aggregate triumph against Spanish champions Real Madrid (1-0 away, 4-0 home),
will again hope for some Steven Gerrard magic. Gerrard is the leading goal-scorer
in the tournament along with Bayern’s Miroslav Klose (seven each).
Barcelona and
Bayern, both former champions, are the joint-highest scorers in the tournament
with 24 goals each from eight games, which raises expectations of a fast-paced,
thrilling match. Bayern will take heart from the fact that Barcelona have also
conceded the most goals of any of the last-eight participants (11), and have still
to keep a clean sheet on home soil. Former
England international Reid commented, "Both Barcelona and Bayern Munich have
looked strong in reaching the quarter finals and are a bit unlucky to find themselves
facing each other at this stage. It should be a great game with Barca proving
too good at the Camp Nou." Bayern
are one of three unbeaten sides left in the competition alongside Liverpool and
Manchester United. They progressed from the last 16 in emphatic fashion after
crushing Sporting Clube de Portugal 12-1 on aggregate (5-0 away, 7-1 at home). | 