Weekend Predictions: Three Derbies

Three derbies get the prediction treatment this weekend: The Rome Derby in Italy, the Battle of the Bosphorus in Turkey and the YourNameHere SuperClasico in Los Angeles.

Read on for my amateur attempts at clairvoyance, and then leave your own in the comments.

Lazio vs Roma, Saturday April 11th, 15:00

It’s the Derby della Capitale. Or the Rome derby if you don’t speak Italian. Either way, it’s big.

There was a suggestion that maybe this game should have been postponed following the tragic earthquake in L’Aquila, but if the game can go ahead with a little more unity and fellowship between fans than usual, then that might be fitting.

And harmony in the stands doesn’t mean this can’t still be a special game of football. Roma are possibly in better shape, having recovered a little from their injury extravaganza. Word is that Francesco Totti himself should be fit enough to play.

Lazio are in a slump of three straight defeats in which they’ve failed to score. But this is still a derby, and – as the old cliche has it – form goes out the window. Lazio Offside has some video to get Lazio fans in the mood.

update: Lazio President Claudio Lotito’s threat to make the players live 24/7 at a club training camp unless results improve should get a reaction.

Prediction: Last season the teams traded 3-2 victories. This season Roma won 1-0 as the home team, so I’m predicting Lazio to do the same and keep it all nice and balanced. 1-0 Lazio, with Goran Pandev on the scoresheet.

Odds: Lazio 2-1, Draw 21-10, Roma 11-8
1-0 Lazio win: 8-1
More odds at PaddyPower

Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce, Sunday, April 12, 19:00

It’s the Battle of the Bosphorus. Muasb has an excellent 101 to this derby on Galatasaray Offside (with a yellow-red bias of course).

These two teams are tied on 47 points, five points behind Super Lig leaders Sivasspor and four points behind second place Besiktas. So a win is essential for both. Which is impossible obviously.

Prediction: Both teams have won one and lost one in their last two games, so I see them splitting the difference with a 1-1 draw. Harry Kewell (miraculously injury free) to get Galatasaray’s goal.

Odds: Galatsaray 5-4, draw 11-5, Fenerbahce 9-5
1-1 draw: 5-1
More odds at PaddyPower

Bonus Prediction: Secret dressing room footage will reveal that the uninjured thing wearing Harry Kewell’s shirt recently is actually the unbreakable Kewell-Bot 3000 android.

LA Galaxy vs Chivas USA, Saturday, Aprill 11th, 22:30

It’s MLS’ very own SuperClasico. And clunky though the MLS marketing machine can sometimes be (it’s officially the Honda SuperClasico – Enjoy the game? Buy a Japanese car!) this rivalry is real.

Galaxy are the home team at the Home Depot Center (Enjoy the game? Buy a power drill!) but Chivas are the team with played three, won three record. No David Beckham for Galaxy obvious (he’s still vacationing in Italy) but Landon Donovan has a habit of leaving his mark in these games.

Prediction: Galaxy to win 2-1, with Landycakes scoring at least once.

Odd: Galaxy 13-10, Draw 11-5, Chivas 17-10
Galaxy 2-1 win: 15-2
More odds at PaddyPower

Bonus Prediction: David Beckham won’t remember to check who won this until Tuesday afternoon.

Over at Bet Offside, Offshore Oscar is predicting wins for both Arsenal and Spurs this weekend, as well as a Napoli win over Atalanta.

Time to take a look back to last week’s predictions. Here’s what I went with:

Newcastle 2-2 Chelsea (Martins to score)
Wolfsburg 2-1 Bayern (Grafite)
Toronto 2-0 Seattle (DeRo)

Here’s what actually happened:

Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea (Lampard, Malouda)
Wolfsburg 5-1 Bayern (Gentner, Grafite x2, Dzeko x2; Toni)
Toronto 0-2 Seattle (Ljungberg, Zakuani)

So with one point for correct result, two bonus points for correct scoreline and one bonus point for correct scorer, I get two points (for Wolfsburg win and Grafite’s goal) out of a possible 12.

Congratulations to…

Gold
Rob: 5 pts

Silver
SP: 3 pts

Bronze
Wayne, Helge, Weston: 2pts

Tip of the hat to Wayne for picking up bronze even though he forgot to predict any goalscorers.

So, give me your predictions (plus one predicted goalscorer) for these games:

Lazio – Roma
Galatasaray – Fenerbahce
Galaxy – Chivas

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Category: World Football