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Parker set for Hammers return against Villa

Scott Parker is set to return for West Ham against Aston Villa in Wednesday’s Premier League match after serving a one-game ban.

The Hammers captain is expected to be back in a midfield that will definitely be without Radoslav Kovac, suspended after being sent-off in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Sunderland.

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola has no fresh injury worries but the Italian remains without Kieron Dyer (hamstring), Dean Ashton (ankle) and Luis Boa Morte (knee).

The London club have not won in the Premier League since the opening day of the season, when they beat Wolves, and a heavy defeat on Wednesday could send them below current basement side Portsmouth at the foot of the table.

“We are going to give the fans our first home win (in the league this season),” said Hammers assistant manager Steve Clarke on Tuesday.

“We are gong to give them the win they want. They have a good memory of the finish of the Arsenal game where we finished strongly (to draw 2-2 from 2-0 down).

“They are going to take us into those two matches and they are going to push us to the win that we need. It’s important we get a win sooner rather than later so tomorrow (Wednesday) night is a terrific chance for us.”

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: arsenal, boa morte, dean, dean ashton, game ban, injury worries, kovac, london, london club, Luis Boa, midfield, opening day, Parker, Portsmouth, premier league, Radoslav Kovac, scott parker, steve clarke, Sunderland, wednesday night, west ham, wolves, Zola

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Rennes on high as French tighten grip on troublemakers

Unheralded Rennes will be raring to prove that they merit their place among the big boys when they travel to champions Bordeaux as the French league returns to action at the weekend under tight security.

Rennes, sitting fourth after a stormy 4-0 win over Grenoble last weekend, are counting on pulling off an exploit at Bordeaux on Sunday after coming from behind to book their place in the last 16 of the League Cup with a 2-1 win over Sochaux on Wednesday.

This weekend’s matches will be the first since the French government announced new security measures following violence which has marred the start of the season.

The measures include increased police surveillance and points reductions for teams whose supporters are involved in violence at matches.

Bordeaux, meanwhile, will be keen to maintain their unbeaten run at their Chaban Delmas stadium this season.

The western French side are on top of the league, two points ahead of former champions Lyon and Marseille with Rennes a further two points behind, after the Brittany outfit made a surprisingly strong start to the season and are unbeaten after six games.

The chasing pack will be looking for the champions, who could be without midfielder Yoann Gourcuff after he suffered a thigh strain, to trip up.

And Didier Deschamps has ordered his Marseille to focus on Valencienes and not next week’s Champions League tie against Spanish giants Real Madrid despite their league rivals having earned just seven points from six games.

“If my players already have Real at the back of their minds, I’m not going to take that away from them. But I’ll remind them that the priority is the championship,” said Deschamps.

Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda added: “It would be a lie to say that we’re not thinking a little about Madrid. We know that this match is looming but today it’s Valenciennes.”

Lyon coach Claude Puel, meanwhile, has injury worries ahead of his side hosting midtable Toulouse and will be without Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez, Brazilian midfielder Michel Bastos and defender Jean-Alain Boumsong.

And midfielder Kim Kallstrom is expecting a tough test against Toulouse, riding high after coming away with a win from Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League recently.

“Toulouse are very strong and are coming off a very good season,” he said. “They also have a great striker (Andre-Pierre Gignac). We have to watch out for this team.”

Elsewhere fifth-placed Monaco host St Etienne, while Paris St Germain travel to Lorient, while Sunday sees Le Mans host Lens and Nice visit Lille.

Tailenders Grenoble travel to Auxerre, as the Burgundy side bid to kickstart their season after their 3-1 League Cup flop to second division strugglers Sedan.

Saturday (all times 17:00 GMT unless stated)

Auxerre v Grenoble

Lorient v PSG

Monaco v St Etienne

Montpellier v Boulogne

AS Nancy v Sochaux

Valenciennes v Marseille

Lyon v Toulouse (19:00)

Sunday

Lille v Nice (15:00)

Le Mans v Lens (15:00)

Bordeaux v Rennes (19:00)

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: Andre-Pierre Gignac, Argentine, Belgrade, big boys, Bordeaux, Boulogne, brazilia, Brittany, claude puel, didier deschamps, french league, french side, Germain, Grenoble, injury worries, jean alain boumsong, kim kallstrom, league rivals, league tie, Lens, Lille, Lorient, Lyon, Mans, Marseille, Michel Bastos, Monaco, Montpellier, Nancy, new security measures, PARIS, police surveillance, real madrid, seven points, six games, sochaux, Steve Mandanda, thigh strain, tight security, Toulouse, valenciennes, western French, yoann gourcuff

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Bundesliga Wolfsburg clash vital for Bayern: Lahm

Struggling Bayern Munich know only a decent performance against defending champions VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday will ease their mounting woes, admits captain Philipp Lahm.

Having drawn their first two league games, Bayern were humiliated last weekend when promoted minnows Mainz stunned them with a 2-1 defeat which left Germany striker Mario Gomez admitting they were “taught a lesson”.

Wolfsburg also suffered their first league defeat last Sunday when they were beaten at home by Hamburg and they will be hoping to repeat April’s 5-1 win over Munich at the Volkswagen Arena which led to the sacking of Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

The defending champions are fourth in the German league, while Bayern are down to 14th after their slump and badly need some points.

Against Mainz last Saturday, substitutes Ivica Olic and Thomas Mueller were two of the Bayern players to impress and stand-in captain Philipp Lahm says the whole team must improve.

“We knew it could be a bumpy start to the season – and it has been,” said Germany defender Philipp Lahm, who is standing in for the injured Mark van Bommel.

“Over the next few weeks, everyone will see us playing a lot better again.”

And Bayern fans need to see some evidence of that while French midfielder Franck Ribery and World Cup winner Luca Toni both trained hard this week.

Ribery is expected to get some game time against Wolfsburg who have no injury worries and strikers Edin Dzeko and Grafite will be looking to terrorise Bayern’s defence as they did last time.

Dutch forward Arjen Robbens could even feature in the game if Bayern complete his signing from Spanish giants Real Madrid on Friday as expected.

Leaders Bayer Leverkusen will be looking for another three points against Bochum having hammered Freiburg 5-0 last weekend after Swiss internationals Tranquillo Barnetta and Erin Derdiyok both scored two goals.

After their 4-2 win over defending champions Wolfsburg last Sunday, Hamburg host Cologne on Sunday with Germany striker Lukas Podolski looking to get the guests’ first win of the season.

Third-placed Schalke, who revealed they are 136.6 million euros in debt on Thursday, take on Freiburg at Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins Arena on Saturday with the guests licking their wounds from their hammering by Leverkusen.

Saturday

VfB Stuttgart v Nuremberg

Schalke 04 v Freiburg

Bayer Leverkusen v VfL Bochum

Hanover 96 v Hoffenheim

Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich v VfL Wolfsburg

Sunday

Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen

Hamburg v Cologne

BERLIN (AFP)

Tags: barnetta, Bayern, bayern munich, berlin, cologne, decent performance, Erin Derdiyok, franck ribery, FRANKFURT, game time, german league, Hanover, injury worries, jurgen klinsmann, league games, luca toni, Lukas Podolski, MADRID, mario gomez, Mark van Bommel, Munich, nuremberg, olic, philipp lahm, stuttgart, terrorise, thomas mueller, Toni, world cup winner

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Bayern target leaders Wolfsburg

BERLIN (AFP) – Bayern Munich welcome back Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger for Saturday’s Bundesliga clash at Bielefeld as they look to put their Champions League heartbreak behind them and chase league leaders Wolfsburg.

Schweinsteiger scored in last Saturday’s 4-0 league win over Frankfurt, but a knee injury kept him out of Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona which knocked Bayern out of the Champions League.

“We hope that the problem will be healed by the weekend,” said Bayern boss Jurgen Klinsmann with his side second in the table.

Schweinsteiger’s Germany team-mate Lukas Podolski is still out with a calf problem and the striker has not trained with the team this week.

As Bayern focus their thoughts on retaining their Bundesliga title, Klinsmann says it is all about points now and the ex-Germany boss was booed by his own fans at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

“We have to concentrate purely on the Bundesliga and win points, points, points,” said Klinsmann, with Italians Carlo Ancelotti and Robert Mancini both being linked to his job by the Italian media.

Bayern are three points behind leaders Wolfsburg, who are at home to Bayer Leverkusen.

Wolfsburg have few injury worries as they prepare to host Leverkusen. Strikers Edin Dzeko and Brazilian Grafite have scored 36 league goals between them, but coach Felix Magath is keeping his feet on the ground.

“Look at Hertha Berlin: three rounds ago, they were four points ahead of us. Now, they are five points behind. It can happen so fast,” said Magath, with Hertha now fourth in the league.

Hamburg, who qualified for the UEFA Cup semi-finals on Thursday, are at home to strugglers Hanover, who shocked Hertha Berlin 2-0 last weekend.

Hamburg are level on points with Bayern and can still win the treble of the Bundesliga, German Cup and UEFA Cup this season.

Hertha Berlin are in danger of dropping out of the title race and another defeat at home to Werder Bremen on Sunday will seriously damage their hopes.

Hot-shot striker Andrei Voronin has been banned for three games after being sent off last weekend, while fellow forward Marko Pantelic is out with a groin strain.

Having climbed up to fifth in the league thanks to Germany striker Mario Gomez scoring an injury-time goal last week, Stuttgart have a good chance to take three more goals at strugglers Cologne.

Gomez has now hit 15 goals in 26 league games this season.

In the weekend’s other games, Schalke 04 are at home to strugglers Energie Cottbus on Friday while bottom club Karlsruhe are home to Hoffenheim who are now 10 points off Wolfsburg and effectively out of the title race.

Mid-table sides Bochum and Dortmund will slug it out Saturday and Eintracht Frankfurt, who were humbled 4-0 at Bayern on Saturday, are up against Borussia Moenchengladbach who are third from bottom and in the relegation zone.

Friday

Schalke 04 v Energie Cottbus

Saturday

Arminia Bielefeld v Bayern Munich, Cologne v VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Bochum v Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia M’gladbach, Karlsruhe v Hoffenheim

Sunday

Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen, Hamburg v Hanover 96

Tags: allianz arena, andrei voronin, Barcelona, Bastian Schweinsteiger, bayer leverkusen, Bayern, bayern munich, berlin, berlin 2, Bundesliga, carlo ancelotti, cologne, Cottbus, feet on the ground, felix magath, FRANKFURT, german cup, Germany, grafite, Hamburg, hertha berlin, injury worries, italian media, jurgen klinsmann, Lukas Podolski, mario gomez, podolski, robert mancini, team mate, werder bremen

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Bayern boosted by Ribery return

BERLIN (AFP) – Bayern Munich welcome back France’s midfield maestro Franck Ribery as they host bottom side Karlsruhe on Saturday eager to close the four-point gap on league leaders Hertha Berlin.

Hertha are at Stuttgart, but defending champions Bayern are now under pressure to pick up three points at Munich’s Allianz Arena to stop Berlin running away with the Bundesliga title.

Second-placed Bayern have injury worries with both first-choice strikers Luca Toni, suffering from an achilles tendon injury, and Miroslav Klose, ankle, out of the Karlsruhe game.

In their absence, Ribery will lead Bayern’s attack having shaken off the shin injury which has plagued him for the last three weeks.

"There is a buzz around the place with Franck back," said Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann. "He?s completely fit again and desperate to play."

But Toni is still not ready and Klinsmann does not want to risk his hit-man with Bayern set to play their Champions League quarter-final next month.

"We have to be patient for a little while longer," said Klinsmann after Toni withdrew from the Italian squad for next week’s World Cup quailifier against Montenegro.

"The injury is a lot better, but it?s still not 100-percent gone."

Karlsruhe have won just two of their last ten games and are currently three points behind their nearest rivals at the foot of the table.

League leaders Hertha travel to Stuttgart without midfielder Patrick Ebert who has been dropped to the reserves having been questioned by police in the early hours of Wednesday morning following an incident in which three cars were damaged.

With eight goals in his last six league games, Hertha striker Andrei Voronin will be looking to test Stuttgart’s ex-Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann who conceeded four goals last weekend against Werder Bremen.

"We were missing almost everything needed to win a game against Bremen," said Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel whose side are sixth in the league.

"We never got into the game and failed to perform as we had done in previous games, it gave us plenty to work on ahead of Berlin."

Fourth-placed Hamburg are in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday to take on Schalke who announced ex-Germany goalkeeper Oliver Khan is expected to be their new team manager.

Third-placed Wolfsburg are at strugglers Arminia Bielefeld with strikers Grafite on 17 goals and Edin Dzeko on 13 and the pair have scored 20 goals between them in their last seven games.

With coach Jurgen Klopp having signed a contract extension which keeps him at Dortmund until 2012, his side host Werder Bremen who are looking to build on their 4-0 win over Stuttgart last weekend looking to build on his league standing.

Former league leaders Hoffenheim are at home to midtable Hanover and are looking to pick up their first win in seven league games to get back into the league race and lift themselves up from fifth.

Seventh-placed Bayer Leverkusen is home to Eintracht Frankfurt, while Energie Cottbus need points from their game against Cologne to try and break out of the bottom three.

Friday

Borussia M’gladbach v VfL Bochum

Saturday

Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen, Arminia Bielefeld v VfL Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim v Hanover 96, Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart v Hertha Berlin, Bayern Munich v Karlsruhe, Energie Cottbus v Cologne

Sunday

Schalke 04 v Hamburg

Written by: AFP

Tags: achilles tendon, achilles tendon injury, allianz arena, andrei voronin, Bayern, bayern munich, berlin, bottom side, Bremen, Bundesliga, cologne, Cottbus, Ebert, FRANKFURT, Germany, Goalkeeper, Hamburg, hit man, injury worries, jens lehmann, jurgen klinsmann, league games, league leaders, markus babbel, midfielder, miroslav klose, Montenegro, Munich, Patrick Ebert, point gap, strikers, stuttgart, Toni

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Rangers can´t afford slips, warns Papac

GLASGOW (AFP) – Sasa Papac says Rangers must continue their winning ways if they are to clinch a domestic treble this season.

The Bosnian defender has been an integral part of Walter Smith’s side which sit second in the Scottish Premier League, four points behind Celtic and he played as the Ibrox club clinched a place in the Scottish League Cup final on Tuesday with a 3-0 win over Falkirk.

As Rangers prepare to take on Dundee United in the league on Saturday the left-back says the Gers can’t afford to drop many more points if they are to catch their Old Firm rivals at the top of the table.

"Every trophy is important and we want to win every available one," Papac said.

"There are three trophies available to Rangers and so we will give everything we can to challenge as strongly as possible for all three. We cannot afford to drop any points if we can help it.

"But we go into the Dundee United league game in very good shape with confidence high and that is very important.

"If you look at the Falkirk game we created many chances and it could have been more and, of course, we kept a clean sheet.

"That is not easy in games as important as a semi-final when the other team are giving everything to make the final as well."

With strikers Kris Boyd, Nacho Novo and Kenny Miller all in goal-scoring form, Papac has no doubt that Rangers have the firepower to blast their way to domestic dominance.

Papac said: "We have four or five great strikers and you never know who will start and that is great as it keeps everyone very sharp."

On Sunday, Old Firm rivals Celtic, who will meet Rangers in the League Cup final, travel north to take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The game marks Terry Buthcher’s first match in charge of the bottom placed club and the former Rangers player will want a win to try and overtake Falkirk.

Hoops manager Gordon Strachan has no fresh injury worries after his side were taken to extra-time and penalties by Dundee United on Wednesday in the League Cup semi-final.

In Saturday’s other games, Falkirk take on Aberdeen looking for their first league win in ten matches.

The Dons are high in confidence after last weekend’s draw against Rangers coming straight after their defeat of Celtic.

Hamilton host Hearts at New Douglas Park with both sides looking for their fourth straight win in the league.

Motherwell travel to Edinburgh to take on Hibernian at Easter Road. A win would see Motherwell leapfrog into sixth place.

St Mirren host Kilmarnock for the first ever game at the new Greenhill Road stadium after the club left Love Street.

The Paisley side will be desperate to get off to a winning start at their new ground while Killie haven’t won in four league games.

Fixtures (1500GMT, unless otherwise stated)

Saturday

Falkirk v Aberdeen, Hamilton v Hearts, Hibernian v Motherwell, Rangers v Dundee United, St Mirren v Kilmarnock (1230)

Sunday

Inverness CT v Celtic (1400)

Written by: AFP

Tags: caledonian, dundee united, Falkirk, firepower, former rangers, four points, good shape, gordon strachan, injury worries, kenny miller, league game, nacho novo, no doubt, sasa papac, scottish league cup, Scottish Premier League, united league, walter smith, winning ways

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New injury worries for Manchester United

Manchester United may have reached the final of the English League Cup thanks to a 4-3 aggregate win over Derby County, but Sir Alex Ferguson has been handed new injury worries as Anderson, Jonny Evans and Rafael all picked up knocks.

Anderson requires an X-ray on Wednesday to determine his injury, while Evans is expected to miss at last one game due to an ankle problem.

Rafael suffered a hamstring injury and could be out for a month.

Written by: Jonathan Roorda

Tags: Anderson, derby county, English Premier League, game, injury worries, jonathan, Jonathan Roorda, Manchester, manchester united, Rafael, roorda, sir alex ferguson, x ray

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