by Bashmachkin Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:45 pm
I think the top two seeds will go through from Groups A, B and E without too many problems. In Group C, I expect a battle between Sporting and Shakhtar for second place - Shakhtar have some very good young players in the likes of Ilsinho, Gladkiy, Chygrinskiy, and Brandao and Srna are good players too - but I'll go for Sporting to edge it (though I'll change my view if Sporting sell Veloso before the end of the transfer window).
Liverpool's group isn't an easy one, there are three other decent teams in it, but I fancy Liverpool to win the group even if they struggle in doing so. PSV don't look as good as they were a few years ago - they've lost a number of players in the last few years - Cocu, de Jong, Kone, Alex, Farfan, Alcides, Gomes. I think Atletico could take second place in that group even relatively comfortably in the end.
Arsenal's group looks like a tricky one to me - it looks at least as difficult as Liverpool's - and they'll have to play some difficult away fixtures. I think Arsenal will top the group nevertheless, and I fancy Dynamo Kyiv to finish in second place.
Porto have lost some good players this summer in Bosingwa and Assuncao (and I don't think Cech was that bad either) and looking at their transfers in, they've signed a lot of fairly young and unproven players. I don't think Fenerbahce have a fantastic squad either - with Alex and Emre they have two of the classiest left footers around, but they've lost Mehmet Aurelio and don't look that solid in the midfield, or that strong in the wide positions; I'm not convinced that Guiza is a great forward; and otherwise they look light up front - Deivid, who can provide a bit of spark, is apparently out until the new year with a foot injury. The impact that their stadium and their crowd has on the opposition can be overstated, I feel. Kyiv qualified with two very impressive results against Spartak Moscow.
Zenit will cause problems for anyone, and will be dark horses for the competition in my view, if Arshavin stays with them and regains his form from last season. They have a lot of good players, and they've just bought Danny (Wow, Wow, Wow!) from Dynamo Moscow for €30 million, so they should be decent whatever - but even with Danny, I think they'll be half the team if Arshavin leaves them, because he really makes them gel and he's instrumental in providing and scoring goals for them. I'll be absolutely cheeky (ooh!) and I'll go for Zenit to top Group H, with Madrid just pipping Juve to second place.
And finally, Lyon and Fiorentina for group F.
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