Coaches of these teams are in somewhat similar positions, both had great playing career behind themselves and both were under heavy fire when they were appointed as National Team coaches. Dunga is now in much better position as his team is at first place and very close to South Africa, but there are many of Brazilian fans who still don’t like his defensive style. Maradona started better than Dunga as coach, but he is now in deep troubles. Argentina lost too many points, especially away, and after some humiliating results (1-6 in Bolivia), loss against fierce enemy is the last thing they need. Maradona must solve problem of injuries too, Milito, Veron, Lopez, Burdisso, Guiterrez and Bataglia are questionable for this match. He called some players with big experience as Palermo, but those players didn’t play for National Team for too long if you ask me.

Ex captain of Brazil, Dunga, once again didn’t call Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Lowe. He is stubborn and he insists on his tactics and, after all, results are behind him so he can do that. Beside that, if some national team have enough world class attackers it’s Brazil. Maybe those three players won’t play, but Dunga will field Robinho and Luis Fabiano upfront and there is no need to explain who they are. Dunga is first coach after many times who decided to play defensive football. Well, maybe not defensive, but he is first coach who pay attention to defense. Brazil was always known as great attacking side, but also as team with funny defense and especially goalkeeper. Dunga changed that and although players needed some time to adapt to that approach, he was right. Brazil conceded only six goals in 14 qualifying matches and attack is again the best in South America.

Both teams will go for win as they always do. This is probably the biggest rivalry on national team level in the world and all statistics and injuries and other facts are not important. Current form is not important also… Only thing that is important in this match is who will think clear at the field. Home crowd will make hell for guests, there is no doubt about it, but on the paper guests have advantage. Like I said, you can forget everything what was before this match and if you try to earn some money with online betting this is probably wrong match to bet on. But, I just can’t skip this match and odds on over goals. My pick here is over 2.5 goals despite Dunga and his tactics. But, keep stakes low as anything is possible here. Maybe it would be smart to check some other free sports picks if you want to make money.

The club have now been bought by Sulaiman Al Fahim, but there will need to an injection of cash to get them back to the point they were at under former Manager Harry Redknapp when they won the FA Cup and qualified for UEFA Cup.

Better news came today as Portsmouth signed new deals with Kanu and Papa Bouba Diop.  This should add some much needed stability as the club look to settle back down.

Chelsea seem to be going through a nice settling period at the moment. Terry, Drogba, John Mikel Obi and Malouda have also recently signed contract extensions, all of which can olnly be good news for their Premiership chances.

Cole can next be seen in action for England this Saturday. Click for current odds for England v Slovenia

Note: Never bet with any money that you are not prepared to lose. Always form your own opinion when betting and do not blindly follow tips.

A full list follows…

Obi Anoruo (Wrexham – Newtown) Loan
Mickael Antoine-Curier (Dundee – Hamilton Academicals)
Adam Barton (Preston – Crawley) Loan
Tal Ben Haim (Manchester City – Portsmouth) Undisclosed
Radanfah Abu Bakr (unattached – Swansea)
Leigh Bromby (Sheffield United – Leeds) Undisclosed
Hameur Bouazza (unattached – Blackpool} Free
Mark Brown (Celtic – Kilmarnock) Loan
Sean Canham (Notts County – Hayes & Yeading)

David Carney (Sheffield United – FC Twente) Undisclosed
Danny Collins (Sunderland – Stoke) £2.75m
Dominic Collins (Preston – Crawley) Loan
James Collins (West Ham – Aston Villa) Undisclosed
Jamie Cook (Crawley – Oxford) Undisclosed
Sam Cox (Tottenham – Cheltenham) Loan
Aaron Davies (Nottingham Forest – Brighton) Loan
David Button (Tottenham – Crewe)
Carlos Edwards (Sunderland – Ipswich) Undisclosed
Abdou El-Kholti (unattached – Hayes & Yeading) Free
Alain Emerson (Crusaders – Dungannon Swifts) Free
Stuart Fleetwood (Charlton – Exeter) Loan
Lewis Haldane (Bristol Rovers – Port Vale) Loan
Johnny Heitinga (Atletico Madrid – Everton) £6m
Luke Holden (Rhyl – Charlton) Loan
Oscar Jansson (Tottenham – Exeter) Loan
Joe Lamplough (unattched – Mansfield) Non-contract
Grant Leadbitter (Sunderland – Ipswich) Undisclosed
Ivan Klasnic (Nantes – Bolton) Loan
Nico Kranjcar (Portsmouth – Tottenham) Undisclosed
Tom Lees (Leeds – Accrington) Loan
Peter Lovenkrands (unattached – Newcastle) Free
Sean Mackle (unattached – Portadown)
John Martin (Linfield – Crusaders) Free
Clayton McDonald (Manchester City – Walsall) Loan
Claude Davis (unattached – Crystal Palace)
Jerome Rothen (Paris St Germain – Rangers) Loan
Alvaro Saborio (FC Sion – Bristol City) Loan
Danny Schofield (Yeovil – Millwall) Loan
Ibrahima Sonko (Stoke – Hull City) Loan
Davide Somma (unattached – Leeds) Free
Evander Sno (Ajax – Bristol City) Loan
Blair Sturrock (unattached – Mansfield)
Teemu Tanio (Sunderland – Birmingham) Loan
Borja Valero (West Brom – Real Mallorca) Loan
Ben Watson (Wigan – QPR) Loan
Mike Williamson (Watford – Portsmouth) Undisc
Hassan Yebda (Benfica – Portsmouth) Loan
Yassin Moutaouakil (Charlton – Motherwell) Loan
David Nugent (Portsmouth – Burnley) Loan
Darren O’Dea (Celtic – Reading) Loan
Kris Renton (Norwich – Brechin) Loan

Manger George Burley has recalled 39 year old defender David Weir (not without some stick) and Birmingham striker Garry O’Connor. There are differing views on Weir’s call up, but Internationals like this can benefit from experienced players on the field, and I think he could help Scotland to find the win they will be looking for.

Our Verdict:
Scotland should take the win with some generous odds on offer. Click for current odds for Scotland v Macedonia

As an England player Wayne Rooney has scored 10 goals in just 8 games.  Fabio Capello really seems to bring out the best in the Manchester United striker

We will be looking at England’s chances against Croatia (England v Croatia) in the coming days as well as any other matches which offer value.