With first-place Barcelona set to play Internacional of Brazil Sunday
in the final of the Club World Cup in Yokohama (TV: Fox Soccer Channel & Fox en Espanol, 5 am ET), second-place Sevilla
will have a chance to move into Spain's La Liga on Sunday when it
travels to Andalucian rival Recreativo Huelva (TV: Gol TV, live 1 pm
ET).
Sevilla moved into second place when it beat Real Madrid, 2-1, to give
it seven wins in seven league games at home this season.
"There are no limits to our ambitions," Sevilla president Jose Mario del Nido told sports
daily AS. "We have a team
that is capable
of beating Real Madrid without playing at its best and of beating a
team like Valencia, 3-0."
Sevilla could without its top scorer when it faces Recreativo, however.
Mali international Frederic Kanoute,
with is tied with Barca's Ronaldinho
and Real Zaragoza's Diego Milito
for the league lead with 11 goals, is doubtful with a rib injury.
In Recreativo, Sevilla faces the Spanish season's big surprise. After
winning the Second Division title in 2005-06, Recre has climbed to
seventh place in La Liga with an attack-minded team led by young
Frenchman Florent Sinama-Pongolle,
Spaniard Javi Guerrero and
Nigerian supersub Ikwechukwu Uche.
ENGLAND. Manchester United
looks to hold on to its five-point lead at the top of the Premiership
and maintain its unbeaten record on the road when it travels to Upton
Park on Sunday to face West Ham United (TV: Fox Sports Channel, live,
11 am ET). The Red Devils have seven wins
and one tie in eight away games this season. Their only EPL loss of the
season came three months ago to Arsenal at Old Trafford. For West Ham,
the game marks new manager Alan
Curbishley's
return to the Premier League. Seven months after quitting Charlton,
Curbishley was this week given the task of reviving the struggling
Hammers by
their new owner, Icelandic millionaire Eggert
Magnusson. In other EPL action, second-place Chelsea and
third-place Arsenal both face tough matches
after winning makeup games on Wednesday. Chelsea travels to Everton on
Sunday (TV: Setanta Sports USA, live, 8:40 am ET), while Arsenal hosts
Portsmouth on Saturday (TV: Setanta Sports USA, live, 9:45 am). Pompey
is led by former Gunner star Nwankwo
Kanu, who shares the EPL scoring lead with nine goals.
GERMANY. The Bundesliga
shuts down for its winter break after this weekend, and first-place
Werder Bremen looks to claim the honor of first-half champions when it
faces Wolfsburg on Sunday (Tentative TV: Telemundo, delay, 1 pm ET).
It's a battle of Germany's best offense -- Bremen has scored 45 goals
in 16 games -- against its best defense -- Wolfsburg has conceded only
14 goals. Bremen leads Schalke 04, which plays at sixth-place Arminia
Bielefeld on Saturday, on goal difference. Two points behind is
Stuttgart, which has a shot at regaining first place when plays at
Energie Cottbus on Saturday (TV: Gol TV, live, 9:30 am ET).
ITALY. Roma and Palermo,
the main challengers to first-place Inter Milan, square off Sunday in a
must-win game for both teams (TV: RAI International, live, 2:30 pm ET;
Gol TV, delay, 7:30 pm ET). Second-place Roma fell seven points behind
Inter after losing to archrival Lazio, 3-0. Roma coach Luciano Spalletti remained
confident even after his team's six-game winning streak was
snapped. "A strong team shows its true colors in the most
difficult times," he told La
Gazzetta dello Sport. "We're still in the title race. We
just need to believe in ourselves." Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini, on the other
hand, views the game as battle for second place. "I think they will win
the title with a margin of between 15 and 18
points," he said of surging Inter, which takes an eight-game winning
streak into its game against lowly Messina on Sunday (TV: Gol TV, live,
9 am ET).



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