Newcastle v Manchester United 8pm

There have been one or two surprising results over the New Year with the battery of fixtures a possible factor but these two clubs can have no complaints having relatively long periods between fixtures – Newcastle played on Friday night while United were in action on Saturday lunchtime.

Of course that is not too say that the two do not have problems with the Magpies poor run of form continuing after a 3-1 defeat at Anfield, while an injury-hit United side were surprisingly beaten by strugglers Blackburn at Old Trafford.

United’s defeat did not prove too costly as it happens as neighbours City suffered a shock 1-0 reverse at Sunderland and Sir Alex Ferguson will be hoping his players can bounce back.

Wayne Rooney was a surprise absentee from a threadbare squad at the weekend – reportedly due to disciplinary reasons – but he is set to return to the lineup on Wednesday and will be a key player for the champions.

United have been installed as the 8/11 favourites in the match betting, which is perhaps unsurprising given the fact they are level on points at the top of the table and are yet to taste defeat on their Premier League travels this season.

However, there could be some value to be had in opposing the Red Devils with Newcastle available at 9/2 and the draw at 12/5, depending on the squad that Ferguson takes to St James’ Park.

Blackburn were restricted to a handful of chances at Old Trafford but still scored three goals, with a makeshift defence struggling to cope while question marks re-appeared over David de Gea’s goalkeeping credentials.

Rio Ferdinand is close to making a comeback but whether he is fit for Wednesday remains to be seen, although the Magpies have hit a poor run of form since securing a point in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in November, winning just one (against Bolton) of the following six games.

The defence has started to leak goals as well, having conceded at least three goals in four off those games, which is a worrying sign with United coming to town.

There certainly looks as though there will be goals in the fixture (Over 2.5 goals – 5/6) and Demba Ba has to be considered in the goalscoring markets (7/1 First/Last, 15/8 Anytime) as he has already bagged 14 this season – including the equaliser at Old Trafford, albeit from a dubious penalty.

Everton v Bolton 8pm

This match appears to be in complete contrast to the other match taking place on Wednesday, in the sense that goals could be very much at a premium when Bolton travel to Everton.

The Toffees have put together a four-match unbeaten run since a 1-0 reverse at Arsenal but have scored only one goal in those games, while they are the second-worst scorers at home, behind West Brom, in the Premier League.

However, David Moyes’ men set themselves up to be hard to beat and they are strong 1/2 favourites to heap further misery on Bolton Wanderers, who are on offer at 13/2 while the draw can be backed at 3/1.

It is not hard to see why Everton are fancied to win but there will be some who think the betting is too short, particularly as Bolton have won three times on the road, despite lying bottom of the table.

The last time Everton scored twice was when these two met at the Reebok in November but they were given a helping hand by the fact David Wheater was sent off in the 20th-minute – and they still only managed to score twice.

Both managers may well be relieved the transfer window has opened, providing they have funds to bring in some new blood but neither squad has a standout scorer and there looks like they might struggle on Wednesday (Under 2.5 Goals 5/6).

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Before last week’s game against AC Milan, the Rossoblu had looked like being able to pull away from the foot of the Serie A table, with three wins in four games.

But even Malesani was forced to admit the 3-0 defeat to Milan was a “defensive disaster”, and the question is whether he will have been able to do anything about that by the time they visit Parma on Sunday.

The Rossoblu are 14th in the table, just four points outside the relegation zone, and Malesani said about the Milan game: “I had demanded that my players put more pressure on the ball but they didn’t do it.

“We have to be more focused and remain humble if we are to avoid the drop this season.”

Problem for Malesani is that his team are poor travellers. While at home they only average 0.75 goals conceded per game, on the road it is 2.12.

One of the things that could come to Bologna’s rescue is that their defeats have come against quality teams.

The Rossoblu have not lost to a team below 11th in the table (in fact their 1-1 draw against Catania is the only time they have not won such a game), so they aim to keep that run going against a Parma side who are currently 16th.

Parma have an extra bounce in their step after beating Fiorentina 2-1 in midweek to make it through to the quarter finals of the Coppa Italia (Parma 3/ 4 to beat Bologna).

Parma coach Pasquale Marino hopes the victory will help erase the memory of last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Palermo – the club’s second in three games.

“The victory against Fiorentina was important for the morale of my players,” said Marino.

“The Coppa Italia is one of our aims. We now have a very important game against Bologna.We have to ride the wave of enthusiasm and take three points on Sunday.”

The visitors will be without midfielder Gaby Mundigayi, who is suspended.

Only one of Parma’s defeats so far this season has come at home – the 1-0 defeat to AC Milan on October 2.

Atletico Madrid can forget all about the Europa League and concentrate on qualifying for the Champions League when they take on lowly Malaga (Atletico 23/20 to beat Malaga).

Atletico’s hopes of defending their Europa League crown ended on Thursday when a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen saw them exit at the group stage.

It was their previous match, at home to Aris Thessaloniki, that was key to their downfall as they conceded twice in the second half to lose 3-2.

Now they  travel to third-bottom Malaga, where a victory could help them close the five-point gap to Espanyol in the fourth Champions League spot.

Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores said: “Now the only thing that we have to do is accept the consequences and forget about it as soon as possible. We hope that the return to Europe will be through the front door and into Champions League.”

Atletico bounced back from successive league defeats to beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 last weekend, lifting them up to sixth.

Malaga, under new coach Manuel Pellegrini, have won their last two home Primera Liga games including a 4-1 win over Racing Santander (Malaga 23/10 to beat Atletico).

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Peter Houston

The Scotland assistant boss admitted that the squad was disappointed with the result but believed that the side was “unlucky to lose to a goal from a set play”. He also stressed that his players had “worked their socks off” in the hope of getting a result.

The Scotland manager Craig Levein was heavily criticised for the negative approach in Prague, where he adopted a 4-6-0 formation in the hope of picking up a point. The plan backfired when the Czechs scored the only goal of the game in the 70th minute but Houston stressed that he thought Scotland were unfortunate in defeat.

He highlighted the fact that the Scots rarely concede a goal from a set play but also stressed that the game is now “over and done with” and that he is looking forward to facing world champions Spain at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening (Scotland 13/2, draw 10/3, Spain 1/3).

Defending Levein’s tactics, he said: “The only regret we’ve got is that we’ve lost the game. It’s over and done with now, we can’t look back, we’ve got to look forward and what a way to look forward – playing Spain at Hampden.

“We’ve got to put that to bed and start to think positively and take something from that match.

“We are keen to play the world champions in what will be a difficult game. Footballers like to play at the top level and nobody is better than the world champions.”

Scotland have four major doubts ahead of the clash, with Tottenham defender Alan Hutton, Wigan centre-back Gary Caldwell, West Brom midfielder Graham Dorrans and Rangers utility man Steven Whittaker all missing Sunday’s training session.

However, Houston has admitted “the majority, if not all” would be available for selection on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Scotland were handed a boost when Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher was fit to train after suffering a knock against the Czechs.

Caldwell participated in Prague for 75 minutes and Houston has not dismissed the possibility of him making back-to-back appearances. If he does, it will be a major achievement as Friday was his first action for club or country this season following a hip operation.

Speaking about Caldwell, Houston stressed: “He has been feeling good, he knows he’s been out for a while but nobody knows his body better than himself, and he was keen to do something today and he’s putting himself up for selection.”

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