Each club was given around 39,000 tickets for this blue-riband match in a 98,000 capacity stadium – but you can expect to see red and white ribands, scarves, txapela hats, strips, banners and flags everywhere.

The Barça fans will be present, don’t worry about that. But so absolutely enormous is the hunger from the Athletic support to see their first trophy since 1984 that you can expect black market briefs to have landed in Basque hands. To the extent that, I guarantee, some Barcelona fans will have sold the tickets they won in the club lottery to Athletic fans just in order to fund a trip to Berlin for the Champions League final next Saturday.

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If you are old enough to remember how the FA used to allocate the Tartan Amy about fifteen or twenty tickets for Wembley but by the time kick off came there were at least 60,000 of us there …. like that.

• NB: If you are shading the odds based on location and the fact that Athletic have only won 18 times in 87 years of visits to the Camp Nou bear this in mind.

The concept of travelling fans in Spanish football is utterly different from the UK and Ireland. If any away team takes 1000 supporters to an away ground that’s regarded as pretty stellar. In La Liga there’s no guaranteed quota for ‘away fans’ to the extent that there is in the Premier or Champions League.

Thus if there are upwards of 50,000 Athletic fans in the Camp Nou, and I think there will be, then that utterly changes the atmosphere from any visit by Los Leones to play Barcelona in any of their home stadia.

There are a few famous occasions of mega favourites [mostly Madrid] losing the cup final in their home stadium. On their centenary in 2002 and in Jose Mourinho’s last ever Madrid game when they lost to Atleti in that dramatic 2013 Copa Final.

This is a fantastic photo of Barcelona fans’ tribute to Xavi at the Nou Camp. pic.twitter.com/QCZLf1UyN9

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) May 27, 2015

The second thing to establish is that if there has ever, in the history of this crazy sport of ours, been a support which is able to exhibit primeval levels of desire, and to transmit that sufficiently for their team to narrow the quality gap on an opponent – it’s the support of the Athletic fans.

That last trophy they won was in May 1984 against Diego Maradona‘s Barça [and it ended in Bruce Lee-Enter the Dragon style scenes between the two sets of players because of bad blood over the Butcher of Bilbao Andoni Goikoetxea-Maradona incident earlier that season] but they’ve lost their three subsequent cup ties against Barça, including the Copa Finals of 2009 and 2012, on an 8-2 aggregate.

However, believe me, it was a life-changing experience to listen to the Athletic fans at the Calderón Stadium three years ago. They’d just lost the Europa final 3-0 to Atlético and this was a gambler’s last-gasp chance at redemption.

Within what felt like the blink of an eye they were not only 3-0 down, again, but being toyed with. It was Bambi versus the Terminator. But, boy, those fans just never let up – a Phil Spectator Wall of Sound from start to finish. Part encouragement to their battered players, part pure defiance. Just monumental.

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At the end of the match when Barcelona were celebrating, Xavi and Puyol sought out an Ikurriña [Basque] flag [It’s red with a white cross superimposed on a green X] paired it with the Catalan ‘Senyera’ flag and placed them both, symbolically, in the centre circle together. A real gesture of respect.

These are the two sides which have most won La Copa and it is a regular pairing in the final too. But recent years have seen not only a resurgence of the ‘Clásico’ final but a complete alteration of Real Madrid‘s valuation of winning the domestic knockout tournament.

Thus, make no mistake, there’s a reason why this isn’t being held at the Santiago Bernabéu as Athletic wanted it to be – Florentino Pérez has got the huff.

Remember the days when not everyone could afford a football, and one dumpy kid whose parents splashed out on him every Christmas would sulk: ‘It’s my ball and if you wont’ pass to me I’m leaving, and it’s coming with me’? That’s our Florentino.

Carlo Ancelotti sacked, Rafa Benitez as good as confirmed, money to be spent, David De Gea likely to join… the last thing old Don Florentino wanted was for Basques or, worse, Catalans to be celebrating in ‘his’ stadium as they lifted the Copa up to the skies

This is the first trophy Rafa will be expected to lift when the final is played next season, in April most likely. Just watch Los Blancos clamour to hold the final in the Bernabéu or the Camp Nou then if they’ve qualified!

But… to business. If this is to be Athletic’s Copa then by far the most likely route to glory is a set play. Or the second ball off one. Barcelona are markedly better at defending them this season but lately have lost goals to both Bayern and Deportivo in this way.

Athletic have a couple of powerful weapons in this department – both Aritz Aduriz [by far their leading all-comps scorer this season, all time stat = three goals v Barcelona] and their ex-Liverpool stopper, Miki San Jose [six goals this season, none in nine v Barcelona], are aerially adept.

Bet your bottom dollar that Luis Enrique, and his tactical/strategic guru Juan Carlos Unzué will put special emphasis on Barcelona not conceding corners or free kicks in their own half.

But here’s the rub. Plenty of Ernesto Valverde‘s players have figures like: Played Barcelona 15/18/20 times Won: 1. If you want reason to believe that some kind of ‘opposition’ to Barcelona might be worth your while when you punt then it’s got to be based around the coach, Valverde.

For Athletic, in his first spell over a decade ago, for Espanyol and for Valencia he’s turned up a series of draws home and away and he won his first Catalan derby as Espanyol coach 3-1 – albeit as the Frank Rijkaard era became moribund.

Barcelona have been in ‘off’ mode since beating Atlético at the Calderón two weeks ago – valuable rest and recuperation for tired minds and bodies. But will that give them turbo-charged sharpness and power to overhaul Athletic in a blitzkreig first half …. or will it leave them just a little sluggish and vulnerable to being closed down?

Is Luis Suárez‘ hamstring fully healed?

The obvious thing to point to is that Messi loves playing Athletic – 15 goals in 22 matches against them. He doesn’t hate finals either. He’s only lost four of 17 with Barcelona and in the 22 matches those finals have entailed he’s scored 18 times plus given four goal assists.

Graham’s Bets

So, in summary. Barcelona should win, it’s far from ludicrous to suggest that Athletic might make them struggle to do so – in fact backing FCB to have to come from 1-0 down and win 2-1 doesn’t look a hopeless cause to me.

Messi, Aduriz, Piqué, San Jose and possibly [finally!] Iniesta might be worth ‘any-time’ shouts.

• Barcelona to come from behind and win – 13/2
• Barcelona to win 2-1 – 17/2
• Iniesta to score anytime – 12/5

If there was a market where you can back which fans will make more noise, throughout… back the Basques.

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If you think this is precisely the kind of fixture for which Quique Sanchez Flores was brought back to win then you’re gonna LOVE this stat.

The two sides have met at this stadium in Madrid ten times in the Primera Division and Sevilla have only won once. Six years ago.

Sevilla won the Cup Final the two contested [2007]. Sevilla won the Cup Final when Quique was the Atletico manager [2010]. Sevilla won when they met at the Alfonso Perez Coliseum in the Second Division.

But in the top flight Getafe are stubborn as mules when this lot come to town.

Less promisingly Quique’s two matches in charge of Getafe v Sevilla, a decade ago, each ended in scoreless draws littered with yellow cards.

IF you want to build a case for this talented, charismatic manager to win this one then here’s what you’re up against.

His eight games in charge have seen two wins, five goals and only three scorers – Álvaro, Diego Castro and Pedro Sarabia.

More, Geta are still without: Vicente Guaita, Babá Diawara, Ángel Lafita, Karim Yoda and Sergio Escudero.

But here’s the rub. Sevilla blew a chance to win in Madrid in midweek – mostly because they couldn’t finish chances.

And, before they return to the capital this weekend it has cost them.

Keeper Beto is out for at least 8 weeks after his collision with Benzema and Unai is without Vitolo, Aleix Vidal and Carriço because of suspension, adding to an injury list of Tremoulinas, Pareja, Reyes, Gameiro and Cristóforo.

They should have beaten the European champions on Wednesday, they are the better team in this match… but this is football.

This is a place they hate coming.

To me it all smacks of either Quique’s third consecutive 0-0 draw against Sevilla, ten years on, or, if he’s lucky, Mehdi Lacen, back from Copa Africa, adding to his regular groovy performances against Sevilla and a 1-0 win.

Graham Hunter’s Bet: 0-0 draw at 13/2

Espanyol v Valencia – Sunday 6pm

So, will this match tell the story of Espanyol’s or Valencia’s season?

That’s crucial.

On Matchday 3 Los Che romped it. 3-0 up until a 90th minute penalty which Sergio Garcia converted
Valencia pushed them about, played on the break, ignored any of Espanyol’s nice passing patterns and just got the knuckle-duster out.

Bish, bash bosh.

That day Lucas Vázquez and Felipe Caicedo were only subs for the visitors. Coach Sergio González had other priorities.

From then till now a great deal has changed.

For example, Valencia are Charles Atlas at home, eight stone weaklings away.

Espanyol now feel very differently about Lucas and Felipe.

Caicedo’s on a blistering scoring run – eight in his last eleven to equal his best-ever goal form which was 2010/11 with Levante. Lucas, on loan from Madrid, looks smart and technically elegant.

Now a regular starter and full of creative threat he, plus Caicedo, Duarte, Moreno, Sergio Garcia and Casilla have transformed Espanyol’s season.

Such that they knocked Valencia out of the Cup, 3-2, with the Ecuadorian striker notching twice.

A result which added to the unsettling fact that although Nuno Espirito Santo is patently a firm part of a powerful and still very new project at the Mestalla there’s growing concern at his team’s apathetic away form and the concept that he’s a tactical tinkerer – too often fiddling with the formation and the starting XI.

Last week they let us down at Málaga – barely showing up.

Play like that again and, although they are a better XI and better squad than Espanyol, they’ll lose.

This week, having already suffered 7 red cards this season, they are without both Otamendi and full back Cancela – suspended.

Home wins in January over Celta, Almería, Valencia and Sevilla [10 scored 1 conceded] tell you that Espanyol aren’t to be sneered at, a home loss to Eibar before that tells you that they ain’t the Bank of England either.

Caicedo, Sergio G and Stuani worth a look for the home side, Piatti, Negredo and Paco Alcacer for the visitors.

Graham’s Bet: Espanyol win at 7/4

Athletic v Barcelona Sunday 8pm

This is one for the superstitious – those who see patterns in numbers and statistical trends which mustn’t be ignored.

The last time Luis Enrique’s mob were ‘oop north’ in the Basque country it was the first match of the year, at the Anoeta, and it was grim.

An own-goal, a defeat – both ridicule and a mini-mutiny for having left not only Neymar, Piqué, Rakitic and Alves out – but Messi too.

The defeat came just after a mini holiday.

Now they are back in the Pays Vasco – after a mini holiday.

Another mini revolt, too. The players, and to be fair the coach, didn’t want to play a scheduled friendly in Qatar this week so it was cancelled.

Everyone bar Piqué and Neymar had two and a half days off.

So, what chances of the result or the performance at San Mames repeating that of the Anoeta and leaving the title chasers with egg on their faces again?

Do you sense a pattern emerging?

It’s a thorny place, traditionally. Since 2004 Barcelona have three wins, six draws …but only two defeats in league and cup at the San Mames.

The key fact, however, is that given their four point deficit to Madrid at the top Barcelona can’t afford either of the latter two results. Not even a draw.

It’s February, so to pretend that this is an all-or-nothing weekend would be immature.

But it paints as an opportunity. Barcelona cure their travel-ills and get a bit Jack Kerouac. Memorable on the road. [Geddit?]

Away from the Camp Nou they’ve dropped thirteen points and consistently looked vulnerable.

But IF they’ve shed that personality, IF the form at the Calderón and Riazor is the real Barça then here’s the script.

They pick up three points and Madrid draw in the derbi.
Gap down to two points with a Camp Nou Clásico still to play.

That’s got to be how Luis Enrique is figuring this weekend.

What makes this particularly juicy for the neutral is that Athletic have stemmed the hemorrhage of bad results recently.

Wins and draws against Málaga and Levante in Cup and League have brought three goals for Aduriz and a sixth of the season from man-mountain defender Miki San-Jose.

Susaeta has set up three of the last four Athletic goals and they DO like to notch with a header.

Something Barcelona notoriously struggle to cope with.

Summary? Barcelona too improved, too many options, too much quality. 2-1 to the visitors.

Up to you, but if both San Jose and Piqué start I’m gonna take a wild punt on both to score. But that’s how I roll.

The sane will look to Messi, Neymar, Suárez [who’s increasingly vital for this attack] and Aduriz for scorers.

Graham’s Bet: Barcelona to win 2-1 at 7/1

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Manchester City

City’s draw at Stoke City last weekend has been painted as two points dropped by most of the media, but not many teams have won at the Britannia Stadium – and Manchester United didn’t either when they went there earlier this season.

It could be seen as a point gained and one recovered from a losing position after Peter Crouch closed all entries for the goal of the season competition with a stupendous strike.

City keeper Joe Hart must be getting sick of playing another cameo role in this year’s goal of the season, but he appears to be one of the City players who remain in good form as we head into the last eight weeks of the season.

Vincent Kompany’s return from injury is a key moment in the title race and he can marshal the City back four to a clean sheet against the Black Cats – who will be on a big downer after exiting the FA Cup at home to Everton in midweek.

Sergio Aguero’s injury is a blow, but more so if he misses out against Arsenal next week because City have the firepower to bag a couple against Sunderland (11/2 2-0 Man City in Correct Score) with Carlos Tevez (11/10) a potential anytime goalscorer.

In the other Saturday Premier League matches, Everton (4/5) are a team to keep on your side at the moment and should be too strong for streaky West Brom (7/2, Draw 13/5) at Goodison Park.

Roy Hodgson’s side have picked up one point from their last three matches, and should have been beaten by Wigan in the match where they got a draw.

They appear to fare better against the physical teams, particularly away from home – having won at Stoke, Blackburn and Wolves since December – but are liable to lose to the craftier sides.

Everton have demonstrated they fall into this bracket and should pick up three points – and another clean sheet.

The Toffees have tightened up defensively, conceding only two goals in their last six home matches and now boasting the fourth best goals against record in the Premier League.

However, with Leighton Baines (16/1 First Goalscorer) standing proudly as their top goalscorer, they are still far from prolific.

Nikica Jelavic (5/4 Anytime) is showing signs of taking on the scoring mantle and may be worth a bet to be the Last Goalscorer – rather than the first – in case he does not start (9/2).

Chelsea (5/6) got back to winning ways against Benfica in midweek and normally they would have too much for Aston Villa (7/2, Draw 13/5).

But Saturday’s match could easily lack the intensity of a Champions League clash for them and, with changes due, it may be that a draw is the most likely result.

Villa would probably settle for a draw and, judging by the Blues’ inability to find the net at home to Spurs last week, 0-0 (15/2 in Correct Score) might be the order of the day again.

Queens Park Rangers (7/2) could make it tough for Arsenal (5/6), but the Gunners’ form continues to impress and they should overcome the Hoops with a glut of goals in the second half (Evens – 2nd Half in Half Most Goals).

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Chelsea’s

AVB survived in the Chelsea hot-seat last month, despite a run of just one win in five games and a home Carling Cup defeat to Liverpool at the quarter-final stage. The critics were circling during that period as the pressure intensified on him, but owner Roman Abramovich, notoriously impatient with his managers in recent years, decided to stick with the former Porto boss.

However, doubts remain that the 32-year-old has the experience, man-management skills and sheer nous to be a hit in the cut-throat world of the Premier League as he comes up against seasoned campaigners like Sir Alex Ferguson, Harry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger – men who know what it takes to succeed in England.

A good start to the season and the recent back-to-back 3-0 victories – against Wolves, Newcastle and Valencia – prove Villas-Boas is a top-class coach to be feared when he gets it right and it is fair to say he has rallied his troops well to ensure they have come through a difficult period.

Tuesday’s victory was certainly impressive as AVB appeared to get his tactics and selection spot on for a game where his reputation was on the line. A defeat and an early Champions League exit would have cast further doubt on his suitability to lead Chelsea back to glory and would surely have left a big question mark hovering over him in the mind of Abramovich, who craves European glory more than anything else (Chelsea 12/1 – Champions League Outright).

His reaction to the press following the Valencia victory may have been the result of a few weeks of pent-up frustration as he hit out at what he felt was the “persecution” of his side by the media over the past month or so. But a few more defeats over a testing couple of weeks could yet see his words return to haunt him.

Chelsea take on league leaders Manchester City next (Chelsea 11/8, City 13/8, draw 11/5 – Match Prices) before tough London derbies against Spurs and Fulham follow over the busy Christmas period and should they lose, say, two of those games, more criticism, whether he likes it or not, will be coming his way.

Some have questioned whether, at just 34 years of age, he is old enough to command authority in the dressing room and get the backing of the club’s experienced players.

Certainly, Frank Lampard has not been impressed at times as he has had to settle for a place on the bench in some big games and there have been mumurs that the England man remains unconvinced about the coach’s ability at this level.

The Valencia win has bought AVB time, no question about that, but the jury remains out on his long-term prospects with tougher tests to come for the Blues.

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Three defeats so far for the Blues is hardly the start that fans were hoping for under new boss Andre Villas-Boas, with his side in danger of getting left behind the two Manchester clubs as they are already nine points behind the leaders going into the weekend’s round of matches.

There is, of course, still plenty of time to go in the title race but Chelsea cannot afford too many more slip-ups, with Carlo Ancelotti’s second place last year not enough to save him from the axe.

Liverpool themselves were reinvigorated by Kenny Dalglish’s appointment last January but expectations have risen following the huge outlay on players, which so far have not been met.

The Reds have lost just twice this season but are lying in sixth place in the table, three points behind Spurs in fifth who have a game in hand, although a victory on Sunday would see them draw level with currently fourth-placed Chelsea.

The Reds spent big up front in January on Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, while Craig Bellamy was a summer acquisition, but goals have been a problem with just 14 from their opening 11 games.

This is particularly the case at Anfield with the unbeaten run masking the fact that they have won only two of six games in front of their own fans.

According to the stats, Suarez has had 51 shots in the Premier League this season but only found the back of the net on four occasions – although he has been unlucky in the sense that Liverpool have hit the woodwork a league-high of 10 times.

A current race-row involving Patrice Evra may not be the ideal situation for Suarez at the moment, although he will be going into the game on the back of becoming the first player to score four goals in an international for Uruguay – and is priced at 7/1 to open the scoring, 15/8 anytime.

On the other side is former Liverpool golden boy Torres – who is still trying to justify the £50m that Chelsea splashed out in acquiring his services on transfer deadline day last January – scoring just five goals in 30 appearances.

He failed to score on his debut for the Blues in this fixture last year but has hardly done himself any favours with his comments about his departure from Anfield earlier in the week.

Torres is a 5/1 chance to open the scoring in the match, although Didier Drogba is available again after recovering from an arm operation and the Ivorian is the 9/2 favourite.

Chelsea will not find it easy going as, despite their problems in front of goal, Liverpool have been miserly in defence with just 10 goals conceded and just 38 shots allowed on target, while goals have been hard to come by in this fixture as a whole as well – Under 2.5 goals in the Total Goals betting looks good value at 5/6.

Chelsea have failed to find the net in five of the last seven Premier League games and three of the last four at home against Liverpool, while one of the teams has kept a clean sheet in 10 of the last 11 meetings.

These two sides have met a whopping 28 times in all competitions since 2004, with Chelsea holding the edge with 12 wins to nine, but they have struggled of late and may fail to justify 5/6 favouritism – with Liverpool priced at 7/2 to upset the odds, and the draw on offer at 5/2.

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Sunderland

The Black Cats were beset by horrendous injury problems as the 2010/11 season wore on and it was only a late rally which saw them ease any outside chance of relegation to finish in a respectable mid-table position.

Stadium of Light chief Steve Bruce also lost star striker Darren Bent to Aston Villa in January – possibly the worst possible time – but he has responded by landing new players including the likes of Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Craig Gardner and Sebastian Larsson, among others.

Bruce maybe just needs a new striker and his work is done until the mid-season window, but his side is never going to overcome odds of 1000/1 to lift the Premier League trophy.

The fight for the title will be a five-horse race with the traditional big four of Manchester United (7/4), Chelsea (9/4), Arsenal (7/1) and Liverpool (10/1) joined by filth-rich Manchester City (4/1) in the shake-up.

The London pair have so far failed to add to their ranks – Gervinho’s switch to the Emirates from Lille is yet to be rubber-stamped – while City have been fairly low key by landing defenders Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic.

The Citizens are probably more pre-occupied with getting the best price for want-away captain Carlos Tevez although his touted replacement, Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero, will not come cheap.

United and Liverpool, in contrast, have been pretty active so far, with the Reds of Merseyside continuing this summer where they left off in January following the big moves for Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

Many onlookers felt boss Kenny Dalglish paid well over the odds for Carroll, who at the time was not fully fit, and the same eyebrows were raised when the Scot raided Sunderland for Jordan Henderson, who reportedly cost in excess of £15m, and then added £20m-rated Stewart Downing to the squad from Aston Villa.

United have also thrown around bags of cash this summer on winger Ashley Young, defender Phil Jones and keeper David De Gea, with the latter two unproven at the highest level, like Carroll and Henderson.

However, the difference is that Liverpool are adding to their options from a position of weakness – they are on to their second manager since Rafa Benitez left just over 12 months while the ownership has also changed in the last year.

It remains to be seen whether or not their policy of recruiting players who promise much but have much to prove is successful.

But the fact is that United are arguably the most stable of the Premier League title challengers, have won the title four times out of the last five years and have appeared in three of the last four Champions League finals.

So Sir Alex Ferguson can afford to stir the pot, move players on and see who sinks and who swims.

And that underlines the fact that while Liverpool are making a lot of the running in the summer transfer market, they are ultimately running to stand still because not every move works out.

Just ask Alberto Aquilani.

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The Danes went down to a superb solo goal from Xherdan Shaqiri but they will still have hopes of success if history is anything to go on.

Three of the past five winners of the competition have lost their openings game, so the Danes will hope to follow suit.

With the cobwebs out the way, the host nation are now focused on their clash with Belarus at the Aarhus Stadion on Tuesday (Denmark 4/6, draw 23/10, Belarus 19/5 – match prices).

Belarus got their competition off to the best possible start with their 2-0 victory over the much-fancied Iceland who, despite having an excellent goal scoring record, could not find a way through the opposition defence in their opening game.

Italy are not at this competition because they lost to Belarus in the play-offs, which just shows how good this side is.

Denmark will have their work cut out for them on Tuesday, and with Belarus in fine form, it could be two games into the tournament on home soil without a win.

Switzerland will be looking to continue their good start to the Championships when they face Iceland in Group A (Switzerland 10/11, draw 11/5, Iceland 5/2 – match prices).

Iceland will be without Coventry City midfielder Aron Gunnarsson after he was shown a red card in the opening game against Belarus.

It was two late goals that proved their undoing in the opening game but Iceland will continue to be a threat in this competition.

If this side can make the most of their opportunities they could challenge any team in the tournament, but first they will have to get past the Swiss.

Switzerland have never lost to Icelandic opposition in any age-group and these players will be determined to maintain that record.

Shaqiri scored the goal which was enough to beat the hosts and he was a constant attacking threat throughout the game, earning the man of the match award.

Iceland will have to keep an eye on the Basel youngster otherwise the 19-year-old could cause them problems.

This game should be a fairly even contest and it will be interesting to see which nation can cope with the pressure, with precious points up for grabs.

Iceland  were unlucky to lose their first game,  and considering their attacking style, they might just have too much firepower for the Swiss and cause an upset on Tuesday.

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Here we will take a look at the teams we feel are in the running for the second automatic promotion place and assess their chances of making it to the top flight in the final nine matches.

NORWICH

Paul Lambert’s Canaries (11/8 promotion) remain in second spot – nine points behind runaway leaders and champions-elect QPR – thanks to a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Hull City on Saturday.

They are unbeaten in eight league games now and sit one point ahead of Swansea in third spot.

Norwich have a winnable game against struggling Scunthorpe after the international break, before a six-pointer against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on April 9.

That match could go a long way to deciding which of these sides will be mixing it with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal next season.

SWANSEA

Brendan Rodgers’s men (6/5 Promotion) were the in-form team going into March but, like many of the teams around them, they have stuttered their way through this month.

The Swans had only managed one point from a possible nine before getting back to winning ways courtesy of a crucial 3-2 win against promotion rivals Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

In addition to the home clash against Norwich next month, they have trips to relegation-haunted Preston and Sheffield United still to play, which they will no doubt pin-point for maximum points.

CARDIFF

Dave Jones’s Bluebirds (9/5 Promotion) are stuck in a sticky patch at the moment having secured just two points from their last four league games.

Their defensive frailties were exploited in the last two games as Barnsley and Millwall both grabbed late equalisers to deny them maximum hauls which would have put them level on points with Norwich in second spot.

If the south Wales side can rediscover their form after the international break they have arguably one of the best run-ins, with games against five of the current bottom eight sides to play plus a mouth-watering home clash against QPR.

LEEDS UNITED

Simon Grayson’s men (4/1 Promotion) were ticking along nicely until Saturday as they went into the Yorkshire derby at relegation battlers Sheffield United with seven points from a possible nine in the bag. However, a 2-0 defeat at Bramall Lane and a straight red card for Billy Paynter capped a miserable afternoon for the Whites and left them six points off an automatic promotion spot.

Leeds require maximum points at the expense of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest, who they face at Elland Road in a massive game on April 2.

They also face tricky away games at Millwall, Crystal Palace and a final day trip to QPR which could bog them down.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

Billy Davies’s side will probably be more concerned with securing a play-off place as opposed to winning promotion automatically (7/2 Promotion).

Forest were looking favourites to go up with QPR before embarking on a seven-match winless run which included a costly first home defeat of the season against Hull and a defeat at struggling Sheffield United.

Saturday’s 3-2 reverse at Swansea compounded their misery and has left in-form Reading just three points behind in seventh with a game in hand and a superior goal difference.

Defeat at Leeds in their next game will virtually end any lingering promotion aspirations and leave their hopes of a top-six spot hanging in the balance as they face Reading and eighth-placed Burnley in the following matches.

Prediction: Norwich to go up with QPR automatically.

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Manchester United

The 30-year-old last played for the Three Lions when he came on as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat to France in March 2008 and he was never a contender for the current squad to play Montenegro in Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifier.

Veteran Bolton forward Kevin Davies has finally been called up for international duty and Owen, who has scored an impressive 40 goals in 89 appearances for his country, believes he could still do a job for England (England 9/1 NOT to qualify for Euro 2012).

He told the Daily Mirror: “I haven’t resigned myself to never playing for England again.

“But I’m not stupid enough to get myself worked up before every squad’s announced and then go ‘oh no, the world’s caved in and I’m not in it again’.

“Everyone deals with things in different ways. The first time I wasn’t named in the squad I was really gutted. The second time I was pretty gutted, the next time I was just gutted and so on.”

Owen has only started two of United’s games so far this season but has scored three goals, and he remains hopeful that the call from England will come again at some point. However, he admits he does not expect to see his name in the squad every time Capello confirms his selection.

“I’d love to play for my country again, but I don’t look out for the squad expecting my name to be in it, unless someone phones me to tell me otherwise,” he added.

“I still have a lot of friends in the team and you can’t play for your country for as long as I did and not still have an interest in how they’re doing.”

Owen will be hoping to feature for United against West Brom next weekend after he came off the bench recently to score a vital goal in the 2-2 draw at Bolton.

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Chelsea

The 32-year-old has been out of action for a month and has not played since the Blues beat Stoke 2-0 in their third Premier League match of the season.

In his absence, the Stamford Bridge outfit had maintained a 100 per cent record until Saturday’s 1-0 reverse at Manchester City saw them drop points for the first time this term.

However, with Manchester United failing to secure all three points at Bolton and Arsenal being beaten by West Brom at the Emirates Stadium, Chelsea are still top of the league with a three-point lead over the Red Devils.

Lampard has been a vital part of Chelsea’s success over the past few seasons with his ability to score vital goals from midfield and fire accurate passes to create goal-scoring opportunities for the club’s array of attacking men.

But he was forced to go under the surgeon’s knife to correct a hernia problem four weeks ago and will play no part as Chelsea host the French side on Tuesday night, before welcoming the Gunners to west London on Sunday.

The Premier League will then take a short break as international football returns to the calendar, with England facing a crucial Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro and Ancelotti does not believe he will be fit enough to play for the national side (England 9/1 to win Euro 2012).

“He can’t play on Tuesday. We need to have more time than we expected for his rest,” he said. “In a few days there will be an international break and he will be ready for the first game after the break.

“He didn’t play with us so I don’t think he is able to play for the national team.”

Lampard’s team-mate John Obi Mikel feels that Chelsea do have enough strength in depth to cover for the loss of the experienced Lampard but he admits they would much rather have him in the side.

“There are other players who can do a similar job to Frank but it is a massive loss to the team,” he said. “I think we are coping well without him, but he is a fantastic player and we can’t wait to have him back.”

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