Now things get a little Sirius – a preview

By: Luka | August 29th, 2009

What: IK Sirius Uppsala v AssyriskaFF

When: 30-08-09 (Monday 1am for Australians)

Why: It’s not like there are any big derbies happening this weekend…

How: C Sports, hopefully.

I have to say, it’s been fairly quiet on the Assyriska front. Not much has occurred since the unfortunate events of last week and the subsequent aftermath, and the website really hasn’t given me anything to work with. I guess all the pre-match cliche’ talk will occur tomorrow, so in the meantime, here is my pre-preview.

Team news:
Goran Marklund is still injured, while Tiago is (probably) doubtful, meaning we’ll see the Moussa-Llumnica strike partnership again (I, for once, am beside myself). Midfield maverick Peter Furuseth returns from suspension to add some potency to our wide play, replacing the not-so-good (a sentiment shared by all and sundry bar the coach) Kristoffer Näfver. As far as I am aware, this is an exhaustive depiction of any enforced changes. I await inevitable corrections.

The enemy:
This is a Siriusly massive game, against some Siriusly decent opposition. It’s no time to joke, as the implications of failure will be Sirius (I promise, no more lame puns).

Sirius is 3rd last in the table, and have the 2nd worst defense in the division, having conceded almost 2 goals per game. They did however beat a not-so-shabby Jönköpings Södra 5-1 away from home 2 weeks ago, meaning Assyriska cannot play like Assyriska always do and underestimate their opponents (hey, there’s a first time for everything). At least, for once, our opposition’s top scorer has less goals than our very own Tiago Pereira. As far as tediousness goes, I think I’ve hit an all time high with that statistic. Like Assyriska, Sirius comes into this match in pretty bad form, having won only once in 5 games. The key point of differentiation here being the small fact that Assyriska are (supposed to be) one of the favourites to be promoted, while Sirius are dancing in the relegation playoff positions.

I’ll be honest, I can’t tell you who their danger men are, how they play, or anything even remotely informative. Instead I’ll rely on Wikipedia to fill our minds with precious informative gooey goodness…..Erm, scrap that as well, even Wiki’s failing us today. Surely there is something else to talk about?

How about I give my predictions on the big games coming up in the next 12 hours or so? No objections? Let’s do it:

Chelsea v Burnley: 3-0 (Burnley’s honeymoon period to be interrupted by the surly pensioners)
Frankfurt v Dortmund: 1-2 (I like Dortmund)
Manchester United v Arsenal: 1-0 (Cesc is out, I think)
Real Madrid v Deportivo La Coruna: 28-0 (going one better than Villarreal)
Milan v Inter: 1-1 (It’s time for a draw)
Munich v Wolfsburg: 3-1 (They have to start playing well eventually)
St Etienne v Grenoble: 0-1 (Perrin to get sacked, maybe not)
LA v Chivas: 3-3 (Beckham to score a hat-trick of free kicks). See, some parts of the world do know about the MLS, and also know that this is a derby.
Claypole v Centro EspañolL 0-0 (Argentine 4th Division, Claypole’s defense to stifle Centro’s highly rated attack, maybe)
Nagoya Grampus Eight v Albirex Niigata: 3-0 (Josh Kennedy to score a hat-trick of headers).

And finally, i’ll be looking out for the score between Universidad de Concepción v Palestino, just because their names evoke some serious puns/connotations totally unrelated to football.