Serie A:

On the road, Genoa are 2-2-6, but have only conceded 13 goals, just one less than 3rd placed Lazio, they are well organised, disciplined and keep their shape well, they have performed well against the top clubs conceding just two goals and collecting five points from visits to Lazio, Udinese, Milan and Inter.

No Andrea Pirlo or Giorgio Chielleni for Juventus, who even given their resources, face a daunting 17 days with Serie A matches against Chievo and Fiorentina, a Champions League trip to Glasgow and Coppa Italia semi final against Lazio.

Massive couple of weeks on the horizon and there has never been a better time to subscribe to the clubgowi daily newsletter service. There will be two emails on each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, where we will be covering a wide range of events including football  ( our bread and butter ) , golf and NFL .

We saw increased focus and motivation from Deportivo yesterday and I expect a similarly inspired showing from another relegation threatened team this evening when Mallorca, just two points off the bottom of the table, host highflying Atletico Madrid.

The New Coach effect

Massive game for Deportivo, bottom of the table three points from safety with three of their next four, including the next two away from their beautifully situated home stadium. New home coach Domingos José Paciência will be looking to impress right from the start and will have the home troops well and truly fired up for this.