07.03. (Thu) 21:05 Tottenham Hot. - Inter

PROBABLE LINEUPS

TOTTENHAM
Friedel
Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Naughton
Livermore, Parker
Lennon, Bale, Sigurdsson
Defoe

INTER
Handanovic
Zanetti, Juan, Chivu, Pereira
Gargano, Cambiasso
Schelotto, Cassano, Guarin
Palacio

Brad Friedel will likely replace Hugo Lloris in goal for Tottenham, with the American becoming first-choice in cup competitions following the France captain's promotion to Andre Villas-Boas' Premier League XI.

Clint Dempsey (calf) is unlikely to feature and Mousa Dembele (knee) faces a race to be fit after limping out of Sunday's north London derby.

Jermain Defoe made his return from injury against the Gunners and could replace Emmanuel Adebayor in attack after the Togo man was stretchered off with an ankle problem

Antonio Cassano was dropped for Inter's weekend win over Catania after a row with manager Andrea Stramaccioni, but could find himself back in first-team contention to face Andre Villas-Boas' side after apologising and receiving a fine from the club.

The Italian is likely to link up with Rodrigo Palacio after the Argentine scored two late goals to seal a narrow win for the Nerazzurri over the Sicilian outfit.

Stramaccioni's side are plagued with injury problems as top-scorer Diego Milito (knee) is out for the season, while centre-backs Walter Samuel (Achilles) and Andrea Ranocchia (knee) also remains sidelined.

DID YOU KNOW?

Tottenham have been on fine form domestically, having not lost in 12 league matches - their best unbeaten run in Premier League history.

Inter, meanwhile, have not so fared so well in their own league, having won just three of their last 12 Serie A matches as they sit in fourth, trying to remain in contention for a spot in next season's Champions League.

Gareth Bale has also been enjoying himself in the league. The Welshman has scored seven goals in his last five league appearances for the club. He is 7/2 to score two or more goals with Coral.

Bale, even putting aside his current run of form, will bring back bad memories for the Italian side, as he memorably tormented the Nerazzurri in both of their group stage matches in the 2010-11 Champions League, particularly at San Siro as the flying winger scored a hat-trick despite Inter's 4-3 win.

Inter do, however, have their own in-form striker as, despite often featuring off the bench, Rodrigo Palacio has been directly involved in 23 goals for his club this season, including all two of their goals scored in their comeback win over Catania on Sunday.

The Nerazzurri have been poor away from home recently, as they have only managed a solitary point from their last seven away league games, also conceding 16 goals in the process.

07.03. (Thu) 19:00 Stuttgart - Lazio

PROBABLE LINEUPS

STUTTGART
Ulreich
Sakai, Tasci, Rudiger, Boka
Kvist
Harnik, Gentner, Holzhauser, Traore
Macheda

LAZIO
Marchetti
Pereirinha, Biava, Ciani, Radu
Ledesma
Candreva, Gonzalez, Hernanes, Lulic
Kozak

Stuttgart have won just once in the Bundesliga this calendar year and come into Thursday’s Europa League match against Lazio a disappointing 11th in the division. But the Europa League has been a silver lining for them all season and they will hope to pick up where they left off in the competition when they won 2-0 away to Genk in the last round.

Manager Bruno Labbadia will have to make a change up top, however, as Vedad Ibisevic is suspended, and fellow forward Cacau is still recovering from a cruciate ligament rupture and will not be back until the middle of next month.

Winger Tunay Torun has a hamstring injury and misses out, as does midfielder Johan Audel. Mamadou Bah is out for the rest of the season due to a broken leg and right-back Tim Hoogland is fighting off a bout of flu.

Lazio boss Vladimir Petkovic will have to once again make do without German striker Miroslav Klose, who is still recovering from a serious knee injury, and Antonio Rossi has a hamstring problem.

Right-back Abdoulay Konko is still a month away from his return to the lineup following a knee injury, and midfielder Cristian Brocchi will be unlikely to feature again this season after fracturing a metatarsal.

DID YOU KNOW?

Stuttgart have won just one of their last nine Bundesliga matches—a streak that goes back to December 2012.

Only four Bundesliga sides (Nuremberg, Wolfsburg, Augsburg and Greuther Furth) have managed fewer than Stuttgart’s 26 goals in 24 Bundesliga matches so far this season.

These sides last met in a club friendly in July 2007. The match ended in a 1-1 draw and the goals came from Stefano Mauri and Alexander Farnerud.

Like Suttgart, Lazio have been struggling domestically of late and have won just two of their last eight matches in Serie A.

After an entertaining 3-3 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach in the first leg of the Round of 32, Lazio were 2-0 winners in the Italian capital thanks to goals from Antonio Candreva and Alvaro Gonzalez.

With five goals in the competition, Lazio striker Libor Kozak is second only to Edinson Cavani in Europa League goal-scoring.

Prediction
Both sides are coming off weekend losses, but Lazio’s form book is slightly better than Stuttgart’s. The guests will find the back of the net here, and Stuttgart will likely struggle against one of the stingier defenses in Italy. A score draw is on the cards.

Editor's Prediction
VfB Stuttgart 1-1 Lazio

07.03. (Thu) 19:00 Steaua - Chelsea

PROBABLE LINEUPS

STEAUA BUCHAREST
C. Tătăruşanu
F. Gardoş • V. Chiricheş • C. Râpă • I. Latovlevici
A. Prepelita • A. Chipciu • C. Tănase • Adrian Popa I
Adi • R. Rusescu

CHELSEA
P. Čech
Azpilicueta • B. Ivanović • David Luiz • R. Bertrand
F. Lampard • Ramires
V. Moses • Oscar • Mata
Fernando Torres

Chelsea's trip to Bucharest comes just prior to their FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United at Old Trafford, meaning Rafa Benitez may be inclined to rest key players.
Only Yossi Benayoun (ankle) and Oriol Romeu (knee) are expected to miss out through injury, but John Terry (knee) may not be risked following a fairly stuttering return from a spell on the sidelines.

Benitez's rotation of his strikers suggests Fernando Torres will come back into the team after Demba Ba's goal-scoring appearance against West Brom at the weekend, while Ashley Cole may be rested, allowing for Ryan Bertrand to come back into the side.

Romanian champions Steaua come into the tie with almost a full squad to choose from as Laurentiu Reghecampf looks to continue his side's impressive run in the competition.

Daniel Georgievski (fibula) remains out for the hosts but, aside from the Georgian defender, Steaua can call upon a full-strength side.

Brazilian forward Adi Rocha could come back into the side in place of Stefan Nikolic, while Cristian Tanase should retain his role in the starting line-up despite receiving a red card during the win over Gaz Metan at the weekend.

DID YOU KNOW?

Chelsea and Steaua have never faced each other before in a competitive match.

The Romanians finished top of their Europa League group, above Stuttgart, FC Copenhagen and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Molde.
From their last 12 away matches in the Europa and Champions League, The Blues have three wins.

Liverpool were the last side to face the Romanian side, leaving Bucharest with a 1-1 draw in December 2010.

Reghecampf's side have lost only four of their previous 20 home matches in Europe.

Chelsea's group of players includes 19 foreign players, while Steaua have just five.

The average age of Steaua's first-team squad is 24.1, compared to 27 for Chelsea.

Chelsea's two Europa League goals so far this season have been scored in the final 15 minutes of ties.

Steaua have scored eight times in the last 15 minutes of European matches this season, 42 per cent of their overall output.

Chelsea are 6/1 to beat Steaua 1-0 with Coral.

07.03. (Thu) 18:00 Anji - Newcastle United

PROBABLE LINEUPS

ANZHI
V. Gabulov
A. Eshchenko • João Carlos • Ewerton • Y. Zhirkov
O. Akhmedov • L. Diarra
M. Boussoufa • Jucilei • Willian
S. Eto'o

NEWCASTLE
R. Elliot
J. Perch • S. Taylor • M. Yanga-Mbiwa • D. Santon
V. Anita • Y. Cabaye
S. Marveaux • M. Sissoko • J. Gutiérrez
P. Cissé

Anzhi have no new injury worries and go into the game with a full squad of players to choose from, with superstars such as Willian, Samuel Eto'o and Lassana Diarra all set to play from the start.

Newcastle could welcome back Hatem Ben Arfa (hamstring), but Fabricio Coloccini (back) has been ruled out by manager Alan Pardew.

Ryan Taylor (knee) is close to recovery, however he is unlikely to return to action until the end of the month.

Tim Krul (ankle) remains on the sidelines after picking up an injury in the last round against Metalist Kharkiv and Steve Harper's absence with a knee injury means Rob Elliot will continue in goal.

DID YOU KNOW?

Newcastle have faced Anzhi star Samuel Eto'o in European competition before, the Cameroonian was part of the Real Mallorca side that suffered a 7-1 aggregate Uefa Cup loss to the Magpies in 2004.

Shola Ameobi played in the second leg of that tie and will move level with Alan Shearer on 38 European appearances for Newcastle if the plays in both legs of this tie.

The Magpies have beaten a Guus Hiddink side in the past, as they overcame PSV Eindhoven over two legs in the quarter-finals of the 2003-04 Uefa Cup before losing to Marseille in the next round.

Anzhi have won all seven of their Europa League home games this season, scoring 12 times and conceding just once.

Samuel Eto'o is 4/1 to score the first goal in the game with Coral.

Hiddink's side have only lost twice in their domestic league this term, with defeats against Rubin Kazan and CSKA Moscow both coming away from home.

As a football club, Anzhi are 99 years younger than Newcastle, having only been formed in 1991.

This tie marks the first time that Newcastle have faced Russian opposition in European competition.