Birmingham City - Fulham

After big injury crisis that caused six competitive defeats in seven games, Alex McLeish has stabilized the squad and although still six players are sidelined they have been noticing a significant improvement in performances. Also, new owner has brought a financial stability and better dressing room atmosphere. As a result, Blues have noticed three league game without a defeat. Bad run was ended against very good Sunderland at St Andrew's (2-1). Then another good result reflected in draw vs. Man.City also at home (0-0) with penalty kick missed. And last encounter was the best performance this season. 2-2 draw at Enfield where Birmingham were very close to win as conceded a late goal from penalty after David Ngog's diving. International brake came in the right time for them to mentally prepare for not so attractive opponent as those three. Key midfielder Barry Ferguson returns to the squad after serving out his one game suspension against Liverpool, while another midfielder Keith Fahey is also back in contention after recovering from an ankle knock. David Murphy (defense), Teemu Tainio (midfield), Garry O'Connor (forward) and Martin Taylor (defense) all miss out.

Roy Hodgson is doing a very good job at Craven Cottage as Fulham made a run of five consecutive games without a defeat. Two home wins (Hull City 2-0 and Liverpool 3-1) and three draws on the road (West Ham United 2-2, Man.City 2-2 (returned from 0-2) and Wigan Athletic 1-1). The biggest problem for Hodgson is “short bench” as he hasn’t enough number of players to play in three competitions. And some key players have been involved in international games. Key winger, Damien Duff, suffered a disaster in France and the question is how much he can focus on Birmingham. Two games also played Pantsil, Dikgacoi and Stephen Kelly. Skipper Danny Murphy and striker Andrew Johnson will be back in training process next week, while excellent striker Diomansy Kamara will also miss the game. American midfielder Clint Dempsey has been playing in excellent shape, scoring three times in last three games. However, I see Fulham as an average Premier League side and current 11th place as the best possible achievement this season.

My sympathy is definitely on home side. Expect the same commitment as in previous games and fight for all three points. Fulham so far is tough side to beat and their three consecutive draws on the road point a decent possibility of another one. So, dnb 1 (about 1.80) and small gamble on home win (Pinnacle 2.50).
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Profit finally

Everton 4 - 0 AEK Athens

Everton opened their Europa League Group I account by dismantling outclassed AEK Athens in a game marred by two second-half red cards.
The hosts took an early lead through Joseph Yobo's header and soon added a second as Sylvain Distin poked home. 
Stephen Pienaar rifled in a stunning third shortly before the break, with Jo turning sharply to add a late fourth. 
AEK had Carlos Araujo red carded after 54 minutes and Louis Saha followed late on for raising his hand to a defender. 
Saha barely made contact with the face of AEK defender Juanfran, who made a meal of the incident, in stoppage time but it was right in front of the referee and he had no hesitation in dismissing the French striker. 
Araujo, on the other hand, could have had no complaints after he was sent off for kicking out at Distin following a challenge with the French defender. 
Everton have a had a sticky start to the Premier League season but from the opening whistle they were a cut above their Greek visitors.
Jack Rodwell and Tim Cahill took control of midfield and with Pienaar looking lively down the right and Jo causing a makeshift AEK defence plenty of problems, it was only a matter of time before the goals started flowing. 
Just before kick-off Everton confirmed they had signed Australia captain Lucas Neill and the right-back was in the stands to see two of his new defensive comrades get on the scoresheet inside the opening 17 minutes.
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CSKA Sofia 1 - 1 Fulham

Diomansy Kamara's second-half strike ensured a much-changed Fulham marked their Europa League group stages bow with a precious point at CSKA Sofia.
The Senegalese striker latched on to a ball over the top to round the keeper and slot home as Fulham held off an effervescent Sofia side in Bulgaria. 
The hosts had taken the lead when Michel lashed home from 20 yards. 
And they could have won it had Fulham keeper David Stockdale not tipped Yordan Todorov's drive over the bar. 
A point was always going to be a valuable one for Fulham as they made their first appearance in the group stages of a European competition in the club's history, but Sofia's hussle-and-bustle approach almost ensured the Londoners were forced to make the long trip home with nothing. 
As it was, Kamara rounded off a fine individual display with a very well taken goal to reward Fulham's determination and just about justify boss Roy Hodgson's decision to rest nine first-team players. 
This time last season, Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill made eight changes for his side's Uefa Cup clash against CSKA Moscow and they subsequently lost 2-0 and were dumped out of the competition. 
But that did not deter Hodgson, with only keeper Stockdale and defender John Pantsil surviving from Sunday's Premier League win over Everton. 
It did, however, lead to a disjointed opening from the Londoners, and CSKA Sofia were by far the better starters at the Vasil Levski National
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