Pools tips for weekend of May 11-12

Ten draws: Norwich v West Brom, Stoke v Tottenham, Sunderland v Southampton, Atletico Madrid v Barcelona, Malaga v Sevilla, Fortuna Dusseldorf v Nuremburg, Hoffenheim v Hamburg, Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach, Bastia v Montpellier, Lyon v Paris St Germain.

Best draws: Norwich v West Brom, Stoke v Tottenham, Sunderland v Southampton, Atletico Madrid v Barcelona, Lyon v Paris St Germain.

Five aways: Liverpool, Valencia, Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, Nice.

Nine homes: Athletic Bilbao, Real Valladolid, Juventus, Lazio, Parma, Bayern Munich, Schalke, AC Ajaccio, Brest.

Please note: Levante v Real Zaragoza (No 9 on the coupon) and Lille v Reims (No 40) are void while Real Sociedad v Granada (No 13) will be a pools panel verdict.


Pick of the draws: Relegation-threatened Norwich must wonder where their next win is coming from but they can at least take a point from a West Brom team who lost to Wigan last weekend and are becalmed in mid-table. Stoke need only a draw to ensure Premier League football next season and they'll probably get it against Tottenham, who rely too much on double Footballer of the Year, Gareth Bale. A battling Sunderland side gained a precious point against Stoke on Monday despite going down to 10 men and that kind of spirit should serve them well against Southampton, who have faltered recently. It's not often that Barcelona don't win but Atletico Madrid, third in the Spanish League, are well equipped to deny them victory. In the French League, third-placed Lyon are similarly capable of holding leaders Paris St Germain.

Away days: Although Liverpool will be without Luis Suarez (suspended) and Steven Gerrard (injured) they should still have too much for Fulham, whose morale must have been shaken last weekend by their 4-2 defeat at home to relegated Reading. Valencia, impressive 4-0 winners over Osasuna last weekend, are a confident selection to prevail at Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish League. In the German League the claims of Eintracht Frankfurt (at Werder Bremen) and Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund (at Wolfsburg) cannot be ignored while high-flyers Nice look too strong for lowly Evian in the French League.

Homes sweet homes: Bologna's confidence must have been dented by that 6-0 drubbing at Lazio last weekend, so it's worth having a punt on mid-table Parma gaining maximum points against them. Schalke, Arsenal's conquerors in the Champions League group stages, are recommended against VfB Stuttgart. In the French League I believe AC Ajaccio will make the most of ground advantage when they play second-from-bottom Troyes while bottom club Brest could spring a surprise on Sochaux.