BALTIMORE, Maryland March 21, 2014 - The days dwindle down in the soccer leagues across Europe, with key games on tap in England, Poland, the Ukraine and elsewhere. In England, in the Championship League, where the two top teams are promoted to the Premier League at season's end in May, second place Burnley is on the road at Charlton Athletic. The home team is in a desperate struggle to avoid relegation. There is much on the line. It's March.
In the English Championship, Leicester City and Burnley - the two teams established in Promotion Positions - play this weekend and attempt to keep momentum on their side in anticipation of their showdown next week. Burnley invades The Valley to take on Charlton Athletic in a game beginning at 11:00 am EST. Charlton is locked in a desperate struggle to avoid relegation. They own 32 points, exactly the same as the current highest placed relegation team, Millwall. Charlton would avoid relegation were the season to end today because of their better goal differential. But the side is only 2 points ahead of Yeovil Town and 3 ahead of last-place Barnsley. Charlton has an overall record of 7 wins, 11 draws and 15 losses, but is slightly better at home, where they are 5 wins, 5 draws and 6 losses. The Claret won, 3-0, when the two sides met September 28 at Turf Moor. The Claret this week signed Chris Baird to a short-term deal after two key Burnley strikers came up with injuries. Kieran Trippier and Danny Ings. Trippier was originally "touch and go" on Saturday, but a re-examination showed his hamstring injury is more serious than thought. Ings, 21, received a good report from specialists he consulted this week according to the Lancashire Telegraph, but is doubtful for the game at Charlton. Baird is a former Fulham defender and is expected to be in uniform on Saturday for Burnley. In Poland at this time of year the really pitched battles are in the middle of the standings. The top eight teams play for the title but the bottom eight do not. Everybody wants to be eighth or higher.
In Poland, Widzow Lodz and Zaglebie Lubin have already played to a scoreless draw tonight. The schedule for the rest of the weekend looks like this: Saturday at 3:30 pm local time Jagiollonia hosts Korona Kielce, and at 6:30 pm Lech Poznan hosts Lechia Gdansk. There are three games Sunday. At 1 pm, Podbeskidzie entertains Cracovia Krakow, at 3:30 pm Ruch Chorzow goes to Pogon Szczecin, and at 6:00 Gornik Zabrze plays at Slask Wroclaw. On Monday, league-leading Legia Warszawa is at Piast Gliwice. After this week there will be three games remaining. The FA Cup winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa League. The critical battles now are in the middle of the league. The top eight teams qualify for a run at the championship. Naturally, the bottom eight do not. Going into tomorrow, the points difference between the two teams tied for third and the twelth place team is 12 points. Counting this weekend's games there are four games left. These are the standings in Poland:
1. Legia Warszawa: 16 wins, 3 draws, 7 losses, 51 points;
2. Wisla Krakow: 12 wins, 9 draws, 5 losses, 45 points;
3. (tie) Loch Poznan: 12 wins, 8 draws, 6 losses, 44 points;
3. (tie) Ruch Chorzow: 12 wins, 8 draws, 6 losses, 44 points;
5. Gornik Zabrzo: 11 wins, 7 draws, 8 losses, 40 points;
6. Pogon Szczecin: 9 wins 12 draws, 5 losses, 39 points;
7. (tie) Jagiellonia: 10 wins, 6 draws, 9 losses, 36 points;
7. (tie) Zawisza Bydgoszcz: 9 wins, 9 draws, 8 losses, 36 points;
9. Lochia Gdansk: 8 wins, 10 draws, 8 losses, 34 points;
10. (tie) Korona Kielce: 8 wins, 8 draws, 10 losses, 32 points;
10. (tie) Piast Gliwice: 8 wins, 8 draws, 10 losses, 32 points;
12. Cracovia Krakow: 9 wins, 4 draws, 12 losses, 31 points;
13. Slask Wroclaw: 6 wins, 11 draws, 9 losses, 29 points;
14. Zaglebie Lubin: 6 wins, 8 draws, 13 losses, 26 points;
15. Podbeskidzie: 4 wins, 11 draws, 11 losses, 23 points;
16. Widzow Lodz: 4 wins, 6 draws, 17 losses, 18 points.
The Ukrainian Premier League resumed play last week despite the political turmoil dividing the country. A full slate of games is on tap for this weekend, with even teams in the most strife-torn areas in action, some even at home. First, look at the table as it stands right now:
1. Shakhtar Donetsk: 13 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses, 41 points;
2. Dynamo Kyiv: 11 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses, 36 points;
3. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk: 10 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses, 35 points;
4. Metalist: 9 wins, 7 draws, 1 loss, 34 points;
5. Chornomorets: 9 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses, 32 points;
6. Vorskla: 6 wins, 8 draws, 4 losses, 26 points;
7. (tie) Zarya Lugansk: 6 wins, 7 draws, 5 losses, 24 points;
7. (tie) Metalurh Donetsk: 6 wins, 6 losses, 6 draws, 24 points;
9. Volyn: 6 wins, 5 draws, 7 losses, 23 points;
10. (tie) Karpaty: 4 wins, 7 draws, 6 losses, 19 points;
10. (tie) Sevastopol: 5 wins, 4 draws, 9 losses, 19 points;
12. Illichivets' Mariupol: 5 wins, 3 draws, 10 losses, 18 points;
13. Hoverla Zakarp: 4 wins, 3 draws, 11 losses, 15 points;
14. (tie) Metalurh Zaporizhya: 1 win, 5 draws, 12 losses, 8 points;
14. (tie) Tavriya: 2 wins, 2 draws, 14 losses, 8 points.
This weekend, on Saturday, fourth place Metalist visits Sevastopol, third place Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk goes to league-leading Shakhtar Donetsk, Tavriya, trying to avoid relegation, travels to fifth place Chernomorets, and Zaporozhye is at Dinamo Kiev. On Sunday, Donetsk goes to Zarya Lugansk, Vorskla is at Volyn Lutsk and Karpaty collides with homestanding Hoverla Zakarp.
It is the intention of Credible and Incisive to bring on other leagues.
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